55/ 75 / 90 Gallon Double Stack Steel Tube Build Blueprints

[FishSwarm]

Just got my first custom stands back from the fab shop! Super excited and will be cleaning, light sanding, then painting them with truck bed liner this weekend. In hopes of helping someone that is in my same position I was, I thought I would take a little time and post my mock up blueprints that I gave to the shop. Warning: these are currently untested but I'm pretty confident they will hold up. I will post pics as I find time in the process of getting them fully setup. Enjoy!

 

[FishSwarm]

Thought I would give an update. I just got done with a very miserable experience. Removing the dirty coating on this square tube prior to applying the bedliner coating. I think the stuff is called mill scale? It took me hours and hours to get off. Washed first with dishsoap and hot water. Then cleaned with Acetone. Then tried a rustoleum grease remover. Sanded every inch with 60 and 100 grit with a jitterbug sander worked but took a ton of time. Also used sanding blocks which worked ok but that turned into a backbreaking job so I switched between jitterbug sander and blocks. I went through a lot of sandpaper and blocks! Does anyone know if I would have been ok leaving some of this coating on? Is there an easier way of getting that coating off? I plan on getting more stands in the future and don't want to go through that again! I still have quite a bit of cleaning to do to get the residual and dust off. I sure hope these turn out!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Thought I would give an update. I just got done with a very miserable experience. Removing the dirty coating on this square tube prior to applying the bedliner coating. I think the stuff is called mill scale? It took me hours and hours to get off. Washed first with dishsoap and hot water. Then cleaned with Acetone. Then tried a rustoleum grease remover. Sanded every inch with 60 and 100 grit with a jitterbug sander worked but took a ton of time. Also used sanding blocks which worked ok but that turned into a backbreaking job so I switched between jitterbug sander and blocks. I went through a lot of sandpaper and blocks! Does anyone know if I would have been ok leaving some of this coating on? Is there an easier way of getting that coating off? I plan on getting more stands in the future and don't want to go through that again! I still have quite a bit of cleaning to do to get the residual and dust off. I sure hope these turn out!

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Yeah looks like the machine shop didnt think the metal was for display and left it machine rough.

Ideally you would want an electric or pneumatic powered grinder with varying grades of abrasive wheels or pads. What you were doing was grinding off metal and polishing, so it mustve taken quite an effort with just sandpaper!

What i would do is just ask the machine shop next time if they could smooth the edges out better. They have all the equipment there and with the proper tools that wouldve taken 10 minutes/stand.

 

[pescado209]

looks nice. what size square tubing and wall thickness did they use?
now that I have a welder I want to build some stands instead of using wood.

 

[FishSwarm]

looks nice. what size square tubing and wall thickness did they use?
now that I have a welder I want to build some stands instead of using wood.

I used 1" square tube with 1/8" wall thickness

 

[FishSwarm]

Yeah looks like the machine shop didnt think the metal was for display and left it machine rough.

Ideally you would want an electric or pneumatic powered grinder with varying grades of abrasive wheels or pads. What you were doing was grinding off metal and polishing, so it mustve taken quite an effort with just sandpaper!

What i would do is just ask the machine shop next time if they could smooth the edges out better. They have all the equipment there and with the proper tools that wouldve taken 10 minutes/stand.

Thanks Backfromthedead, I will definitely ask the shop if they can clean it up for me next time. Proper tools probably make all the difference!

 

[pescado209]

I used 1" square tube with 1/8" wall thickness

what size tank? I have a210 7x2x2

 

[FishSwarm]

what size tank? I have a210 7x2x2

These 3 stands are for double 75 or 90 and double 55 or 60 gallon tanks. I have all the above sizes to put on them and will update as I can. I plan on making a similiar double 180 gallon stand out of 2" square tube 1/8" wall probably. That stand will be the same style but 6' length and 2' width. Same height dimensions.

 

[pescado209]

These 3 stands are for double 75 or 90 and double 55 or 60 gallon tanks. I have all the above sizes to put on them and will update as I can. I plan on making a similiar double 180 gallon stand out of 2" square tube 1/8" wall probably. That stand will be the same style but 6' length and 2' width. Same height dimensions.

sweet keep us updated please

 

[jsodwi]

You don’t have to sand the metal down. I use Upol degreaser from the auto body supply shop. Also just my opinion and I fabricate a lot of stands I am not a fan of having the 4 legs making contact with the ground. I like a full base that way there is more surface area and the weight is distributed better That’s a lot of weight on the 4 legs and on the floor in isolated locations. I’m sure you will be ok with the tank sizes you have and the 1” tubing but something to think about for larger setups. Post some pics when they are running. It’s gonna look nice.