Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Super-sized aquarium stand custom build

This stand is some 36" high, 32" deep, and 82" long.
I have been working on my biggest furniture project yet: a stand & canopy for a 320 gallon reef aquarium.  My customer's tank measures 80" long, 29" tall, and 36" front to back, and the entire setup (with the canopy on top of the tank) will measure some 82" tall.

This project presents some challenges I haven't faced before.  First, as the largest piece I've made, I had to modify my shop layout a bit before I could cut very long stock on my table saw.  Construction is a load-bearing frame built of 2x4 and 2x6 stock, faced with a cabinet frame of hard white maple, making this my first face-frame project.  Finally, the whole thing needs to be disassembled in order to fit through my client's doorway, and then re-assembled on-site.  Needless to say, it's a major undertaking for me, and so far it's taught me many lessons.

Currently, the stand is at the client's house, where he is putting on the finish, and assembling the piece.  Here are some pics of the stand in my shop.  Pics of the finished piece will be posted as soon as the whole thing is set up.
The center vertical piece goes in the space between the doors, and is used as a reference for a critical sub-frame support.

I cut the flutes with my router, and the corbels with the band saw

corbels

the face frame, or "skin", was done in solid maple and maple plywood

the top molding is biscuited to the three face frame panels

the left side of the stand incorporates a door to access the rear of the tank

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