Help to diy aquarium hood

[Dazza]

Hello bros & sis

I am in planning to diy a new hood as the old one is over 7 yrs old already & rotting & warping away. Cabinet still gd order, only doing the hood. Need some help in getting parts.Anyone knows where i can get Cherry wood? All help appreciated. Thanks very much.

Dazza

[ervine]

Hello bros & sis

I am in planning to diy a new hood as the old one is over 7 yrs old already & rotting & warping away. Cabinet still gd order, only doing the hood. Need some help in getting parts.Anyone knows where i can get Cherry wood? All help appreciated. Thanks very much.

Dazza

wah cherry wood is ang moh wood right? I don't think it's easy to find in singapore and if u can find it it'll be expensive..

Ever considered just laminating?

[Dazza]

yeah mybe i shd... cos my tank cabinet is cherry wood lah... but i guess hood diff from the rest not so bad yeah.....

sori but wat is laminating?

[ervine]

yeah mybe i shd... cos my tank cabinet is cherry wood lah... but i guess hood diff from the rest not so bad yeah.....

sori but wat is laminating?

it's just plastic (i think it's plastic) pieces that LOOK like wood but are actually not wood.. a lot of it used to make cheap chipboard look expensive or at least presentable..

Coz for hoods you don't need THAT much support.. further more better to be lighter so you can put less load onto your tank...

I think u can PM kaykay about this...

[kaykay]

Hi,

You may want to use thin plywood (9mm) to form a frame, and some support to let it sit on the tank.

I used self-adhesive stickers to make the plywood look presentable. So far it's holding up alright for me. Last week, I even hinged a diy set of 4xT5 lightings to the hood. The light set is connected to the hood with the use of hinges, and it is able to swivel up to vertical standing for me to access the water easily. Will post pictures later in the week.

Found a good place to buy plywood though.. The Sel-fix DIY shop at the newly renovated Marina Centre (near Giant) cuts the ply wood to your desired dimensions. And you can of course buy the stickers there too. I am sure some of the stickers come in shades close to your cherry wood colour.

BTW, here's a pic of my DIY hood constructed last year.

[Dazza]

Thks for help. Will pop by to Marina Centre to hv a look...

[barnacle]

bro..if you want your hood looks like

real solid cherry wood.....u can get

cherry plywood.....or cherry wood

veneer....which u can paste on your

hood.......

[ervine]

Found a good place to buy plywood though.. The Sel-fix DIY shop at the newly renovated Marina Centre (near Giant) cuts the ply wood to your desired dimensions.

Anyone gone yet? is it expensive? Might need a small piece...

[kaykay]

They sell at $2 per sq ft. Quite xpensive. And also they charge cutting fee. $4 per cut. A small piece 3ft x 10" cost me $10 last week for a 12mm thickness plywood.

[rockfish]

Guys ..

there is a hardware shop near petmart call "hai chew" they do cutting of plywood to custom sizes.. quite cheap i would say ..

i got all the plywood needed for a 4ft x 1.5ft x 10 inch hood for $14 plus only ..

but one thing to note for using plywood is .. u got to waterproof the wood properly .. if not it will warp or peel after some time.

[ervine]

Guys ..

there is a hardware shop near petmart call "hai chew" they do cutting of plywood to custom sizes.. quite cheap i would say ..

i got all the plywood needed for a 4ft x 1.5ft x 10 inch hood for $14 plus only ..

but one thing to note for using plywood is .. u got to waterproof the wood properly .. if not it will warp or peel after some time.

Oh! That's cheap! I din know Hai Chew sells cut plywood.. Hm...

[ervine]

just to update, i went down to Hai Chew to buy 2 pieces of plywood.

12mm x 1.7m x 0.35m + 12mm x 0.3m x 0.35m

total price $10

BUT... cannot collect on the spot, next day collection... just FYI guys...

[kaykay]

just to update, i went down to Hai Chew to buy 2 pieces of plywood.

12mm x 1.7m x 0.35m + 12mm x 0.3m x 0.35m

total price $10

BUT... cannot collect on the spot, next day collection... just FYI guys...

Definitely cheaper than the Marina Centre one... at least 50% cheaper..

[maroonclown]

Where is petmart ? Serangoon Nrth isit ?

[supremo]

there's also a shop in Bedok Road that sells cut plywood. Bought mine from there for my canopy. They can also cut if you're not in a rush cause they'll bring it to the shop and machine cut for you.

[supremo]

bro kaykay,

very nicely done i had some trouble in putting the sticker and now the edges starting to peel off. any tips on how to apply it? where you stay bro? maybe can get an idea if I see your DIY hood.

[kaykay]

Supremo,

I stay at Bedok Reservoir.

I pm you my contact. If you need to come over, give me a call first. Saturday anytime, weekdays after 8pm..

What i did for the stickers is that i used a small pc of wood to scrape the sitckers along the whole area to ensure no bubbles and tight adhesiveness.

[mario_useless]

Bro s..I am interested to buy plywood...may I have the detail address??

[supremo]

thanks bro kaykay, i'll PM you when i got the time to go to your place, especially since your place is quite near mine. the problem i had is that the edges are peeling off.

bro mario, i bought my plywood at a shop along bedok road, it's opposite the bus stop in front of the bedok market place. it's next to the temple, i think the building name is Changi Complex. It's a light blue building.

[qazwer]

I once bought a piece of plywood of around 8mm thickness (4 feet by 8 feet) for around $21.00 inclusive of cutting up into (If I remember correctly).

It's near Jalan Besar ... just follow the road behind the market, all the way in. That one shop at the junction off the road (very obvious, cos the shop places plywood and other wooden stuffs all over the place).

May can consolidate order would be cheaper.

[kaykay]

4'x8' plywood inclusive of cutting at $21 is very cheap. I remember paying extra $10 for the cutting fee. But my ply needed many cuts.

Plan your cuts propoerly. When I got my wood cut, i drew out the exact cuts on a piece of paper 4 inches by 8 inches, and all the cut lines on the paper, to the exact dimensions, scaled down. This saves a lot of brain work on the person cutting the wood, and may even save on an extra piece of wood.

Bloody town council, I left some leftover wood propped on the corridor, and was removed without asking me first becoz the MP was coming for a walkabout... But I know it's my fault anyway as they're a fire hazard.... At least should let me know first mah...

[qazwer]

Just checked with my wife ... It's $8.00 for the cutting ... oops ...

[Volitan]

just to update, i went down to Hai Chew to buy 2 pieces of plywood.

12mm x 1.7m x 0.35m + 12mm x 0.3m x 0.35m

total price $10

BUT... cannot collect on the spot, next day collection... just FYI guys...

Can advise on the location or address of this Hai Chew shop? Thanks. I need to get wood too.

[taylapong]

I'm thinking of DIYing a hood too... and i've got a few questions, hope you can answer!

1) How do i waterproof the wood?

2) Do you just put the wood together and screw/nail, or do you make mitre cuts and join them at an angle?

3) what do you put on the inside? Laminate also? Or just bare wood?

4) anyone tried wood glue? It can be quite strong right?

THanks guys!

[kaykay]

I'm thinking of DIYing a hood too... and i've got a few questions, hope you can answer!

1) How do i waterproof the wood?

2) Do you just put the wood together and screw/nail, or do you make mitre cuts and join them at an angle?

3) what do you put on the inside? Laminate also? Or just bare wood?

4) anyone tried wood glue? It can be quite strong right?

THanks guys!

1. Buy those plywood with 1 side already laminated in white colour one. The white faces inside. Waterproof.

2. Buy L-shape elbows to hold the plywood together. I used a total of 8 elbows. 4 below, 4 on top. Use stainless steel screws.

3. Refer to 1. above.

4. Use wood glue only if you've made dovetail joints to piece the wood together. Using wood glue alone is definitely no-no.

Cheers!