Making Of An 41 Inch Aquarium Cabinet Journal

[Dan-CR4]

This is gonna turn out ok or is gonna be a massive disaster, I was not gonna post until it was complete in case it turns out bad, but thought I can take the shame if it all goes pear shaped. Now to be honest woodwork is not my strong point so lets get that out there. So take a seat as you may be in for a big laugh. Also please remember that a few months back I walked into a fish tank broke it and had quite a nasty gash in my leg, so im some what clumsy as well.

So why am I Trying this? Well, none of the cabinets I have seen are to my liking, the ones that I do like are out of my price range, and I was going to buy an ND aquatics set but the wife dont like the colours as it wont match our display cabinet in our living room. so I looked into making my own cabinet as I have seen many designs around the net that people have made and thought what the hell, lets give it a shot.

Costs

5 of 2" x 4" wood £6.80 each £34.00 (B&Q)
plywood 2400 x 1240 x 18mm £28.85 (B&Q)
mouldings £15 (would of been £7.50 but i messed up) (wickes)
4 of carved squared mouldings £11 (ebay)
3" screws £4 box of 100 (toolstation)
Coach bolts bag of 25 £3.42 (toolstation)
Lost head nails £1.36 (toolstation)
Stixall glue £3.20 (toolstation)
Wood glue 1 Litre £5.98 (toolstation)
Tack Cloths £5 (not really needed unless you aint got white spirit)
Wood filler £5 (B&Q)
Wood Stain 750ml £13.98 (B&Q)

so far it works out at £130.79 but would be cheaper if I did not have to buy extra mouldings, and really did not need the tack cloths as I had white spirit


Making Of The frame

So off to toolstation to get some parts and new tools, I do love new tools so this is an ideal excuse to spend spend spend. Next its off to B&Q (like The Depot in USA). Bought a couple of 2"x4" 3 meter lengths and got them cut to size for the length, the person in B&Q was not the brightest of sparks, anyway I decided not to get all the timber at this store. So went to another B&Q and got the rest, and all cut to size. when I got home I measured the parts to check all was correct and I was right, the first B&Q messed up & the lengths were to long, so now I have to cut them All the rest were correct.

heres a photo of my cut pieces as it is now.

Top & Bottom

I pre-drilled 4 holes on each corner of the joints and used 3 inch wood screws plus I used stixall (pic below), along with the screws I feel pretty confident that they will hold together.

Making the Uprights

What I did to make the uprights was get one 2x4" at 720mm & one 2x4" at 520mm, drilled two holes all the way through the wood and inserted 2 m8x130mm coach bolts through. glued the 2 pieces of upright together and clamped together, then tightened the bolts to make sure of a good tight bond.


heres a picture of the bolt joining the uprights together.

and heres one of the uprights, as you can see where I have put two of the above bolts through the uprights.

heres the frame nearly complete

Update 4 Jan 2012

well today I did another upright and put two supporting beams across the top as senn in the picture below

I also added the sides and top of plywood, got to add plywood to the front and put in a divider at the front to seperate the doors, then the sanding begins

I ordered some mouldings off ebay today and popped along to wickes as well to get some extra mouldings, so its finally taking shape.

Update 5 Jan 2012

Well I got somre more done today, got the rest of the plywood on the front of the cabinet, so now the cabinet looks like a box

The mouldings really gave me trouble as I aint got a miter saw which would of made making angled cuts easier, so got to pop back to wickes and get some more.

heres a picture of the side of the cabinet with mouldings on

also I bought these off ebay yesterday, came today sorry the pic is blurry, will get better pic when they are attached

Update 7th Jan 2012

Well today I put the rest of the mouldings on and put a base in. Also I popped to B&Q and got the stain, some fine sandpaper, tack cloths and a few other bits. Heres a picture of all the mouldings on and the base.

Just going to put a middle upright at the front then sand it and will have at least one coat of stain tonight.

Update 8th Jan 2012

Rubbed the wood down with 120 grit sandpaper then rubbed it down again with 240 grit sandpaper, there are a few blemishes in the wood still but its the way that I wanted it, so really did not take too much care in rubbing it down. I then hoovered up any dust then wiped the cabinet over with white spirit and a cloth, I was suprised how much more dust came off, then I used a tac cloth to get any other remaining dust.

I then stained it today with ronseals Antique Pine, It was a toss up between that or dark oak. I wished I had gone for the Dark Oak now. I do like the colour it is now though, as its getting darker as it dries, Also when I get to put a varnish over the top I will see if I can get a darker one to make it a little darker.

heres a couple of pictures from todays work.

Update 21st JAN 210

Been a bit slow this week, as I knew I had plenty of time before the tank arrives, Well since the last update I have stained the cabinet 3 times and put on 2 layers of B&Q clear varnish, which has given it a really nice shine and made it lovely and smooth. I also stained the inside once. I also have put in one pane of glass doing the other now but wanted to get the pictures up.

I Still got to get the hardboard for the back but that will take all of 5 minutes, so the cabinet is complete except that. Then I will build the hood once the tank arrives on the 9th.

anyway onto todays pictures.

oh dear look at the stain on the flooring As said ealier the hall is getting a full decoration including new floor after this is all over with.

Glass fitted on the left

Last update

This is the last update as the project is now complete. Overall im quite please with it, considering I am really bad at woodwork normally. The Hood and cabinet are both finished, Would I change anything if I did it again. yes, mainly the colour as would rather have had an oak colour but in the flesh it goes quite well with the rest of our furniture, which is what we wanted to begin with.

so heres the final pictures....

I am writing a journal for the scape in the planted section if you want to see more pictures on the future

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Good on you mate! Best of luck, and always remember "measure twice, cut once"

 

[mishmash]

Good for you for having a go. There are people on here that will be able to offer you a ton of help, so don't be afraid to ask before you start sawing.... I love the idea of home made cabinets as you can make them look however you want to.

 

[Dan-CR4]

Thanks the the best wishes guys does mean a lot to get some support, as the wife is not very supportive at the moment

and always remember "measure twice, cut once"

I wished the guy at B&Q would of done that.

Good for you for having a go. There are people on here that will be able to offer you a ton of help, so don't be afraid to ask before you start sawing.... I love the idea of home made cabinets as you can make them look however you want to.

I have been reading for days about people building there own and that gave me the will to try.

 

[IainMac85]

looking good so far mate! building them sturdy is the way forward!!

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Thanks the the best wishes guys does mean a lot to get some support, as the wife is not very supportive at the moment

and always remember "measure twice, cut once"

I wished the guy at B&Q would of done that.

Good for you for having a go. There are people on here that will be able to offer you a ton of help, so don't be afraid to ask before you start sawing.... I love the idea of home made cabinets as you can make them look however you want to.

I have been reading for days about people building there own and that gave me the will to try.


heres a small upddate. I have made the top and bottom of the frame, I had to recut the long bits as the guy in B&Q messed up, but just got me circular saw out and took all of 5 minutes.

I pre-drilled 4 holes on each corner of the joints and used 3 inch wood screws plus I used stixall (pic below), along with the screw I feel pretty confident that they will hold together.

heres the stixall

oh btw, Im doing all this in the hall, which I got to decorate once this cabinet is finished, bit a bargaining chip on me getting a new tank.

Ok im gonna do the legs/uprights next. Im doing 6 uprights and each upright is going to be 2 each of 2"x4" glued and bolted together with m8 carraige bolts.

ok will update when im onto the next stage.

Sweet..... you better be sure to vacuum up all the sawdust before the missus gets home too

BTW Dan, sent an answer about the Jebo, as I have one too

 

[Dan-CR4]

looking good so far mate! building them sturdy is the way forward!!

yes I want to make sure its as sturdy as possible, its my first build so keeping me fingers crossed

Sweet..... you better be sure to vacuum up all the sawdust before the missus gets home too

BTW Dan, sent an answer about the Jebo, as I have one too

Too late for the sawdust its everywhere,I have covered the fishtanks with dust sheets, shame about the rest of the furntire and hall, living room. at least the fish are protected

thanks for the reply on that filter, think I will get it, as its only £40 new in the box.

next update will have the frame fully built...........hopefully, this is where it all goes well or goes completely wrong

 

[IainMac85]

should be built like an absolute tank when its finished, reading the start of your build thread encouraged me to put up pictures of my recent build.
my stand is rock solid but i cant begin to imagine how sturdy yours will with be those legs on it LoL! good luck mate! nothing beats admiring your own handy work, especially when people compliment it. i look forward to seeing what ur going to do with it, are u keeping it pretty minimal and basic or are u going all out n making it into a classy piece of furniture?

 

[Dan-CR4]

should be built like an absolute tank when its finished, reading the start of your build thread encouraged me to put up pictures of my recent build.
my stand is rock solid but i cant begin to imagine how sturdy yours will with be those legs on it LoL! good luck mate! nothing beats admiring your own handy work, especially when people compliment it. i look forward to seeing what ur going to do with it, are u keeping it pretty minimal and basic or are u going all out n making it into a classy piece of furniture?

Im going to add some plywood and some moldings to it, then stain and varnish it, trying to match it as closely as possible to the wifes display cabinet which she would not let me get rid off so I could have a 6 footer


Once I finished the frame tomorrow, its onto getting the plywood and moldings and loads of sanding, really looking forward to that

I am also going to put a couple of supports along the top as well to give some major support to the tank bottom.

 

[IainMac85]

looking good so far man! and the fact that everything is nice and square is half the battle!! what dimensions are the tank thats going on the stand?

that sucks about not being allowed the 6footer, i know the feeling tho my g/f has restricted me to a 3footer for now, prob a good thing as our flat isnt huge, when we get a bigger place then i'll defo be looking to get a bigger tank!! a friend of mine has a 6x2x3 foot tank going spare i couldav had for nowt but the g/f would prob have moved out!! (not a bad idea now i think on it lol)

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Looks great!

But now all the hard stuff comes along.....

 

[Dan-CR4]

I have done an update and I am trying to keep the thread tidy by putting all the pictures in the first post. The size of the tank is going to be 41"x24x"18

It now takes two of us to move this beast, I laid on it today and im heavy, and it was solid & did not move a bit, so keeping me fingers crossed for it being ok for the tank.

 

[coldcazzie]

Looks good Dan, this is basically the method I would like to use if I build my own stand for my big tank. At this stage I'm failing to see any other option as the cabinets from ND increase the price to an unmanageable level imo. Will be keen to see how you get on with the trim, doors and painting/staining as those are the bits I am still pondering at the moment.

 

[Dan-CR4]

Looks good Dan, this is basically the method I would like to use if I build my own stand for my big tank. At this stage I'm failing to see any other option as the cabinets from ND increase the price to an unmanageable level imo. Will be keen to see how you get on with the trim, doors and painting/staining as those are the bits I am still pondering at the moment.

Thank you for your kind words. today I have started do the mouldings, but messed up in getting the angles right as I aint got a miter saw, so got to spend an extra £8 in getting new mouldngs, but not too bad, everything else so far has been smooth sailing and the cost so far in wood, nails and glue is standing me in at about £80, I gave mtself a budget of £150 so think I will easily come under that.

the worst thing is, we live in a small one bedroom place, no garage. so the sawdust is a nightmare, but the hall where im working is being decorated so the laminate floor has taken a real beating, but everything will be worth it in the end I think

 

[Dan-CR4]

added a couple of pictures in the first post, got to go wickes before I can go any further, but its coming together now, and so far im pleased with what I have done as in school, I really did suck at woodwork.