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Corner Cabinet Complete!


Fisher
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The Intent; two corner cabinets in the living room built from plywood and 2x4s:
The Action:
Whittled up a few sticks.
Built the bottom frame and carried it up to the living room to verify the floor space.
Built the top frame, stuck it on the bottom frame. Verified the height.
Revision #2: The joint is 135o. Ripping a 45o mitre edge on a 2x3 wouldn't give me much to screw to.
So I made the two front vertical supports out of 2x4. Yes, I see the screw heads sticking out... already countersunk.
Formed the horizontal framework for the bottom.
After looking at the struts, I realized I have nothing to attach the edge of the plywood bottom to.
Revision #3: Moved the front strut against the frame and planned to rip enough 2x2s to run inside the bottom frame.
Picked up enough wood to finish framing cabinet #1, build cabinet #2 and plywood them both. With so much rain yesterday, it looks like tomorrow will be Charlie Mike.

Edited by Fisher
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Just thought I'd ask because it doesn't say in his post.(if it was a coffee table the support would be fine)

I would highly recommend putting upright supports in between the top and bottom frame nailed or screwed to the uprights you already have in place. It doesnt matter if they're 2x2's or 2x3's. Screws are not intended to have that kind of lateral force on them, they will break. With the support of the 2x2's inbetween the upper and lower frame the weight will be directly transferred down to the floor through the wood rather than through the screws.

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fishtanks

yup, fishtanks!

I have a rectangle stand holding up a 25 tall, but it's pretty tippy on carpet.

Are these cabinets intended to hold a lot of weight?

My primary purpose is to build two corner cabinets that will accommodate 30x12 tanks.

However, these cabinets will flank and compliment a feature cabinet in our living room. So the dimensions are strictly intended to do that. The back sides are 36" long, the short sides are 18".

I would highly recommend putting upright supports in between the top and bottom frame nailed or screwed to the uprights you already have in place. It doesnt matter if they're 2x2's or 2x3's. Screws are not intended to have that kind of lateral force on them, they will break. With the support of the 2x2's inbetween the upper and lower frame the weight will be directly transferred down to the floor through the wood rather than through the screws.

I'm not following you:

NDS suggests lateral load (shear) per #8 multipurpose screw is ~85lbs. I haven't looked in IPT yet, but 90lbs comes to mind. I estimate 30 screws in the top frame alone. 60x85=5,100lbs. 60% IPT safety factor = 3,060lbs. I'd be safe if the screws experience any shear, that is, if the vertical supports were not flush with the top plane (where the coffee cups will sit) and bottom plane (what contacts the floor).

However, all 9 vertical supports do precisely that. So the weight on the top will transfer to the floor. The Revision #2 photos probably illustrates it the best. The top and bottom frameworks are true, so screws only serve to fasten them to the vertical supports. It seems the upright supports you are proposing and the uprights you see are one and the same.

There is no center support on the left side, like there is on the right. The span is 24" front to back corner; 12" to the left corner. When I sit on the strut, it flexes 0.020" I estimate that will be reduced to 0.010" when I put the top plywood on.

Edited by Fisher
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what you've got will be strong enough for a 25 gallon. But it would be 20x stronger with 2x3's directly in between the two frames so you're not relying on the shear strength of the screws.

Edited by Noodles
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what you've got will be strong enough for a 25 gallon. But it would be 20x stronger with 2x3's directly in between the two frames so you're not relying on the shear strength of the screws.

a 25 is almost a 1/13 of the shear strength of those screws. and it's apparent this isn't the first stand he's made.

one end of the uprights will touch the floor and the other end of the uprights will touch the cabinet top. spf has no relevant linear compression so the circumferential framing holds no weight. unless he's building with spaghetti, there is no shear.

if i'm reading the dimensions on his plan right (with revisions), the area of the top frame is 351in2. a 30gal tank is 400lbs at best. that's 1.14psi on the wood. which is less pressure than you use to squeeze a lemon.

Holiday time, so this project will wait until next week. Thanks for the props and feedback.

enjoy your holiday and thanks for sharing your project!

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structurally, the uprights are held vertical by the frames. the ply wood will give it strength horizontally. you can go ahead and put 200 lbs (approx. weight of 25gallons) on a single 2x2 and it will not break as long as it stays completely vertical. There's 9 of them in this instance holding that weight making the load of the 25 gallons 22.2lbs per upright. More than acceptable.

I recommend going to big als or the like and taking a gander at that kind of 'support' those tankstands have to offer. If you dont like this, try tongue and groove particle board :rofl:

what you've got will be strong enough for a 25 gallon. But it would be 20x stronger with 2x3's directly in between the two frames so you're not relying on the shear strength of the screws.

The particle board construction would technically be much stronger than using screws to take the weight, instead of transferring the load directly down to the ground. Particle board just isn't idea because it soaks up water. Strength wise it's great. Workability wise, it's great too.

I think the stand will hold no problem, but you really want those verticals to be between the top and bottom. With sandwiched verticals you could literally park a car on the stand with no issues strength wise. Wood glue is incredibly strong, so I prefer it and you clamp or screw the joints just to hold the surfaced together until the glue sets.

Edited by jcgd
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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for your supportive comments, and thanks to Chelsea for explaining my design in lay terms.

Holidays are over so progress has been slow, hence no new photos. The top and bottom are on, and sanded.

Revision #4: I'm going to omit the right side compartment door and just cover that side with ply. I'll omit the inside panel so I can still access the compartment through the main door. I've finally decided to leave the back open so I can get to the wall outlet if I need to.

Particle board just isn't (a wise) idea because it soaks up water.

Well said.

With sandwiched verticals you could literally park a car on the stand with no issues strength wise.

It's an aquarium stand, not a parkade.

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