Mike

 

I have a few hobbies that the lovely and gracious Monica may say are obsessions.  I love whitewater kayaking, reef aquariums, computers, and woodworking.  I am lucky enough to figure out how to relate them all together...  OK so maybe not the kayaking but I really am working on it.

 

For the last few years I have made a lot of online "calculators" for many different reef related things like sand beds, evaporation, plenums, and wood working projects like stands and canopies.  For the last few years, I have been wanting to make the "Ultimate" aquarium stand calculator.  There have been a few releases of calculators for making functional stands but nothing great.  The last couple of weeks I have dedicated a lot of time to finishing my dream calculator.

 

For those of you that came to Boise for the reef tour last weekend, you saw my stand which I am quite proud of.  It is a two piece stand that has a frame to bear the weight of the tank, and a facade that slides over it.  I got the 2-part stand idea from Scott Thomson a fellow hobbyist that has built quite a few of these type stands. 

 

The frame was made using cabinet grade MDF and is covered with three coats of epoxy paint.

 

 

The facade was made using oak lumber and plywood.  It was finished with a golden oak stain and Minwax Helmsmen Spar Urethane.

 

 

We were originally going to make flat panel doors but thought it looked too nice to not make raised panel.  The lovely and gracious Monica took the 1/4" oak sheet goods back and exchanged it for oak lumber.

 

Here is my tank sitting on the stand...

 

 

After all this rambling I guess I should get to my point.  I got my dream calculator ready for use...

 

 

Thanks,

 

Scott