Wood Stand Vs Metal Stand

[BonesCJ]

I am trying to weigh the pros and cons of a metal vs wood stand for the 110 I am planning on getting so I need to ask some basic questions...

Cost
Which costs more? I refuse to purchase a particle board stand so I am looking at minumum of a pinewood or oak stand which can retail for several hundred.

Availability
How hard would it be to get a metal stand in tucson (though I do not mind a drive up to phx)?

Ease of use
Is it harder to level a metal stand than a wood stand?

Longevity
since it would be a 48 *18 stand it would fit a variety of tanks but do I have to worry about rust or other structural issues?

Please help me answer my questions and If you have any specific stories/refrences please post them.

[jhendu]

That's a great question Chris. I have seen photos of some great looking metal stands that have been skinned with wood. I personally prefer the look of wood over metal. I've had a wood stand that I got at Tropical Kingdom for my 110 for about 9 yrs and it has held up very well. It even survived being shipped to Hawaii and back here again. The only metal stands I've ever used were on smaller (20g) fresh or brackish tanks. I never encountered any rust issues with them. If you want to go wood I know of a guy in Texas that makes nice looking stands with matching hoods that he sells on ebay. I've looked at several of his auctions and the items look really nice and they are relatively inexpensive. LMK if you want to see them and I'll find the bookmark and PM it to you. I can't imagine that a metal stand would be any different to level than a wood one. No matter which you decide upon, its durability will depend upon its quality.

[ZOAKEEPER]

Check out mikes thread, nice stand:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=805504

[Satori]

Originally posted by ZOAKEEPER
Check out mikes thread, nice stand:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=805504

Thanks!

I don't know if I can answer too many of your questions because I can't really compare the two. I have a DIY wood-skinned metal stand on my 180 now, and had a DIY wood stand under my old 55 gallon. The problem with comparison is that I built the 55 gallon stand out of scraps that I had laying around, and frankly it looked like it was built with scraps!

Plus, I'm now biased towards metal stands.

I probably don't have a good reference of what it should have cost to build since I got the steel at my friend's cost and cut and welded it myself. I don't remember the exact cost of the steel, but I think it was only like $30 for 60 feet. Retail is a lot higher than that. It took two sheets of cabinet grade plywood and two sheets of regular plywood (top and bottom), so that was about $150. Powdercoating was around $100.

It's been up for about a year and a half and has gone through one move last month. During the move I had a chance to inspect the structure and it looked great. No rust or anything.

As far as leveling, I would think steel is better too. A steel frame won't bow or warp over time to any shims that you have to use under it for leveling.

And it's light too. Just the metal frame without any wood only weighs about 25 pounds. And without large wood supports, I have full use of the area underneath.

Here's the steel frame just back from powdercoating:



And here it is all skinned and in place:

[Kirk_M]

That is one sweet looking stand...thanks for sharing!

[Satori]

Thanks Kirk. As zoakeeper pointed out, you can see tons of stand building pics in my build thread.

[Turbo5oh]

could i ask what size tube steel did u used?

[Satori]

Originally posted by Turbo5oh
could i ask what size tube steel did u used?

I used 1" square tubing with 1/16" thick walls, but some people said that wasn't strong enough and it would crumple before I could finish filling it, so you might want to go with something heavier.

Seriously though, it's plenty strong. It's only weakness might be tortional stress but I don't make it a habit of rocking the tank back and forth.

[Turbo5oh]

for mine im thinking 1.5 square or 1 by 1.5 square. i havent realy came across any info on steel tube strength. my machinist buddy thinks either of my choices would be fine.
maybe i should consult my mechanical engineer buddy

thanks

[SahuaritaMike]

here was mine made of 2" tubing and was a monster I could have probably double the weight without it flinching.

[ZOAKEEPER]

I could set my jeep on that!! just couldn't get it in the house!!
Thats an awesome stand, is it finished in a decor to match wood? Or is that paint?

[SahuaritaMike]

Its actually a rusted finish with a clear coat to protect it from staining anything? Thanks for the comment it was the first stand I have ever built.

[Senn]

As far as steel stands go, you can use a standard 1020 steel (51 ksi) and it'll hold up fine. When I built my stand I used 4130 and the tensile strength is right around 92 ksi. Just be sure to put cross bracing and corner braces so you don't have any torsional stresses. Any questions feel free to pm me, since all I do all day is weld steel.

[BonesCJ]

It looks like I will probably go with a wood stand, I found some amazing DIY stand plans by RocketEngineer in the DIY forum and my father-in-law does amazing wood work and has agreed to build my stand for me. It is going to be awsome because then I will be able to get it exactly how I want it.