Does Home Depot....

[Barfly]

Do they even sell a straight piece of lumber? I spent over 3 hours in home depot and lowes looking for some straight lumber to build a stand. Not a single 2x4 or 2x6 I found was acceptable.

Can I build the stand out of 1x4 or 1x6 if I use a hardwood like oak or poplar? There was plenty of good hardwood lumber with these dimensions.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Hardwood would be fine. Or plywood - plywood has the advantage (or disadvantage) of being as straight as you cut it.

While I feel your pain about warped rough lumber, I've bought plenty of good stuff at HD - better quality than I've had at a few of the local "real" lumbermills. So it must vary by location or season!

[thetonyage]

id go to lowes, at least around here they seem to be much better quality than HD.

[mthomp]

what grade are you looking at? if you are digging through the economy studs of course you wont find straight lumber.

i also have to say that you must be unbeliveably picky if you didnt find a single stud that was acceptable. lumber will have knots, and other flaws in it regardless where you shop. and NO. 1x6 for a tank stand? think about what you are asking it to support.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

1x6 for a tank stand? think about what you are asking it to support.

Hardwood 1x6 is beefier than what 99% of commercial stands are made from. Clearly, it's within the realm of being viable. Though, to be fair, without knowing things like the size of the tank and the design of the stand, all we can do is speculate.

[mthomp]

most commercial stands wouldnt so much use a frame, they are assembled using sheets of laminated plywood which would be much stronger then using 1x6 as a frame then covering it. 1x material is typically used for trim work not structerial

[KafudaFish]

If you want straight lumber go to the already opened pile move it, cut open the next one, pull the top layer of 2 x 4 or 6 off and start looking in the middle.

Why couldn't he take two 1 x and glue them together for strength?

[mthomp]

that would work but wouldnt be cheap, using 1x hardwood is going to be doble the price piece for piece as it is.

Building material manager at local lumber yard here.

[JaredWaites]

No lumber yards in your area? I don't buy wood at HD. Our wood here is warped at our HD.

[kevantheman35]

im done with lowes and home depot, neither of them have any standard for lumber. if you have a menards in your area check um out, they have every kind of wood you can imagine and already have them all planed and sanded

[jason2459]

im done with lowes and home depot, neither of them have any standard for lumber. if you have a menards in your area check um out, they have every kind of wood you can imagine and already have them all planed and sanded

I have two Menards both about 10m away in two different directions from me. I get better lumber all around at one then the other. Which makes no since to me. Also, have a Lowes and HD close to me as well. For around here my North Menards > Lowes > HD > South Menards.

[mthomp]

I have two Menards both about 10m away in two different directions from me. I get better lumber all around at one then the other. Which makes no since to me. Also, have a Lowes and HD close to me as well. For around here my North Menards > Lowes > HD > South Menards.

you must live in the QC

[jason2459]

you must live in the QC

Nope, CR. Though fairly I'd say the south Menards and HD are about the same and the North Menards and Lowes are pretty close. Hands down though I get better help at Lowes if I need it.

[uncleof6]

No lumber yards in your area? I don't buy wood at HD. Our wood here is warped at our HD.

I won't buy lumber at home depot, lowes, dixiline or any store/chain that deals specifically to the "home improvement" market, for building "furniture." The lumber is at the low end of the spectrum. If you want good lumber, you want to go to a yard that sells DECKING lumber. It is more expensive, considerably. Argueably there is no such thing as straight as a board, but you can limit the effort required to "get it straight" FWIW

Jim

[schnitm]

Cabinet grade plywood's the stuff if you've got a table saw. There's pictures on RC somewhere of a cabinet built of nothing but 3/4" plywood sheets, glue and screws. To prove how strong it was the guy stacked 3000 pounds of bricks on top of it and then sat himself on top of the bricks. Just make sure you have lateral suport, so your stand's as resistant to folding as it is to being crushed. A nice sheet of Plywood for a back is AWESOME at that.

[Barfly]

Thanks for the responses. The tanks footprint is 72" x 18". I was planning on going to a local lumber company called Cox lumber. I thought about laminating 2 1x6's together but that will be quite expensive. I was thinking that I could use the 1x6 for the upper and lower support with 1x4 for the legs. I would probably space the legs about 30" apart.

[Vincerama2]

I got some pretty straight 2x4's at Lowes, they were "kiln dried" and about twice the price (which is not much for 2x4s anyway).

V