[MarkS]

Can anyone give me some info on this?

What sizes does it come in?
What thickness?
What types of wood?
Is it only found in areas close to the ocean? San Antonio is not a very good place to find marine stuff...

Thanks,
Mark

[icemark]

I have only lived near the coast, and it has always been available, so I am not sure if it is available inland.

Usually flooring grade is a good substitute, but with grooves. The idea is that you want to avoid plywood’s with large voids in the wood (so to speak) and make sure it has an exterior grade of adhesive.

I have only seen it in A-C grade plywood (one good smooth side one rough).

I have only seen marine grade in 3/4" thickness. Usually around $25-$30 a 4x8 sheet.

Another alternative would be zero void Birch plywood, but it could be very expensive

[Rin]

Birch plywood is what I used for my stand. It seals up very nice with polyeurethane.

[Bojinx]

I used Birch plywood for my stand as well. Sealed up beautifully, but slapped my wallet around at $24 for a 4X4 sheet from the local Home Depot. The stuff is super smooth and clean though and required little prep work before finishing.

[icemark]

Hey Mark, here is another page on a guy building his own with Plywood.

Granted it is in the great white north and some of his trials and tribulations are not applicable to us, but note near the end of the page, where he has a problem using just regular grade plywood, instead of Marine grade or zero void plywood.


http://members.home.net/wmastop/bigtank/Startb~1.htm

[MarkS]

WOW! That's scary!

Did you notice his stand? The supports should be vertical. I think I will stick with my design. It is a bit over engineered, but I would feel safer.

BTW, I wanted to use oak and cannot find marine plywood. Is most 3/4" oak zero void?

Mark

[icemark]

Yeah I don't know about the stand he built, but he is a lawyer after all, you can't expect him to be to handy.

as far as the voids in wood:

Look at the cut edge of the wood.

If there are no voids or holes or gaps, then yes it is Zero void.

If there are any gaps bigger than 1/16" then: No it is not zero void.

I have built a lot of stands and hoods out of oak ply, I love everything about it (except the price... still cheaper than glass though).

[VPWoodwork1]

Most marine grades of Plywood are in 5/8 or 3/4, btu they are not that smooth and there is better grades ou there. Marine plywood is treated and that is about all, nothing special about it. If you are looking for strength there is Paraply...it is 9 or 11 ply...so very strong. As for the other gentlemans stand it is fine, nothing wrong with the support at all. If anything it is over-built.

Glenn

[MarkS]

First, welcome to Reefland.

Second, while I agree that his stand might have been over engineered, the vertical supports should be vertical. The lateral forces on that stand are incredible. That stand will one day collapse like a house of cards.

If the supports were vertical, the load would be on the floor. However, since they are almost at a 45 degree angle, the load is being transmitted to the bottom frame and not anything solid. Under that much pressure, over time, the bottom frame will "slip" in the direction of the boards and the whole thing will collapse.

The tank itself seems pretty sound though.

Mark