One of my other interests, apart from woodwork, is keeping tropical fish - usually catching them locally too '8)'. Over the last few years I've built several aquaria and stands, but have been limited to relatively small ones as I could only get 6mm glass. When we came here to Togo I brought out a 5' long 125 gallon aquarium made from 10mm thick glass, and I've finally started building a stand and hood.
Apart from the aquarium, I also brought out about 20 solid oak kitchen doors and draw fronts - bought on ebay for the princely sum of £5. Some of these have been put aside for a sideboard, and the rest I will use for the aquarium stand.
Rant - I have to say that I really have a hard time in the UK with the profligate waste of the consumer society that, in my opinion, is totally out of control. I know that some on the forum make their living from fitting kitchens but I really struggle to comprehend how people can rip out a £15K kitchen because they don't like the shape of the doors or the colour of the worktops. The doors I bought would likely have gone in a skip if I hadn't won them. Probably a good number of these people who think nothing of chucking a perfectly good solid wood kitchen in a skip also claim to be concerned about the environment! Having lived for many years in developing countries where for the majority of people their 'kitchen' is 3 bricks with a pot on the top and some wood underneath, I realise that my views may seem somewhat extreme, but maybe this might make someone think twice before chucking something out.
Rant over.
OK, assuming you are still with me, onto the project! The stand is made from a mixture of 19mm MDF and plywood - The top and vertical sections are MDF and the base is 2 thicknesses of 15 mm ply. I would have probably used all MDF but it was the last of what I brought out and you can't buy it here.
The whole lot is sat on a plinth made from MDF. The structure has to be very solid as when full the aquarium weighs in at around 550kg. The base was put together with biscuits, pocket hole screw and glue.
The doors came with hinges but not the part that fixes to the carcase, but I managed to dismantle them, drill a hole in the back - there was one already - and screw it directly to the carcase rather than having it clip in place. Works fine. The base is more or less finished other than trim that has to be fixed above the doors - false doors fixed to the end panels and then finishing.
The next stage is to make a hood to house the lights and finish off the top.
I had two doors approx 900mm long and 600 wide - the width of the tank.
These I dismantled, squared off and then reassembled as one 1500mm panel.
The remaining doors were also dismantled and run through the p/t to get the finish off. I also used a router with a 3/8 round over bit in the router table to clean up the edges.
I am now at the stage of glueing up all the bits to make a frame that will sit on the top of the aquarium to which the panel will be fixed with hinges along the back.
So that is it for now. Hopefully will get some more done at the weekend.
Cheers,
Steve
Apart from the aquarium, I also brought out about 20 solid oak kitchen doors and draw fronts - bought on ebay for the princely sum of £5. Some of these have been put aside for a sideboard, and the rest I will use for the aquarium stand.
Rant - I have to say that I really have a hard time in the UK with the profligate waste of the consumer society that, in my opinion, is totally out of control. I know that some on the forum make their living from fitting kitchens but I really struggle to comprehend how people can rip out a £15K kitchen because they don't like the shape of the doors or the colour of the worktops. The doors I bought would likely have gone in a skip if I hadn't won them. Probably a good number of these people who think nothing of chucking a perfectly good solid wood kitchen in a skip also claim to be concerned about the environment! Having lived for many years in developing countries where for the majority of people their 'kitchen' is 3 bricks with a pot on the top and some wood underneath, I realise that my views may seem somewhat extreme, but maybe this might make someone think twice before chucking something out.
Rant over.
OK, assuming you are still with me, onto the project! The stand is made from a mixture of 19mm MDF and plywood - The top and vertical sections are MDF and the base is 2 thicknesses of 15 mm ply. I would have probably used all MDF but it was the last of what I brought out and you can't buy it here.
The whole lot is sat on a plinth made from MDF. The structure has to be very solid as when full the aquarium weighs in at around 550kg. The base was put together with biscuits, pocket hole screw and glue.
The doors came with hinges but not the part that fixes to the carcase, but I managed to dismantle them, drill a hole in the back - there was one already - and screw it directly to the carcase rather than having it clip in place. Works fine. The base is more or less finished other than trim that has to be fixed above the doors - false doors fixed to the end panels and then finishing.
The next stage is to make a hood to house the lights and finish off the top.
I had two doors approx 900mm long and 600 wide - the width of the tank.
These I dismantled, squared off and then reassembled as one 1500mm panel.
The remaining doors were also dismantled and run through the p/t to get the finish off. I also used a router with a 3/8 round over bit in the router table to clean up the edges.
I am now at the stage of glueing up all the bits to make a frame that will sit on the top of the aquarium to which the panel will be fixed with hinges along the back.
So that is it for now. Hopefully will get some more done at the weekend.
Cheers,
Steve
