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I just built a canopy for my 46g bowfront relatively easy and looks pretty good. Im not a very good diy person but was quite impressed. What I did was cut 2 pieces of wood for the sides. and a piece for the back. I used 5" height on all sides and put a 3/4" sheet on top for the lid. Then I cut a 2" strip as bracing and put just behind where the arch would mount so that when bending the birch it wouldnt mangle the frame. Making the front curve I took a 1/4" piece of birch and notched two strips down the side panels and measured the piece of birch to slide down into the notches and naturally achieve the arch. After that I traced that onto a piece of oak and cut it out with a jigsaw. A router with a pattern would have been much easier in retrospect. Let me know if you have any questions on this design. I found it easier than making it all "correctly". I put some half round trim in front of the arch and it hides the extended side piece. put the back piece and bracing piece 1" from the bottom of the sides so that it can sit on the tank on the inside and look nice on the outside. Another thing in retrospect I would have done is drop the lid on the inside of the side panels so it was more flush, but I dont really care. Would have looked much nicer. But this was more of a time issue to get the vhos in than a quality build. I will probably build another one once I find the areas to tweak after a couple months of use.
Ill post pics in a second
Side note I have 4 36" VHO bulbs mounted inside mine!
Last edited by runningstix; 12/21/2007 at 02:44 PM.
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12/19/2007, 02:31 PM
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