Frustrating: Building my canopy!!

saltyrich

saltyrich

Active Member
cliff. Make your measurements and write them down. Double check and then check again. Then, take your wood to Home Depot. They will charge you .25 a cut. Let them do the dirty work, then bring it home and put it together. I strongly recommend pre-drilling holes for your screws too. Also, be sure to use wood glue in addition to the screws.
 
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alti

Guest
those guys at home depot dont cut the wood very good. i had them cut some of my pieces and they were not even close to the right measurements. the cuts need to be fairly precise when you are building something like this, so i woulod not trust some minimum wage guy to make precice cuts. it took me more work cutting and sanding the mistakes they made than it would have taken me to cut the whole thing myself.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Cliff,
You are not going to like what I say. But Oak Plywood has to be expensive. I HIGHLY recommend buying some cheap plywood and doing a trial run first. Make all your mistakes with the cheap plywood and learn on the way. I gurantee that in the middle os it you will say to yourself "I wish I had done this instead of that" Then when you do it with your oak plywood it will be done right. A 4 X 8 sheet of the cheapest grade of plywood will run you less than $20, maybe even less than $10 depending on the thickness.
It is pretty near to impossible to try and describe what you need to do, the best way is trial by fire. Remember there are different thickness of pylwood and grades of plywood. You want the cheapest grade they have and the same thickness of the oak plywood.
Good luck
Scott
 
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alti

Guest
it would be much better with a table saw. scott is right about doing a trial run, but it would take too much time to to build 2 canopies. i think my idea of using a piece of 1"x3/4" wood trim would be cheaper and just as effective.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Alti,
I will admit that I did not read all of the posts on this thread in depth. I am sure that your idea would work. My thought was that it sounds like cliff's wood working experience is, well let's just say limited. At least if he does a trial run he could at least learn how to draw the lines straight and see how things go together. I would hate to see him make a mistake on some Oak plywood when for less than $20 and some time he can learn a lot about making his canopy.
Cliff,
If you find someone with a table saw, let them cut the wood for you. A table saw can be dangerous.
No disrespect is meant in any of this post. If I have offended Alti or Cliff I apologize.
Scott
 
majakarot

majakarot

Member
Just jumpin' in w/ my .02, i used 1"x2" spf and built a frame the exact dimensions of the tank (whatever height you want) then covered it in 3/16" cabinet material (like a finished luan) you can get this in oak/maple/ pine/ etc, i used hickory, i ran the luan down over the tank (lower than the frame) to hide the rim, doing it this way only makes the canopy stick out 3/16" and only weighs about 10 lbs- this is very handy for cleaning and changing bulbs- i also left the luan off the back to let the heat out... i then trimmed it in 1/2" corner molding... wish i had a digital camera to show you it
 
kimkissyfish

kimkissyfish

Member

Originally posted by cliffrouse11bas
I have done no cutting yet. Please give me the dimensions you would use and I am going to go from there. I am clueless with wood.

Can you find a canopy through your LFS?? Mine is solid Oak for my 75 g and I only paid 109.00 for it... Just a thought, may be better than ALL your aggravation! If you were a carpenter, I would say GO FOR IT!! But since your NOT good with wood????????
Kim
 
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