40 breeder build

[Ray]

So I was going to setup a frag tank and figured I would do a display/frag tank and tie it together with my 30 cube.

The 40 will go in my bedroom, thus the reason it will be a display more then a typical looking frag tank, and is on the other side of the wall my cube is on.

Well the wife was not having a plain metal stand going in the bedroom so I went on the hunt for a suitable stand. After a few weeks and a couple of disappointing tries at getting a wood stand (new or used) within my budget I decided to take the metal stand and skin it with birch and pine and stain it mahogany to match my bedroom furniture.

with that said here is what I started with....

 

[Ray]

As you may have noticed the stand has a slight curve at the top so you can fit another breeder on the bottom, SO my option was to try and curve/bend the wood, go with something like wacky wood or build the side out a little.

Not wanting to mess with bending the wood to fit and wacky wood would blow my budget I decided to build the side out a 1/2 inch on each side and live with the tank being a little closer in the front then the sides.

Next I cut the opening for the doors and built a frame on the inside of the opening to support the doors

 

[Ray]

I then cut the piece in half I cut out and framed around them for the doors, sorry I didnt take a picture of this part

Next I put some molding around the top, I nailed the sides in but because the frame is metal I couldnt nail or screw it in so I used a little wood glue and some clamps to hold it on. I also put the hinges on and lined up the doors.

next I started staining the doors, the stain that was picked out was not even close in color so I had to sand them down and pick up something else. Long story behind that but I wont get into it

Next came the bottom molding, corner molding

Again I used wood glue to keep em in place

 

[sumpmonkey]

Hey ray thanks for the PM yesterday.Is it my pc or something else we are not getting any pictures on this end

 

[Ray]

The next few days I spent staining and sanding and staining again. I was recommended to use a stain that had polyurethane already in it, in between stains you had to go over it with a fine steel wool (000) to remove the polyurethane. I am still not sure I like this one step as I felt it took me many tries to get it so you didnt see the brush marks, no matter how smooth it was and how fine the brush was I was not completely happy with the look.

Now it is all together and in place, the stain came out darker then the armoire it was going next to but does look pretty close to the bedroom set.

Soon to come will be the tank build.....

 

[Ray]

Hey ray thanks for the PM yesterday.Is it my pc or something else we are not getting any pictures on this end

no problem, I just wanted you to know I was not trying to be a jerk. It doesnt always look that way when trying things out.

I can see them on my end. They are linked from my drop box and this is the first time doing that

 

[sumpmonkey]

well thanks but still no pics but sounds cool i have skinned a couple of metal stands before

 

[Ray]

let me know if you can see them here

https://www.dropbox.com/home#/Public/stand:::

 

[Ray]

 

[sumpmonkey]

let me know if you can see them here

https://www.dropbox.com/home#/Public/stand:::

Nope it comes up to the sign in page

 

[Ray]

ok I have it figured out, I am going to start another thread and copy and paste everything then have a mod delete this one when I am done, I cant edit to add the pics in the beginning posts

 

[Ray]

ok I started a new thread and hopefully the pictures are showing up

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?110011-40-breeder-build&p=980577#post980577

Could a mod either lock or delete this thread