Hello. I plan to make a stand for a 40 gallon aquarium. It will be
holding a bearded dragon, so it won't have to hold the weight of the
water. The stand will be approx 36x18x30h and be made from 3/4" oak
veneer. I would like to make it as similar to this picture as possible:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...helf-stand.jpg

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together. Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

I'm not very experienced in woodworking. I've made a few things before,
most recently a subwoofer box of 3/4" mdf. However, I'm pretty sure
with the help of a couple friends I can pull this off. Any advice will
be appreciated. Thanks.

shotcaller88 wrote:

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together. Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

Without any water in it, that design will work fine. Whether or not the
implementation will work depends on your skills :-).

If there's any chance you'll ever fill the aquarium with water, I'd add a
center divider to prevent sag in the middle along the front edge. Another
good idea is to put a 1/4" thick piece of foam insulation board under the
aquarium to compensate for any small irregularities in the wood and/or
construction.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:29:16 -0800, shotcaller88 wrote:

Hello. I plan to make a stand for a 40 gallon aquarium. It will be
With no water this design will work fine. I did something similar for my
40 gallon tank. Mine is full of water so the sides and back were 3/4
maple plywood. Top and bottom were 3/4 maple ply. Top had a brace
running the width of stand just under the plywood. Sides had rails to
increase plywood thickness to 1.5 inches (think of it as a door or window
header in house construction). I also put a 2x4 post in the front middle.
The front was trimmed in maple and then maple doors. The cabinet has
held up great for several years.

Basically it is your bookshelf design with the front beefed up to carry
the water weight.

D. G. Adams

holding a bearded dragon, so it won't have to hold the weight of the
water. The stand will be approx 36x18x30h and be made from 3/4" oak
veneer. I would like to make it as similar to this picture as possible:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...helf-stand.jpg

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together. Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

I'm not very experienced in woodworking. I've made a few things before,
most recently a subwoofer box of 3/4" mdf. However, I'm pretty sure
with the help of a couple friends I can pull this off. Any advice will
be appreciated. Thanks.

Check out Wood Magazine. This or last months issue.


"D. G. Adams" wrote in message
. ..
On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:29:16 -0800, shotcaller88 wrote:

Hello. I plan to make a stand for a 40 gallon aquarium. It will be
With no water this design will work fine. I did something similar for my
40 gallon tank. Mine is full of water so the sides and back were 3/4
maple plywood. Top and bottom were 3/4 maple ply. Top had a brace
running the width of stand just under the plywood. Sides had rails to
increase plywood thickness to 1.5 inches (think of it as a door or window
header in house construction). I also put a 2x4 post in the front middle.
The front was trimmed in maple and then maple doors. The cabinet has
held up great for several years.

Basically it is your bookshelf design with the front beefed up to carry
the water weight.

D. G. Adams

holding a bearded dragon, so it won't have to hold the weight of the
water. The stand will be approx 36x18x30h and be made from 3/4" oak
veneer. I would like to make it as similar to this picture as possible:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...helf-stand.jpg

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together. Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

I'm not very experienced in woodworking. I've made a few things before,
most recently a subwoofer box of 3/4" mdf. However, I'm pretty sure
with the help of a couple friends I can pull this off. Any advice will
be appreciated. Thanks.

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together.

Yes.

Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

No - this is a topic of some debate here, but single biscuits probably
don't add much strength to a joint, although they are helpful for
alignment if you need help with that. If you wanted to strengthen the
design past the butt-joint+glue+screw plan, you could rout dados or
rabbets to increase the glue surface. If I were making something like
that, though, I'd feel perfectly comfortable just using glue+screws.
My only concern would be visibility of the ply edges, unless you're
veneering after construction.
Good luck,
Andy

On Jan 16, 7:39 pm, Larry Blanchard wrote:
If there's any chance you'll ever fill the aquarium with water, I'd add a
center divider to prevent sag in the middle along the front edge. Another
good idea is to put a 1/4" thick piece of foam insulation board under the
aquarium to compensate for any small irregularities in the wood and/or
construction.

I think I'd skip the foam insulation because I plan on using an under
tank heater.

On Jan 17, 1:19 am, "Andy" wrote:
No - this is a topic of some debate here, but single biscuits probably
don't add much strength to a joint, although they are helpful for
alignment if you need help with that. If you wanted to strengthen the
design past the butt-joint+glue+screw plan, you could rout dados or
rabbets to increase the glue surface. If I were making something like
that, though, I'd feel perfectly comfortable just using glue+screws.
My only concern would be visibility of the ply edges, unless you're
veneering after construction.

Thanks for answering the biscuit question. I think I'll go with the
glue+screws like you said.
I plan to use molding on the visible ply edges on the front & sides.
3/4" inch on the front of the side pieces & front of the shelves. then
use a 3" board or piece of molding along the top. I think that's how it
is in that picture.

shotcaller88 wrote:

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together. Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

Screws and glue will be fine.. It looks like a basic bottom cabinent
with 3/4 ply.. My brother has a 56 gallon
full of water with a similiar design, but it was built with glue and
brads. Focus on making it look good, the glue
will be plenty strong to hold it together.

shotcaller88 wrote:

Hello. I plan to make a stand for a 40 gallon aquarium. It will be
holding a bearded dragon, so it won't have to hold the weight of the
water. The stand will be approx 36x18x30h and be made from 3/4" oak
veneer. I would like to make it as similar to this picture as possible:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...helf-stand.jpg

Most of the diy aquarium stand plans I have found use a frame. Since
this style is frame less, I want to make sure it won't fall apart on
me. Will screws & wood glue be sufficient to hold it together. Would
you recommend the use of biscuits instead?

I'm not very experienced in woodworking. I've made a few things before,
most recently a subwoofer box of 3/4" mdf. However, I'm pretty sure
with the help of a couple friends I can pull this off. Any advice will
be appreciated. Thanks.

On suggestion is to put a label on the stand indicating that it is not
intended for use with a water filled aquarium. Could save someone from a
big mess some time in the future.