lastlight's 225

[lastlight]

Sunday was my first bit of progress on the build. I went and picked up a bunch of 2x4's, wood glue, 3/4" plywood for the top and bottom, 5/8" plywood for the sides and a whole schwack of screws.

First step was to build the bottom. I assembled the basic bottom frame and then attached it to the 72x30 3/4" bottom to square it up. Every part of the stand is glued and screwed.



Next I attached the verticals bits that help align the top frame.




Here you can see the top frame which is the same as the bottom one.



I temporarily pegged the top frame up before I cut and installed the other vertical 2x4's.



There are 2 additional 2x4's pinned around each of the corners. These are the ones actually bearing all the weight. No screws are under load. The weight is on the top frame, then onto the 8 2x4's and then onto the bottom framework. The first 4 2x4's merely serve to help me get the load-bearing ones on straight etc. Things are leveled up by adjusting the height of each corner individually on the 4 guide posts. My floor was not totally level so this fixed that nicely.







Next I cut and put in the floor of the stand.



After the floor was in I added extra vertical bracing. Two in the front and one in back. The front ones are spaced as close as possible to allow a 4 foot sump to be pushed in straight.



The 3/4" top goes on.



And here's two views of where I finished at tonight. The 5/8" sides have been put on. These prevent the stand from moving from front to back. A front will also be put on to prevent shifting in the other direction. I can run at this thing and it budges not a hair.





Well that's a wrap. Not bad for a 'lazy' Sunday afternoon!