Monday, February 7, 2011

Project: Fish Tank Stand Bookshelf

I recently decided that while I'm happily unemployed, I can occupy my time by making myself some things that I will find useful in the future.  The fact that I currently have my father's well-appointed garage workshop available is another incentive, as is the desire to develop my basic woodworking skills in the more challenging realm of furniture-making.

For my first big project, I settled on something that will accommodate a small portion of my absurd private library, as well as display a pursuit of mine that I don't think has come up before, tropical fish.  This was also my opportunity to learn how to use Google Sketchup.  Here's what I came up with:


The thin lines on the lower portion are dowels which will support the bookshelves.  You may notice I neglected to include them on the rear verticals; Sketchup was giving me fits with the cylinders. The shelf above the tank will hold a deep tray for plants, with growlights for them mounted in the topmost frame.  I don't know yet what I'm going to do for a finish.  I'm leaning toward a dark stain to try to minimize the "clearly-made-from-2x4s" look, but I might just embrace that, put on a clear poly coat and use shiny hardware all over it.

2 comments:

Kristina said...

OMG my parents had one of these when I was growing up!!! it looks like it was the exact same frame actually... I loved that thing. go for it dude!

W said...

Yeah! Well, my parents never had anything like it, but it looks hella cool. And the "made from 2x4s" thing only adds to the charm. Just use good 2x4s, like a nice warm redwood or tight-grained blonde hardwood. At least that's how *I* think it would look good.