The cabinet is made from 5/8" (16mm) thick MDF board veneered with mahogany, teak or black finish. No dimensions are given on the drawing because the size obviously depends on the size of the tank but, as a guide, commercial units are usually about 23" (590mm) in height.
Begin construction by cutting the four upright pieces, two A's and two B's. Note that the two pieces marked B in the drawing have an extra cutout at the bottom front. This is to allow the 'toe board' (D) to be recessed about 1" (25mm) from the front. The cutouts are for the four rails (C, D, E and G) which run the full length of the cabinet. Rail D is obviously 2 x 5/8" (32mm) shorter than the other three as it fits inside the uprights A.
Rails C, D and G are about 3" (75mm) wide and 5/8" (16mm) thick. Rail E is about 9" (230mm) wide. The rails are attached to the four upright pieces using woodglue and 35mm MDF screws. Take care that the uprights are upright and at 90 degrees to the rails. I made the gap between uprights A and B exactly 12 and 1/8" (370mm) so that 12" wide MDF board could be used for two doors with 1/16" (1mm) clearance either side.
The three pieces marked F are the base of the cabinet and rest on the rails D and G. The centre piece (F2) is attached to the two uprights, B, with woodglue and screws. It is also attached from underneath to rails D and G using concealed joining blocks made especially for use with MDF board. Pieces F1 and F3 are attached from underneath with more joining blocks. The shelf (H) is attached to B in a similar way to F2 with glue and screws. The heads of all screws are countersunk and, later, filled with plastic wood.
At this point in the construction, the unit should already be rock-solid with no tendency to twist in any direction. (Note: Commercial 'Flat-pack' designs tend to rely on a hardboard back to give the unit rigidity. This is not satisfactory for our purposes - our unit must already be rock-solid.)
With the unit standing on a level surface, make sure that it stands absolutely flat with no tendency to wobble. Turn it upside down and sand any high spots if necessary. A flat base is absolutely essential.
The top is made from the same MDF board and is simply glued and screwed, through the top, into the uprights and rails. Again use countersunk screws and fill the holes but, as the top will be hidden with the tank, a perfect finish is not required. What is required, however, is that the top sits absolutely level before it is attached. Don't use the screws to 'pull in' any slight gaps! MDF is usually dimensionally very stable (ie, it's flat!) so use the top as a guide to sand down any high spots on the cabinet.
Although not necessary for strength purposes, a sheet of 1/8" (3mm) hardboard is pinned to the back to give the unit a finished appearance. A door for each of the two end openings completes the main construction. As my woodworking ability is limited, I used ornamental, surface mounted brass hinges rather than attempting to use hidden (rebated) ones. Iron-on, self-adhesive edging strip is used to cover any cut ends of MDF which are visible - for example, the top and bottom of each door and the ends of rails C, E and G.
The ends of the top do not need iron-on edging strip because (not shown on the drawing) a decorative hardwood strip (mitred at the corners) is glued round the entire edge of the top. It is attached so that it sits 1/2" (12mm) higher than the surface of the top - forming a 'tray' for the tank to sit in - and serves to hide the polystyrene tiles and the bottom 1/4" (6mm) of the tank. The wood strip is about 1/8" (3mm) thick and about 2" (50mm) wide. I used the same wood as I used for the decorative strip round the tank Hood. Don't make the top too 'close' a fit for the tank. Make it about 3mm longer and 3mm wider - the tank does expand when it's full of warm water!
One problem with MDF is that it isn't too good at repelling water so give the finished cabinet a light sanding and several coats of your chosen finish. My final job was to run a fillet of sealant around the inside edge of the top between the top and the decorative strip. When it's finished, leave the cabinet in a warm, dry, well-ventilated place until there is absolutely no smell of fumes from the glue, sealant or finish coat.
Return to Index