Building the Canopy
The front panel
I started out with some 1x4ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s and some 1x8ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s for the front panel. If youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve paid close attention to the images you will see where I actually messed up. The initial images had the wood on the sides of the front panel running vertically. After I got the whole thing together it dawned on the that the grain on the main part of the canopy runs horizontally. So, I had to redo that part.
I simply pocket jointed the 1x4ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s to the 1x8ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s and then used corner clamps to line up the side pieces and then used the same pocket jig on those. I then measured the entire opening on the front panel to find the mid point and cut the 1x4 to fit in that opening to box off the door openings.
After that was done I cut the length of the 1x8 pine to form the top of the front panel. Since the measurement of the sides of the front panel is 6 Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ and a 1x8 is actually .75 x 7 Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ I had to cut an inch off the long end. I just used a circular saw for that and went slow to keep the line as straight as possible. A table saw would have made it much easier but I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have one.
This image shows all the pocket joints displaying how it is all held together
The main shell
The main part of the canopy is assembled just like the front panel. I made the canopy 14.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ tall so that two 1x8ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s glued and screwed together would make that height perfectly. You can see in the following image that the two pieces were clamped and glued together then screwed using the same jig as before.
I then cut a 1x2 piece of red oak to length and screwed it to the two side panels. I used oak here since the wood is so small and the front panel will be stressing this part as it is opened and closed.
The clamp in the following picture is because my side panel split the wood when I put the screw in.
This is where I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t do many pictures but should have. Here is the image:
I used a piece of 1x 3 oak on the top rear of the canopy for the halide door to be mounted. On the inside of the canopy, beneath the 1x2 and 1x3 I just mentioned I also glued and screwed a 1x3.
This has two benefits.
1) Added strength to the door mounts
2) It provides a lip for the halide door to rest against which is visible below
After mounting the two 1x3ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s I simply got two 1x8 pieces of pine, cut them to length and mounted the first one. The second one needed 3/4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ cut off to make it flush on the bottom.
The halide door was assembled just like the front panel. The openings in the door are for heat escape and to allow me to mount the halide pendants through them if I wanted.
I then lined up the front panel and then attached the piano hinge.