DIY chengal wood stand for 2.5' tank

[ervine]

Hi guys,

As usual I'm scrimping and saving once again.. I refused to pay $140 for a disgusting looking wrought iron stand, and $180 for a custom made chengal wood one... so I decided to make one by myself... and the total cost added up to about $70 bucks? Not too sure how to calculate also coz some of the materials I salvaged... but the chengal wood alone is $40+...

Materials are as follows:

1) Chengal Wood 2"x2" and 2"x3"

2) 9mm plywood

3) Hexscrews

4) 3" wood screws

5) L-brackets

6) power tools (jigsaw, drill, etc)

7) chisel & hammer

8) polyurethane varnish

9) finishing varnish

10) sand paper & files

11) Acrylic sealant (er.. this one big question mark)

Basically I followed some online websites and relied on my experience in woodworking (er... very little actually) and some good old sweat and blood...

So here's my baby all varnished and waiting to dry...

[ervine]

And here's a close up of the most difficult part to make, the half lap joint...

[ervine]

Sorry but I didn't take any process shots as it's dangerous to bring my cam down to the workarea, with all that varnish, sawdust and all...

Oh and my finishing isn't SUPER lah... I didn't really sand down after every single coat (although I should) but what the heck man, it's my stand...

Onward to the next DIY project!!

Incase you must know, you can get the wood from Defu Lane, go look up the directory... don't wanna give out too much details lah.. not nice for those who sell these stands...

[freewill]

Sorry but I didn't take any process shots as it's dangerous to bring my cam down to the workarea, with all that varnish, sawdust and all...

Oh and my finishing isn't SUPER lah... I didn't really sand down after every single coat (although I should) but what the heck man, it's my stand...

Onward to the next DIY project!!

Incase you must know, you can get the wood from Defu Lane, go look up the directory... don't wanna give out too much details lah.. not nice for those who sell these stands...

eh ervine bro... looks damn SOLID sia!

should have really waited and do this together with you!

nice job! maybe can turn this into small business liao hor... hahaha

[ervine]

eh ervine bro... looks damn SOLID sia!

should have really waited and do this together with you!

nice job! maybe can turn this into small business liao hor... hahaha

Actually I thought about it, making a small profit from it, but it's WAY WAY WAY too much work... I'm talking about the most work I had to do for a DIY project... source the wood, order, collect, sand, measure, cut, saw, chisel, file, sand, drill, glue, stick, etc etc etc etc.... took me 12hrs just to make the structure alone..

Only now do I understand why they charge $180 for making one..