Custom Cabinet for 90g Reef (Build Thread)

[cannarella]

Nice build so far. That thing is going to weigh a ton, but it will be solid. Is the top going to be able to be removed to move it? My 65 stand was a bear to move upstairs with 2 people. Did you check Rockler for custom doors? There is a store up on Roswell Rd.

Where are you located in ATL? Are you involved in any reef clubs?

War Eagle!

Andy

[cannarella]

I forgot to ask, what kind of glue are you using? You are using glue, right?

[RedEDGE2k1]

The final cabinet will be two seperate pieces -- a bottom section, where you see the cabinet doors, and a top section, where you see the shelving. The top section will surround the tank, and both the top section and tank will sit on the bottom section. The top section will be able to slide forward (no back panel behind the tank) and completely removed from the bottom section/tank setup when complete...this will allow total access to the tank without any obstructions, if ever needed. (read, when needed).

Actually, I'm surpised how much less it weighs than I expected. My girlfriend is 5'3" and maybe 110lbs and she can lift one end of the bottom section while I lift the other, no problem. So that tells me when it comes time to move the finished bottom section (the bigger of the two parts) up the stairway and into my living room, two men will be able to handle the task quite easily. It's 6.5' wide but only 19" deep; its really not as overpowering in person as it may appear in pictures.

That being said, this IS a 6.5' long piece of furniture made entirely of 3/4" hardwood plywood....it's by no means lightweight, but I can't expect it to be. Especially when the tank will be 36" off the floor and weigh 1/2 ton when filled with water, rock and sand -- that's a lot of force to restrain. I had to consider not only supporting the tank from underneath, but also reinforcing the cabinet well enough to resist any side-to-side movement of the vertical panels. This required using thick plywood basically everywhere.

I was able to save a little bit of weight by making cut-outs in the back panel, but probably not enough to justify the time it took to make the cut-outs. Also, I was thinking, the light from the sump will shine through those openings and against the wall behind the cabinet. I hope the glow isn't visible, but I'm sure it will be....and that will be annoying.

Someway, somehow, I'm going to properly ventilate my metal halides and refugium lights while blocking as much light from leaving the cabinet as possible. As mentioned, I want the top section to be able to slide forward and off the bottom section, allowing it to be totally removed without touching the tank itself. To do this, I can't but a back panel behind the tank (although I can put one behind the shelves on the sides). Behind the tank, I think I will use a dark light-blocking fabric, and let it roll down behind the tank similar to the way window blinds operate.

I ran to Home Depot on my lunch break today to buy a nail set -- I'll get started on trimming out the bottom section tonight after work. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

I hope you guys are finding this useful or at least informative & entertaining. Sure is fun to build.

Take care-
Dustin

[RedEDGE2k1]

No, I didn't use glue. I figure wood glue will add little additional strength to 8x2" screws @ 6" on center.

That being said, now that you mention it, I'm considering unscrewing everything tonight, putting Gorilla Glue on all the joints, and rescrewing. If I'm going to put this much time into something, may as well not cut any corners.

Hmmm...

[cannarella]

Just be using plywood for the base you have eliminated any racking that could occur with a more clumsy 2x4 style stand. All the weight should be static and strait down. Unless you plan on rocking the tanks back and froth for wave action. I doubt that...

Yes you need glue. The screws are a single point of contact where the glue will give a permanent bond. It will be stronger then the screw joints. Never rely on the sheer strength of your fasteners for support.

Get Titebond type II or III since it will be near moisture. That is what I use and it works great. Check out my gallery for my stand.

If you are spending money on tools go ahead and get a brad nailer kit to make the trim work go real fast.

You are off to a very good start.

[RedEDGE2k1]

I considered a 1 5/8" brad nailer / air compressor combo at Home Depot for $190.....but to be honest, knowing a $5 hammer and $3 nail set will accomplish the same thing in the same evening, I couldn't justify the cost. Would be nice to have one though...but for me it would be totally a luxury.

I'm definitely going to disassemble, glue, and reassemble. It'll be worth the time just to have it off my mind.

Regarding wave motion....I'm going to use a Vortech propeller pump with the wireless wave controller. I'm not going to set it to throw up a 2" wave or anything....but it would be nice to have 1/2" of wave of so, just enough to keep the water oscillating.

Wonder if that wave action, over time, will weaken and eventually compromise the stand's strength?

Anyone have any experience?

[sparkiesford]

Great stand!! What program did you use to put that all together? That is some very nice design work.

[RedEDGE2k1]

Google Sketchup, the free version. It's invaluable for stuff like this, I spent probably 3 weeks designing/changing/rethinking/redesigning the cabinet before I had it the way I wanted. $0

[RedEDGE2k1]

Well I went to Home Depot after work yesterday for another sheet of 3/4" oak plywood (5 sheets total so far @ 39.99 ea) and some TiteBond III waterproof wood glue ($8/bottle). While I was there, a hook/pegboard setup caught my eye, and I ended up coming home with a 4x8 pegboard, 1x2 braces, and all sorts of peg hooks. I spent the evening installing the pegboard on my garage wall and organizing all my tools. It needed to be done...badly.

Maybe I'll have a cabinet update for you guys tomorrow -- stay tuned.

-Dustin

[cannarella]

Ahh, don't you love it when something catches your eye and you get side tracked...

[ALittleSalty]

Nice looking stand!! I like how your making it flow with the rest of the house, instead of it just looking like a fish tank stuck in the room. I just found google sketchup and am using it to design a stand for my AP 24 and a 5.5 gallon tank. Keep up the great work and lets see some finished pictures as soon as possible. Jon

[RedEDGE2k1]

Yesterday after work I completely disassembled what I've built so far, applied TiteBond III waterproof glue to all the pieces, and reassembled. It took 16 hours to build, but only 2.5 hours to take apart, glue, and put back together....so I was pleased with that.

Thanks cannarella for the heads up about the need for wood glue. I wasn't going to use it, I was assuming 2" wood screws spaced close together would be more than enough strength to keep everything together. However, after doing a Google search for glue connection strength vs. screw connection strength, I learned the glue is much, much stronger than the screw connections. In fact, glue is stronger than the plywood itself!

Tonight I will hopefully be able to trim out the bottom section and sand everything smooth, ready for paint. More pictures to come tomorrow.

[maxwell1295]

Wow, that is fantastic work so far. Looking forward to more pics!

[RedEDGE2k1]

I was planning on trimming out the bottom section last night, but it seemed more exciting to get started on the top section so that's what I ended up doing.

I never imagined the front panel (where the tank is viewed) would take so long -- I spent 3hrs on it last night, and it's still not finished. In that time I was only able to miter the side edges to 45° and layout/cut the tank opening. It wasn't exactly difficult, just time consuming, because I want the maximum possible amount of my tank being viewable, while hiding the plastic tank trim as well as the silicone joints with wood trim built into the cut-out. So, some precise measurements were involved.

The biggest reason for it taking so long was my method for cutting out the tank opening. For the cabinet door openings, I used a jig saw. Jigsaws have very thin, flexible blades, and even the quality DeWalt jigsaw I dropped $120 on wouldn't make straight cuts, either up & down through the wood or horizontally along my cut line. It wasn't a big deal, because the cut line will be covered up by the 1/2" overlay of the cabinet doors. However, the tank opening cutout is a completely different story, as it will be 100% viewable and will also be trimmed out with 1/4" pine stop trim. So, any crooked lines will stand out like crazy. For this cutout, I used my rotary saw jig and handheld rotary saw (Skilsaw). I used the plunge-cut method, where the depth-of-blade lever on the saw is left loose, allowing the blade to move up & down freely. I held the blade all the way up, placed the saw base on the cutl line, lined up with the edge of the jig, then dropped the saw blade down and into the wood. I then moved the saw down the cut line, getting as close to the corners as possible. After all four lines were cut, I finished off the corners very carefully with the jigsaw. This method worked flawlessly, and I couldn't be happier with the perfectly straight cuts.


I also layed out the opening for the access panel above the tank, but at that point it was 9:30pm and I called it a night. Tonight I will cut it out, and hopefully finish the top section except for the trim & crown moulding.

The front panel so far:



Sitting on the bottom section, for a slight feel of how the finished cabinet will look:



I've been thinking about the access panel above the tank...when I make the cutout in the front panel for it, I will be using the cut out piece of plywood as the access panel. I'll mount it flush with the front panel, using 1 1/4" trim to hide the seam & block light from the halides.

It sounds simple enough, but I'm unsure how to mechanically attach the access panel to the front panel. As far as I know, normal hinges won't work, because of the 1/2" overlap of the trim. Euro hinges won't work because of the trim overlap coupled with the access panel being flush with the front panel.

For clarification, here's what I'm trying to accomplish:







Anyone have any ideas? I'm hoping there is some cabinet door hardware out there somewhere that allows me to do this, without the trim binding with the cabinet.

Take care folks....more updates/pics to come.
Dustin

[cannarella]

That's going to be tough because you need the hinge to come out and then up... and then some way to lock it open. You may have to make some hinges. I'll keep looking.

What is the height of the top of the opening? I may have an idea.

[RedEDGE2k1]

6 3/8" from the top of the access panel cutout to the top of the cabinet. Access panel is 1'-1 15/16" high. All 3'4 Ply. What's the idea?

[cannarella]

I think you can use euro hinges. You will just have to put up a board to hold the parts. Let me work up a drawing in Visio. I can't get used to sketch up. I wish I could figure it out...

[RedEDGE2k1]

Thanks! There are some great tutorial videos on the Sketchup website. The program was taught to us in Auburn, and the instruction came directly from the online tutorials -- worked well for me.

[cannarella]

Obviously. I am still figure the solution out. I will get back to you shortly. I think you will like it.

[cannarella]

Ok so I found this hinge at Rockler. The instructions are kinda crappy looking but if you look at the very bottom you see an area where it talks about the door opening outside the cabinet. I thinks this will work if you have an overlap with your trim. I would suggest on the top bringing down the trim so it just overlaps the carcase. Nobody will know that it is lower then the bottom. You could go get they hinges and use some scrap to do some tests. I think it will work. You will have to attach a 2" 2.5" piece of stock to mount the hinge to the carcase. Perfect location for pocket screws and an excuse to buy more tools... Let me know if this makes sense.

[RedEDGE2k1]

I'm confused...can you draw up a sketch? I work well with pictures

Also, do you have any info on the hinge at Rockler? Model number, picture, etc? I'd like to do some online research on it.

Thanks a lot for your time & help!

[cannarella]

Sorry I forgot to post the instruction sheet. Here is the item and instruction sheet. I am working on a sketch, but not in sketchup...
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?O...Select=Details
http://www.rockler.com/tech/28845.pdf

These are the hinges I used on the doors of my cabinet.

[rick rottet]

what about screwing some scrap strips of lumber inside the front panel which would overlap the opening, then use velcro to attach the access panel. it would be totally removable instead of hinged...

another thought... casement window hinges? the window (access panel) moves towards the inside of the house (outside of the stand) as it hinges. usually those hinges have a little notch in them to hold them open. the hinges connect to the sides of the window (panel) and allow the window to pivot as they hinge open because the hinges are not all the way to the top of the panel, they connect about 1/3 of the way from the top so the very top of the panel will travel downwards as the bottom of the panel travels upwards and outwards.

[cannarella]

Ok so here is what I am imagining.


On the left you see the extra wood that you would need to add to simulate the side and the door with the trim lowered. On the right you see the trim installed but the top piece is no centered on the joint but is pulled down so it can clear the carcase. I think it will work. You may want to make a test piece from scrap to simulate it. If you don't have any scrap I have some of the hinges at home I can try it ouy on. It may be a day or so.

[rick rottet]

http://www.hardwaresource.com/Store_...ts.asp?Cat=142