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duke62

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this can have a many answers.the wood depends on many variables.oak is solid and will have less swelling but its extremely heavy and is very hard to remove from a big tank.i personally use pine.its light but you really need to treat the wood very well.as for screws i never use screws to join the wood.i use dowel joints and plenty of glue.i also use braided nails inserted from a compressed gun.i will use screws if i feel a plate is needed to stiffin up joints where there is a chance a joint will be banged around a bit or in a door frame i may use a angle on the side with the hinge to join the 2 joints since i know there will be constant pressure in that area especially if its a large door.do you have the tools for this project.remember to use a drill bit first where ever you put your screws.
 

strgazr27

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Kings Park, NY
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Three different Depot and 3 different crosscut saws. Worst was out by 1/2" over 4' ! best was 1/8 over 4'. Try and build a solid, square anything with that Lol. Better to find a real lumber yard that will cut for you but most will not cut to the tolerances a nice canopy would require.


Wow sounds harder then what I thought it would... Don't think it's gonna work out all I have is a drill.... Was gonna let home depot do the cutting for me I was just gonna piece it together...
 

duke62

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no it dont work like that unless you want a canopy to like like doo-doo.a dowel joint is easy but you will need carpenter clamps to hold wood together for a nice tight joint.its not cheap either.for a 125 you can be looking at close to 200 and who wants to spend 2 bills on an eye sore
 

duke62

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you see my avatar.i built that canopy in 2 days.i have all the tools i need and if i had to run back and forth to a lumber yard for cuts i would have went nuts.i built it fast because my wife was getting on me because of the holes in the walls i made for the vortechs.if i took my time it would have came out 10 times better.
 

InfernoST

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Brooklyn
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I spent about 50 bucks, maybe a little less to build mine. I used Pine, Outdoor screws, nail gun and lots of waterproof wood glue. The hardest part was applying the Minwax Polyshades stain/polyurethane. The lighting fixture I had built just dropped in through the top, I modified my AI's rails to do the same and adjusting the height is as simple as moving some wood blocks up or down within the canopy.

I used 10' lengths of 1x2's, 1x4's and 1x6's and cut them down to this
Thewood.jpg


The completed unfinished product
DoorsOff.jpg


The completed finished product
CanopySide.jpg
 
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dacaptain78

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Staten Island
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I am not a carpenter or master wood worker by any means, but the minimum tools you would need to build a canopy is a circular saw, a drill, and a bunch of clamps. You will also need a reliable tape measure, wood glue and screws. Other useful tools would be a jig saw or hand saw to cut out things like vents and fan openings, and a speed square to help mark your cuts on the wood (but these are not absolutely needed).

I would frame the canopy out of 1x2 pine, and skin it with 1/2 inch plywood of whatever type of wood you like. Glue and screw everything together. Then you can add decorative trim to pretty it up. Trim can be attached simply with wood glue and clamps.
 

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