Bowed top on DIY stand

[merfish101]

I built a stand for my 180g. Stand looks great but... I used a level at each stage during the build but the top is bowed in the center. After several deadening attempts to fix/ repair, I am at a lost. I've put far too much time, effort and money into this project to start over. The top is 3/4" Baltic birch plywood. When I lay my 6ft level on it, there's a noticable "frowny face"

 

[merfish101]

Is there any way to correct this? Any ideas are welcome.

 

[justingraham]

Couple things
One stand looks awesome great job
Two was the floor level when you measured the stand top? Looks like you have it on dollys so the stand might be good.
Three depending on how much you are off they have foam you can put down on top of the stand that will help correct the unevenness to a certain degree. If ur off by like a 1/4 inch it's not that big of a deal anymore tho it would be worth it to repair and fix it as it would be cheaper to fix it now then when there is water in the tank.

 

[merfish101]

Couple things
One stand looks awesome great job
Two was the floor level when you measured the stand top? Looks like you have it on dollys so the stand might be good.
Three depending on how much you are off they have foam you can put down on top of the stand that will help correct the unevenness to a certain degree. If ur off by like a 1/4 inch it's not that big of a deal anymore tho it would be worth it to repair and fix it as it would be cheaper to fix it now then when there is water in the tank.

Thanks for the compliment. The picture where you can see the space is actually of the stand sitting on the garage floor. One of my ideas was to get a one and a half inch thick solid core door, cut it down to an inch or so larger than the tank and put the tank on it. Because ive heard that you should not shim directly between the tank and the stand and the stand top would still be bowed, I was thinking about shimming between the stand top and the door.

 

[merfish101]

The door on top of the stand and the level on the door.

 

[justingraham]

Man that's a big gap

Yea somehow ur going to have to fix that

 

[JoshH]

how is the stand framed underneath the top? and is there any bowing front to back on the stand? BTW I know it's mentioned above but awesome looking stand, what type (not size) tank are you looking to put on top of it?

 

[merfish101]

It's frame is 1x lumber

 

[JoshH]

I mean do you have any cross bracing underneath the top say running front to back?

 

[merfish101]

I mean do you have any cross bracing underneath the top say running front to back?

Yes, also, the top is a married 3/4" Baltic birch glued to a 1/2" birch. The top 3/4" is longer than the stand to give it a"bar" look. The weight of the tank however will be sitting on the frame.

 

[JoshH]

Is the bow only in the top cap piece or does the front panel look like it's bowing along with the top? Hard to tell in the pics. Or is there any separation between the 1/2" birch underneath and the crossbracing? First thing to do is diagnose the issue and where exactly it is and depending on what and where it is will determine what's needed to fix it.

 

[merfish101]

As far as I can tell, there isn't any separation. The bow seems to be in the center of the top running front to back.

 

[JoshH]

If you can't visibly see any separation the only thing I can think of is the top has expanded or separated off of the 1/2" panel underneath. Were they only laminated together with glue or did you use screws as well?

 

[merfish101]

Just glue.

 

[merfish101]

I did think about adding screws from the bottom into the top in an attempt to pull it down.

 

[JoshH]

I had though of suggesting that, if you managed to line the screws up with the cross braces it might pull it down. But if the glue is rock solid it might be futile.

I'm racking my brain to think of a good solution that doesn't involve removing the top piece. Maybe I can get someone in here who can help.

@cromag08

 

[merfish101]

I had though of suggesting that, if you managed to line the screws up with the cross braces it might pull it down. But if the glue is rock solid it might be futile.

I'm racking my brain to think of a good solution that doesn't involve removing the top piece. Maybe I can get someone in here who can help.

Thanks

 

[Apotack]

Why not pull the top off and make a new one that is flat? Oftentimes Plywood sheets are bowed when you get them screwing it to the framing should help then glue and screw the second layer to the one attached to the framing

 

[merfish101]

In this case, that just wouldn't be possible, well, not without doing more harm than good. I glued and screwed everything as I went. (seemed like a good idea in the beginning).

 

[merfish101]

Can anyone tell me if using a sheet of insulation styrofoam would work? If it was placed between the stand top and another layer (say a solid core door), wouldn't it correct the irregularities in the stand top? Then the tank could sit on the door which has a flat surface.