Had a water issue with my jbj 28, and needless to say, the stand got wet. These stands aren't well designed. The fiberboard top piece got pretty wet, and is beginning to crumble. Time for a new stand.
I decided to build one from steel with a wood inlay. I make it a habit to overengineer everything I build, so the stand could probably hold the tank 3 times over. I have a few details to add yet but here are some photos of the process so far:
First things first. Get that curve perfect. The front of the tank has 2" of curvature over 18" of width.
Next, frame up the top piece.
Top piece of the stand finished.
I built the stand upside down on a nice flat piece of plate steel so that I will have a nice flat stand.
Here, the legs are installed and everything is squared and braced up so that it will stay put while I weld it.
A sturdy base for it to sit on. I am probably going to install leveling screws like you'd see under a washing machine. I don't trust my old wood floors to be as flat as this stand.
Here it is with a door frame installed and part of the cross bracing.
And finally, here it is after sandblasting and the primercoat. You can see brackets for a shelf on the inside, and there will be one at the bottom as well. The flatbar straps across the sides and door will hold wood inlaid between the steel frame.
Final color of the steel will be a deep brown with a Krylon Fusion clearcoat, and I am thinking of a cherry or redwood stain for the wood inlay. I am also planning on cutting a piece of plywood to sit between the stand and tank.
Thought? Did I miss anything?
I decided to build one from steel with a wood inlay. I make it a habit to overengineer everything I build, so the stand could probably hold the tank 3 times over. I have a few details to add yet but here are some photos of the process so far:
First things first. Get that curve perfect. The front of the tank has 2" of curvature over 18" of width.
Next, frame up the top piece.
Top piece of the stand finished.
I built the stand upside down on a nice flat piece of plate steel so that I will have a nice flat stand.
Here, the legs are installed and everything is squared and braced up so that it will stay put while I weld it.
A sturdy base for it to sit on. I am probably going to install leveling screws like you'd see under a washing machine. I don't trust my old wood floors to be as flat as this stand.
Here it is with a door frame installed and part of the cross bracing.
And finally, here it is after sandblasting and the primercoat. You can see brackets for a shelf on the inside, and there will be one at the bottom as well. The flatbar straps across the sides and door will hold wood inlaid between the steel frame.
Final color of the steel will be a deep brown with a Krylon Fusion clearcoat, and I am thinking of a cherry or redwood stain for the wood inlay. I am also planning on cutting a piece of plywood to sit between the stand and tank.
Thought? Did I miss anything?