I was wondering if someone could help me out! I am trying to build a
hexagon fish tank stand to put a 20 gallon tank on. I am a very novice
woodworker with some of the basic tools... table saw, compound miter, and
router. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as how to
fasten the sides together? I'm thinking about using either oak plywood
(best case scenario) or just regular plywood that I will later paint.
I'm guessing that gluing and clamping won't be enough. Is there a reference
book/magazine that illustrates such a project? Any help would be greatly
appreciated! Thanks in advance!
On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 04:58:17 GMT, "Greg"
<[email protected]> vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:
remove ns from my header address to reply via email
>I am a very novice
>woodworker with some of the basic tools... table saw, compound miter, and
>router.
OK. I give up. <G>
Greg wrote:
> I was wondering if someone could help me out! I am trying to build a
> hexagon fish tank stand to put a 20 gallon tank on. I am a very
novice
> woodworker with some of the basic tools... table saw, compound miter,
and
> router. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as how
to
> fasten the sides together? I'm thinking about using either oak
plywood
> (best case scenario) or just regular plywood that I will later paint.
>
> I'm guessing that gluing and clamping won't be enough. Is there a
reference
> book/magazine that illustrates such a project? Any help would be
greatly
> appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Greg: Glue and clamping should be sufficient--most of the force should
be downward through the sides, not laterally or shear. Use a quality
glue.
Given that you plan to use plywood I'm assuming it will be constructed
something like a barrel. A simple technique uses tape and glue: once
the sides have been bevelled and cut to length, they are laid face
down--pointed edges touching--across strips of tape, glued, and then
rolled up (or folded) into the carcass shape. The tape will act as
light-duty strap clamps until you can get real straps on it. The top
can rest on the top edges of the sides with cleats holding it in place.
You have the tooling to build with this technique; a few strap clamps
would be needed. Your bevels need to be cut carefully, and probably
jointed if your TS doesn't cut cleanly. Use a good sharp blade.
Several magazines have run articles on this technique over the last
several years, although I don't have references at hand. Look for
something on tape-clamped or edge-glued carcass(carcase) construction.
Good luck; and keep us posted.
Dan
An even better TS exercise might be to put splines in the joint.
Should give you a pretty strong joint too.
You can probably do the entire project with just the tablesaw. I,
however, would use this as an excuse to run out and buy yourself a
biscuit jointer. The money you'll save vs buying a stand should more
than cover it.
Biscuits. Big help in alignment and better'n end-to-end plywood gluing.
"Greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was wondering if someone could help me out! I am trying to build a
> hexagon fish tank stand to put a 20 gallon tank on. I am a very novice
> woodworker with some of the basic tools... table saw, compound miter, and
> router. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as how to
> fasten the sides together? I'm thinking about using either oak plywood
> (best case scenario) or just regular plywood that I will later paint.
>
> I'm guessing that gluing and clamping won't be enough. Is there a
reference
> book/magazine that illustrates such a project? Any help would be greatly
> appreciated! Thanks in advance!
>
>
In article <[email protected]>,
"Greg" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I was wondering if someone could help me out! I am trying to build a
> hexagon fish tank stand to put a 20 gallon tank on. I am a very novice
> woodworker with some of the basic tools... table saw, compound miter, and
> router. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as how to
> fasten the sides together? I'm thinking about using either oak plywood
> (best case scenario) or just regular plywood that I will later paint.
>
> I'm guessing that gluing and clamping won't be enough. Is there a reference
> book/magazine that illustrates such a project? Any help would be greatly
> appreciated! Thanks in advance!
As others have said, design will be important so that the weight of the
tank doesn't try to separate the joints- A box with a plate on top means
that all the force pushes the top onto the box.
As far as joining plywood... I wish I had discovered the Kreg pocket
screw jig sooner. That and shallow dados make for very nice and easy to
assemble plywood cases.
merle
As others have mentioned, both biscuits and blocking would work. If you
don't want to buy a buiscuit joiner, you can accomplish the same thing with
a spline. Just make sure that the grain of the spline is running
horizontally (across your verticle joints), or the spline will just split.
... very doable with just a table saw.
-Steve
On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 15:00:54 +0800, Old Nick <[email protected]>
wrote:
>On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 04:58:17 GMT, "Greg"
><[email protected]> vaguely proposed a theory
>......and in reply I say!:
>
> remove ns from my header address to reply via email
>
>>I am a very novice
>>woodworker with some of the basic tools... table saw, compound miter, and
>>router.
>
>OK. I give up. <G>
white flag... hands in the air... we're unarmed here, don't shoot...
that sort of give up?