Dinosaur to Phoenix, a new 22g long rimless high tech

[Reefkid88]

I guess I should have said something sooner,I' Steven Garland from over on R2R lol. You were saying this was 54w @ 1A correct ? I would still love to get my hands on one of these. 

[theatrus]

7 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I guess I should have said something sooner,I' Steven Garland from over on R2R lol. You were saying this was 54w @ 1A correct ? I would still love to get my hands on one of these. 

Final power is about 50W at 1A, since the SemiLEDs have a lower than worst case Vf (turns out I had a better than expected bin!), this can vary by LED loadout. Shoot me a DM somewhere as we're all still experimenting with the exact reflector and layout.

[Reefkid88]

That is not bad at all,and even driven at 700ma you are still making a good amount of power and light. Really ?! Nothing wrong with that,definitely works in your favor. I will shoot you a PM over R shortly. 

[theatrus]

Had a nice tip to Kauai, so time to kick this project into gear... by ordering far too much aluminum to hold up a car

[theatrus]

Wood! I edge glued two 1x8 birch boards to serve as the base for the aquarium on top of the 8020 frame. I'll need to make another saw cut to get it back to 12"x36".

After some light planing and sanding on the top surface. I still need to plane out the bottom surface. This is mostly using an orbital sander and powered hand planer (so not ideal since its not very wide)

I'm also testing stains. The bulk of the stain here is the "Red Mahogany" color. I'm also testing sealing and not sealing the wood to avoid splotchiness with the stain. The other colors are red chestnut and jacobean (both only one coat).

[theatrus]

 

[Andreww]

Definitely seal before staining.

Daly’s Benite or Zinsser SealCoat (dewaxed shellac) left to dry overnight and lightly sanded before staining.

Reduces blotchiness big time on soft (er) woods and also solids like maple.

Also I recommend a gel stain vs penetrating stain on soft woods.

Although it’ll give you a more “muddy” look and not “pop” as much as a penetrating stain, it will be more even .

Make sure you wipe with denatured alcohol in between coats , after sanding etc.

That removes contaminants.

 

For finish , I’m not sure if you can spray or if you’ll brush on, but sprayed Conversion Varnish is best for saltwater resistance aside from 2k poly (nasty) , but pre-cat lacquer as well as regular polyurethane is fine as well but less resistant to saltwater.

 

Sorry for the long post. Ive seen and done a lot of this type of work over the years and thought I would share.

[theatrus]

9 hours ago, Andreww said:

Definitely seal before staining.

Daly’s Benite or Zinsser SealCoat (dewaxed shellac) left to dry overnight and lightly sanded before staining.

Reduces blotchiness big time on soft (er) woods and also solids like maple.

Also I recommend a gel stain vs penetrating stain on soft woods.

Although it’ll give you a more “muddy” look and not “pop” as much as a penetrating stain, it will be more even .

Make sure you wipe with denatured alcohol in between coats , after sanding etc.

That removes contaminants.

 

For finish , I’m not sure if you can spray or if you’ll brush on, but sprayed Conversion Varnish is best for saltwater resistance aside from 2k poly (nasty) , but pre-cat lacquer as well as regular polyurethane is fine as well but less resistant to saltwater.

 

Sorry for the long post. Ive seen and done a lot of this type of work over the years and thought I would share.

Thanks! In terms of skills, I’m pretty low on the woodworking side and mostly making things up as I go along, so all of this is very much appreciated!

 

Birch is definitely very closed grain in spots but soaks up the stain in pockets. This is normal brush on stain, not the rub on gelled stuff. The main driver for birch is having a vaguely similar grain between boards and veneered plywood (even though the veneer cut is obviously spiraled). 

 

Ill look into the poly coatings. I don’t have a sprayer or a compressor which could really handle one so probably going to have to go brush on. 

[IceParrot]

Sweet design. Following

[theatrus]

Fit check

Cleaned the board to prep for sealing and staining

[Johnnyqc]

Nice work !!!!!!👍 following the build !!

[theatrus]

Some work.

 

First up, the stain. I'm settling for this slightly uncouth combo. Its a stain coat of General Finishes Georgian Cherry Gel stain, and with a layer of Minwax Polyshades Bombay Mahogany  on top. Its a tinted polyurethane, which adds a ton of pigment which the birch just doesn't absorb. I want something dark. The left is the layered, but still wet and not smooth look.

 

Also, the 8020 is almost assembled:

 

 

[theatrus]

Finally some progress. I haven't finished any of the wood nor installed the hinges yet, but doing a nice form fit check

 

 

 

 

All the panels are removable (and will come off for finishing). Using #316 stainless 3/4” #6 screws and 316 stainless flanged finish washers with the 80/20 90 brackets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Jealous of that stand, very nice, following along!

[theatrus]

1 hour ago, HippieSquirrel said:

Jealous of that stand, very nice, following along!

It’s not very budget conscious for sure. The aluminum, plus machining for the internal anchors, plus connectors, plus tax and shipping clocked in north of $600. But the stand and tank are the least likely to change over time so might as well get the right stuff from the get go. 

[HippieSquirrel]

That’s a good mentality to have though.  I’d rather pay more for things that will last and look nice in your house than paying to replace things over the years.

[Jeff Hood]

Following 

[theatrus]

A quick evening check on the door hinge alignment:

 

 

[Christopher Marks]

80:20 tank stands 😍😍😍

 

This is turning out beautifully @theatrus, I love that layered dark stain finish you’re after, keep up the good work! 👏

[Friendly]

I'm going to echo everyone else's sentiment...looking good!

 

I have to say though, I laughed when I saw the CAD drawings of your sump. those baffle teeth made them look like you stuck notebooks and those were the coil binding, LoL! 

[theatrus]

18 minutes ago, Friendly said:

I'm going to echo everyone else's sentiment...looking good!

 

I have to say though, I laughed when I saw the CAD drawings of your sump. those baffle teeth made them look like you stuck notebooks and those were the coil binding, LoL! 

I'm going to ditch the teeth and go for a media basket on the final outflow stage - just haven't redesigned the CAD files on that one yet. You can't contain nerite snails anyway 🙂

[Friendly]

take a look at eshopp's baffling design. they have two close together with enough space to put some filter media. that might be doable for you as well 🙂

[Tamberav]

Looks awesome!