Opinions on woodworking on stands?

[Delphinus]

I'm working on a stand for my 280g tank and have come to a point where I'm having trouble deciding exactly how the finish will look on it.

The stand is 72" long and 32" deep. Only the front and right hand side of the stand will be visible as this is an inwall tank, so the left side will be flush to the wall beside it.

The finish will be hardwood, I'm leaning towards maple but I may go with birch. No cabinet doors or anything like that, as the intent of it is for the front to be "view only" - all access will be from the tank room in behind.

Anyhow, anytime I look at cabinetry, usually the grains run vertical. I'm currently thinking that I would like to have the wood grains run vertically.

But since the front piece is 72" and you can only get plywood in 4x8 sheets, that means I'd have to splice two pieces in to get the 72" length.

So here's my question I guess... is it nicer to have the wood grains run vertically, or should I just get the grains to run horizontally and just get one piece cut instead of splicing together two pieces?

[untamed]

I think horizontal grain would look unusual. Put the seam in the dead middle, or deliberately cut the sheets into smaller pieces and create a number of vertical seams (maybe 3). I'm no woodworker, but I'm sure you can get the seams to look pretty good.

On another note, consider adding a catwalk around the back sides of the tank. These will give you something to stand on while you work on the tank. You'll have to lean all the way over the top of the tank in order to work on the front.

[Delphinus]

Yeah, see, that's what I was thinking, that horizontal grains wouldn't look all that nice and a seam in the middle wouldn't look that bad - Thanks for reaffirming my opinion on that one. I was just at the wood place and the guy at the counter was just sorta challenging me on why I wanted that ("Why not just run it horizontal? Nobody's looking at the wood if they're looking at the tank") and I was starting to doubt myself that I'm putting the bar too high. But I think I want vertical grains... It's not that hard to butt-end the pieces together, glue and sand and be done with it..

I do have a catwalk already on the back of the tank. The stand sits nearly 40" tall and the tank itself is 30" tall - being that I'm 5'9" (69") that pretty much mandates the catwalk as mandatory

I should be documenting what I've got so far in a tank journal thread, it's just that I ran out of room on my shaw webspace and I've been procrastinating about setting up a photobucket account, but once I've done that I can start posting pictures again.

[BMW Rider]

If you like the vertical grain then that is how you should orient it. There are many possible solutions to the joint problem, You could choose to make it frame and panel style, use a moulding to cover the seam, use an accent filler to highlight the seam or a small groove to do the same. If you truely want a single clean panel, that should be doable with carefull jointing of the seam. Usually the finish veneer of a cabinet grade plywood sheet will be multiple stips and not a single wide piece of veneer. The veneer is bookmatched to minimize the jointline visibility. With carefull selection of the plywood and choice of where you cut the sections of the panel from it, you should be able to visually eliminate the joint in much the same manner. Then its just a matter of making a nice tight flush joint between the two pieces. Some manner of joinery to reinforce the joint, like a tounge-and-groove. rabbet or biscuits will be needed to ensure the joint does not open up later.

[Delphinus]

Hmmm - I'm not sure I even understand all of those words I was just thinking of slamming two cut pieces of plywood together, glueing the seam and then sanding off any glue that spills out onto the visible side

I don't have a router - in fact basically the tools I have to work with fall into the categories of "hammer," "saw," "drill", "sander" and "glue."

Another possibility - I could see what kind of cabinet doors would fit, then use those as prefab panels and then just frame out the bits in between. I did my 75g stand this way and I think it looks pretty nice - only difference is there I do use the cabinet doors as doors whereas for this tank they would be permanently fixed. the downside is that I'd have to put something in behind like styrofoam or whatever to act as a noise barrier, since there will be a tiny gap of the door sitting on top of the wood it sits on.

[AndyL]

Is it not possible to buy true veneers anymore? At one point I remember standing at (I think it was totem) looking at rolls of veneer thinking how easy that could be to add to a stand for the right look...

Also check some of the non big-box wood retailers - As I'm sure cabinet makers / wood workers occasionally are looking for specific grain orientations for their projects.

[Murminator]

"Myself" I wouldn't go vertical I don't think it wouldn't look right with a seam in the middle, usless maybe you broke into 1/3 and did something with trim to hide the seams. Going vertical will make the tank look but horizontal will make it look longer.
Or you could stick with your plan and have the seam and take on my motto " If someone is looking that close .....they are either going to buy or steal it"

Murminator OUT !!!

[Dutch]

Keep your grains horizontal to match the flow of the long tank. Also use a piece of matching T molding in between the sheets that's centered so your eye's focus on the tank not the stand.

[BCOrchidGuy]

You could use my router if you lived closer. I'd either go with a 72 inch strip OR use veneer. I'd not worry about the grain though, with my stand I used red oak and the horizontal strips look as nice as the vertical ones, regardless of the grain.

Doug