Wood Type Selection Help

[oilag11]

I'm in the process of building a, what I'd like to be, furniture-quality aquarium stand. I've framed it up using 2x4s, and I'm ready to skin it with face panels. I'm stuck with the question of wood type. The only criteria I have are that I'd like the finish to end up as a dark brown, and that I'm not a big fan of the super-grainy look of oak. I'm the epitome of a newbie when it comes to woodworking, but thanks to some well-prepared family members, I have many of the requisite tools. However, I still lack the experience, so ease of working could be considered a supplemental criteria.

Given the dark brown color of the eventual workpiece, I'd like to have some subtle grain, but it isn't critical. After all, the aquarium itself will be the centerpiece of this project - but I want to make sure the stand 'fits' in my dining room.

Do ya'll have any suggestions on wood types? Any help you could provide would be immensely helpful. Thanks a lot guys/gals!

[LCHIEN]

mahogany (African or South American/Honduras/etc), Jatoba, Walnut
will be a deep rich reddish brown to a warm deep brown.
All woodwork well, have nice grain and are easy to finish and are moderately priced for hardwoods. (e.g. not cheap but not exotic either)

How big (Gallons) is your aquarium... remember that water weighs approx 8.33 to 8.6 (fresh to Salt) pounds per gallon. Gets heavy real fast.

[oilag11]

It is a 140 gallon aquarium, so with water, rock, and sand, I'm looking at about 1300 lbs. i've got enough lumber in the stand frame to support a volkswagen, so it should be good.

I noticed you are in Houston(ish), are these species relatively widely available? I've been looking at Houston Hardwoods, is there a better place to look than this?

Also, what about woods that would be stained to get the deep brown color?

Thanks again for all of your help!

[pelligrini]

The ones Loring mentioned would be nice. If cost is a factor a good birch ply can be finished pretty dark too.

I used some wall panels to cover a 2x framed stand that held a couple 18 gal talls and two 10 gal tanks. I also used some birch door skins on another stand that holds two 29 gal tanks. I would have liked to use some nice materials, but I had very little money at the time.

Make sure the top of your framing is absolutely flat. My first attempt wasn't and an 18 tall cracked corner to corner on the large face from the shear forces.

Does your design include doors on the front? I've always liked access to hide any power strips, transformer blocks, and canister filters inside the cabinet.

[oilag11]

Cost is a consideration, but it isn't critical - I want to make sure this looks good.

By the framing, I assume you mean that the top of the stand is completely level, so the tank sits flat?

The stand will have doors on the front, and the sides, as I need to be able to access the stand from both directions because the stand will have a sump in it.

[pelligrini]

Yea, I was talking about the top of the stand being absolutely level. My old 'that's close enough to square' philosophy was not a very smart.

Looks like you have a good handle on the design for your salt tank (assuming salt because of the sump).

Be sure to consider a water resistant finish coat too. I've got a 55 on the headboard of my bed on an oak base. There are several areas on it now that have water stains from me not finishing it properly. I'm not going to move that planted tank off to refinish it either.

Gloss finishes really show water spots too. The base for my 135 gal is painted gloss black. Looks nice, but I'm always wiping off water spots. I’m glad I didn’t paint the base for my 75 that’s in the same fish room.

[LCHIEN]

because of the way the wood is "skinned" off the log to make veneer plywood, the grain never (to me) looks very good, Not like Quartersawn wood planks, anyway.

If you're wanting to cover your stand with plywood (I reread your post and it seems you've finished the stand), then some birch or other light colored ply would work. You can stain them multiple times until it gets as dark as you need it.

There's only about three places in Houston that specialize in hardwood lumber, Clarks, Houston Hardwoods (HH) and one other, I think.
HH is off 34th street in NW Houston...
They all have business hours like 8-5 Weekdays, (when I work) and 9-Noon on Saturdays (when I play tennis) so I hardly ever go to them.
I've been to HH, and I know They have some hardwood veneer ply, but I've never really looked at it.

[radhak]

One newbie to another, my personal experience is that Mahagony is very nice to work with : cuts easy (Mable is bad, Oak not so), routs nice, finishes neat (Cherry/Jatoba is...umm, finicky...).

And gets you the color you looking for...

[oilag11]

I'm thinking that since my stand is already so heavy from the 2x4 framing I'll need use 1/2" stock, so I suppose that limits me to veneer ply. When purchasing the ply from lumber shops, is it already "surfaced" in that it has a flat side(s)? I'm debating having the Clark's rip the ply into the 6" widths I will need...

[Carlos]

Speaking from experience, you will need to be absolutely sure that every part of the stand is fully sealed. Personally if I ever make a stand again I will seal the inside with a couple coats of epoxy and the outside with many coats of sealer. The sump will keep humidity high and will wreak havoc on the wood. And if this is going to be a marine (saltwater) aquarium, even more so.

[oilag11]

agreed. The stand will definitely be waterproof on the inside and as best as I can on the outside. I will also be installing fans in the stand to keep the humidity down.

[JimD]

If you want to use 1/2 inch plywood, baltic birch is the best I have used. My local dealer has it in 5x5 foot sheets. It will take stain well. BB has almost no voids and works more like solid wood than most plywood. The grain is typically subtle.

For something inexpensive that is easy to work and takes stain well, poplar is a good choice. It is not at all rot resistant, however, so make sure you seal it up well if you use it.

Maple would be another good hardwood but it is not cheap but around here it is less than cherry or walnut. It takes stain well and is harder and thus more resistant to damage than poplar or softwoods. Maple and Cherry are more prone to burning if your cutters (saw or router) are dirty or dull or your feed rate is too slow. Other than the tendency to burn if you don't cut them right, I don't think they are any harder than anything else to use. Maple and Cherry often have interesting figure in them if that is something you want. My local dealer sorts these boards out and charges more for them but the dealer ~100 miles away that is open on weekends does not.

I would not reduce the thickness of the face frame for weight reasons. It seems like you have so much mass already the face frame will make very little difference. If 13/16 will not look right, it could be good to use something thinner but I wouldn't do it for weight reasons. Easiest joint to make if you are relatively new to this would be biscuits, dowels (which I do not use much but others really like them), or pocket screws. The screws don't look the nicest but you can get plugs of matching wood which should help a lot. For this application, if you put the screws on the backside of the face frame, they should be hidden.

Jim

[oilag11]

Jim, thanks for the response. I did a bit more research, and I believe I've decided to use walnut. After talking to a few dealers around me, none seem to have 1/2" walnut plywood. However, one of the dealers does have 1/2" solid walnut thin stock in random widths to satisfy my needs. I like this strategy better, as I don't have to worry about the plywood delaminating if it isn't completely sealed.

Is the solid walnut going to have the same tendency to burn as the maple and cherry?

You make a valid point about the weight. But you did touch upon my other concern - whether the aesthetics of 13/16" on either side (before any trim moulding) would look pleasing to me, and I don't think it will.

I'm planning on constructing the face panels using pocket screws on the backside, and then perhaps using a mitered joint to affix the face panels together. Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks for all the responses guys!

[cabinetman]

because of the way the wood is "skinned" off the log to make veneer plywood, the grain never (to me) looks very good, Not like Quartersawn wood planks, anyway.

Not all veneer plywood is "skinned" off a log. What you're thinking of is "rotary cut" plywood, which usually produces a random grain pattern. What is available is "plain sliced" plywood, which utilizes the long grain being "sliced" into "flitches" which can be of varied width, but produces a very uniform long grain pattern totally different in appearance than "rotary cut".

Choices for the aquarium for an already dark hardwood plywood would include Walnut or Mahogany, and Mahogany being less expensive. Maple and Birch won't have a subdued grain, although staining dark would be less expensive than Mahogany. ApplePly would be a substitute for Baltic Birch, is made in the U.S., and is available in 4 x 8 sheets.

A structural note on aquarium stands. The 2 x 4 construction may seem hefty enough to carry the weight, but so is 3/4" plywood on edge. Where the structural integrity is tested is in torquing stresses. Those being pushing or pulling or twisting forces. If 2 x 4's are to be used, gussets should be added to the corners to eliminate the possibility of side to side, front to back, and corner to corner movement. Adding 1/2" ply to the exterior of the 2 x 4 shell may or may not be sufficient, especially for that kind of weight.
.

[oilag11]

3/4" ply would have been a better option for the stand, but I bought the tank with the stand already framed, and the previous owner used 2x4s, so I just reinforced it to alleviate the susceptibility to torsional and shear forces. The 1/2" skin is purely cosmetic at this point.

If you look at many commercially-made stands for large aquariums, most (all?) use only 3/4" ply on end, just a thought for next time...