My first home made stand

[Harleyrider5]

I just finished building my first aquarium stand. It's gonna hold a 75gal on top and a 40 breeder on the bottom. Now I just have to paint and move it in.


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[jonclark96]

Looks pretty stout. Good job.

 

[spazmattik]

Cool. Looks very similar to the one I put together recently. (Also my first) if you care enoigh about the appearance you might want to check out some drawer sheething (which I used) or thin plywood to tack to the outside. Makes it look so much better than just the frame alone and doesn't cost to much

 

[chriscoli]

Looks Great!

 

[verbal]

I have seen a lot of similar stands that have worked out fine, however I am a little concerned about the support for the top tank. It looks to me like all the weight will be on the screws/nails.

If you add pieces between the top and the bottom on the long sides, I think you will be fine.

 

[thedavidzoo]

Did you use dado joints or do the screws support all the weight?

 

[jonclark96]

Do whatever you are comfortable with, but don't underestimate the shear strength of a screw. I think a standard 1/4-20 screw has a shear strength of around 6,000 pounds. The wood will fail much sooner than the screw will shear off. I know the 2x4 stands that were available back in the day only had a single 3/8" lag bolt that connected the legs to the frame under the tank. I never had any issues with it.

 

[Harleyrider5]

With the size I made the stand it is just about 1/2 inch bigger than the tank on all sides. The top tank will actually be supported by the 8 2x4's that I used to make the uprights. I am considering making braces for the center of the uprights to keep from any potential buckling. I just used deck screws. All around for the construction. I used almost an entire box of 65 screws when building it.


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[Tony]

The stand looks great for sure.

Do whatever you are comfortable with, but don't underestimate the shear strength of a screw. I think a standard 1/4-20 screw has a shear strength of around 6,000 pounds. The wood will fail much sooner than the screw will shear off. I know the 2x4 stands that were available back in the day only had a single 3/8" lag bolt that connected the legs to the frame under the tank. I never had any issues with it.

Wow. I knew that it was considerable, but never looked that up before.

Suddenly feel better about some of my stands...

 

[daninmd]

The stand looks great for sure.



Wow. I knew that it was considerable, but never looked that up before.

Suddenly feel better about some of my stands...

Strength from screws comes not from the screw itself, but from compression between the two pieces of wood. if you have ever held something up by pushing it against a wall you know what I mean. The more pressure pulling the two pieces together the higher the friction between the two materials which supports the weight. the screw itself should support not any weight in shear, it should just be apply compression strength to hold the pieces together. its why its important to screw them in tightly. unfortunately with a material like soft lumber like 2x4 pine, the screw can actually loosen up over time due to the wood being so soft and can cause some issues. That's why you should always support the weight with lumber underneath and not screws only. Technically it would be better to use bolts with washers to attach pieces together if you were going that option as its less likely the bolt will loosen over time due to stripping, etc.

that said, I am sure the tank is fine, looks really overbuilt and will last a lifetime

 

[ezrk]

One thing I always wondered is why you wouldn't use glue and screws. Wood glue is (I believe) remarkably strong. I know the structural engineer on our floor reinforcing specified "glue and screw."

 

[daninmd]

One thing I always wondered is why you wouldn't use glue and screws. Wood glue is (I believe) remarkably strong. I know the structural engineer on our floor reinforcing specified "glue and screw."

yep, glue would drastically increase the strength as well but its a little more permanent. I am cheap , so have taken apart an old stand made with screws to customize it for a new tank to minimize amount of lumber to be purchased. but that tank was supported with 2x4 from below and didn't rely on screws to hold weight