What hinges can I use on a timber aquarium stand?

[Daffy82]

I am only new at this, even though I am 82 years old, and just recently retired. Are you able to tell me from the pictures what hinges I need to put on the stand for an aquarium.

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @Daffy82,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Is the idea that the doors will sit in between these timber uprights?

If so, you would use a butt hinge in a surface mount application, where the hinge is on the front face of both the door and the frame.

There are decorative butt hinges such as these Prestige 45mm 602 Pattern Nickel Plated Decorative Butt Hinges which could be nice depending on the look you are going for.

You could also use tee hinges, but they are usually quite large. If you wanted to make it into a bit of a feature, this could be a nice option.

Allow me to tag @Dave-1, @Noyade and @JoeAzza to see if they have any ideas they can offer.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @Daffy82 

Thats a nice sized cabinet you have. Are you going to put diagonal bracing on the rear? A six foot fishtank weighs a fair amount and without bracing (plywood I wouldnt class as bracing) its liable to want to fall to the left of right most likely. 

As to the type of hinges I would choose, butt hinges. Also as @JacobZ mentions it depends on teh style of the vcabinetry you are going for plus the type of doors you are making.

Dave

[AlanM52]

Hello @Dave-1 and @Daffy82 

I agree with Dave about bracing the the back and would use a sheet of plywood.

Here is one I made for a family member.

The fish have been replaced with mice.

I made that in 2006 and the camera photos are quite small (lower res).

Has 3/4' plywood back.

Here is one enlarged with a closer view of the doors.

Cheers

[Daffy82]

Thanks for getting back to me. Now that you've mentioned it, I will put one at the rear. I am still waiting for aquarium sand to arrive.   

[Daffy82]

Wow, I love the doors; I wish I knew how to make them, as I'm not very good at woodwork.

[JacobZ]

Hi @Daffy82,

I'll tag @AlanM52 to see if he can advise how he put the doors together.

It looks like he used pine lining boards, with something like this Porta 65x12mm 2.4m DAR Rectangle Clear Pine as the border.

If he doesn't have the details, I am sure I could come up with some instructions you could use to make something very similar.

Jacob

[AlanM52]

Hi @Daffy82 & @JacobZ,

Crikey ... that was mid 2000 but I can recall they are tongue & groove lining boards leftover from 3 x rabbit hutch projects and the frames are have biscuit joints. The box of hinges was from my hardware guy at Caribbean Gardens Scoresby which closed during COVID 🙁

Cheers

[Nailbag]

Hi @Daffy82 

once you have reinforced the cabinet as @Dave-1 suggested, you could also consider piano hinges should more conventional hinges not suit your door to frame positioning. They are available in various finishes and can be cut with a hacksaw to length.

Nailbag

[Noyade]

G'day @Daffy82 

How big is the fish tank? Dave above mentions 1.8 metres in length? 

I know little about aquariums (we could never keep the fish alive) but I learnt quickly just how heavy water can be.

I work out 1.8m X 0.6m X 0.4m (just an example) at around 432 kg (952 lbs) - just the water.

It's the top corner construction that concerns me - strength wise?

Regards the hinges - this is just another easy example that works. no need for the doors to fit into the openings.

Cheers and good luck with retirement!