What kind of wood for canopy???

tangtang clown

New member
I plan on making a canopy for my 125 72"long tank. I need to know what type and thickness of wood to use. Do I use untreated plywood from Lowes? 1/2" thick ot 3/4"? I have the design plan, I just don't know what material to start with. :hammer:

I will be painting the high gloss durable paint.

THANKS
 
I'm using 1x8 pine for my hood. Its actually 3/4" thick and nice and light and I dont have to worry about delamination of plywood.
 
1x8 will cup and warp.

^Ditto

Plywood from one of the big box stores will be fine as long as it is finished properly. As for thickness, that would depend upon your design. Are you looking to paint or stain for a finish? The finish will determine what type of plywood you get. The interior of the hood would benefit from a couple of coats of Kilz primer, also availabe at Home Depot etc. You can use either the water based or the oil based (I prefer the oil based but I'm an old man) the water base is easier.
 
Esquare, what do you mean by finished properly? I plan to do some sanding to what I get.

Pine or Ply? I plan on kilzing and using I high gloss finish paint on the inside of the canopy.
 
you don't need 3/4" ply.

If your building a plywood box, 3/8" will be more then strong enough. if your not hanging your lights from it, you can use 1/4"



Kilz is crap, use a better alkyd primer.
 
Esquare, what do you mean by finished properly? I plan to do some sanding to what I get.

Pine or Ply? I plan on kilzing and using I high gloss finish paint on the inside of the canopy.

If you do this and it's sealed properly you should have no problems
 
If you want it to stay stable and straight I would not use anything less than 3/4".

72" is a long run for 3/8" 3 ply.
 
There are may ways to prevent warping with thinner plys, all of which are good building pratices anyways. I'm speaking as some one that spends about half my time working building cabinets.
 
FWIW,,,,,,,,I am a professional woodworker.

I guess if all you wanted to do was practice you could go that route.

But I wouldn't.
 
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There are many different ways to skin a cat/hood,What ever works best for you. My comment on finished properly refered to sealing it to keep out moisture.
 
Keep in mind that the thicker you go on the wood the higher the weight of the hood. You will need to remove it on occasion.

I believe that a properly framed hood, with the wood sealed appropriately, would suffer no adverse effects from the use of thinner plywood.
 
I used 1x8 pine boards on a 55G and it works great. Completely sealed with stain inside and out and the lined with reflective duct work tape to also help prevent against moisture intrusion. I think 72" would be a bit to long for 1x8 w/o some sort of internal supports.
 
honestly imo. it dont matter on how thick it is.....it's all about how you seal the wood and protect it...thickness don't matter like tab said... get a good poly sealer and call it a day....or sweet water epoxy the inside and your really safe...
 
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