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Here's one for ya Peppie. Not sawdust yet, but I hope acrylic snow will do for now. :lol:

Cheers,
Alex

p.s. I didn't run the shop vac during the routing just for you. :D

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Thank you Alex.
I'll bet that mess didnt last but a min after you took the pic. lol
I am a CMT and Frued fan I would rather pay a little more for a tool I will use often
 
Thank you Alex.
I'll bet that mess didnt last but a min after you took the pic. lol
I am a CMT and Frued fan I would rather pay a little more for a tool I will use often

Glad that you liked that Peppie. :lol: I used the CMT for the acrylic cut and found it to cut much cleaner than the Rockler bit I am use to using. Then I went ahead and routed another fan grill using the Whiteside bit, WOW!!! That Whiteside bit cut through the wood like it was soft butter. I am a Whiteside guy now.

Cheers,
Alex
 
I know that this may be a little late to respond about the hight of you canopy but if you think that 14 inches is a tall canopy mine is 24 inches tall, the total tank hight is 79 inches. Also did I mention that the canopy is over a standard 4 foot long 55 gallon aquarium. Although I must say that my canopy and stand are nothing compared to your as far as craftsman ship.
 
THx MGDMirage and Fishguy95.

Fishguy95, Not to late, *lol* was triple checking my measurements today and will do final cuts tomorrow.

As for the overall height of the canopy. Yes It will be 14" tall, which after measuring four or six times now will put the halide lamp itself at 12" off the surface of the water. OF course I will be able to have room to lower the bulb/fixture down to as low as 6" off the water before I would no longer be able to reach my arm into the bottom of the tank. :D

Guess you can say I have over planned this whole thing to death. :lol: But hey what can I say.

Cheers,
Alex
 
I hope that it does not take as long for you to get the canopy done, I only found your thread last night so It only took me about 2 hours to get to this point in the build. I will be following this thread, I have a cast iron stand for my tank and was already planing on making a cover ro go around it but had almost no idea how I should make it look, now I am planing on going with a look like yours. I can not wait to see how the canopy turns out.
 
THx Frankie. I am very impressed with that skimmer you built. Did you get the silencer figured out?

Fishguy95, I trust that you're just being facetious in your remark about the time. :lol: Trust me it will only take half the time for the canopy. So figure about 2 months (unless I take another break). :rofl:

Just kidding. I am glad that my build is giving you inspiration for your build.

Cheers,
Alex
 
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We are back in business. Finally received all my new router bits to replace the damaged Rockler bits. Of course I am still awaiting the Rockler Unconditional Guaranteed 3 flute -1/2" Shank -1/2" cutter router bit to come in, but we can do without for now. :D

I see that even in the woodworking industry the quality of the tools is BIG. Just as I have Snap-On tools for my day to day work and only buy Crapsman tools for the tools I use less often (yes even at home). I shall be buying Whiteside router bits for my go to most used bits and stick with Rockler or CMT for those bits that are used less frequently.

Oh and I should also mention that when buying router bits from Amana, Rockler, CMT, Freud and Whiteside I have not seen much as far as higher pricing between the different ones. Which is nice, considering I am so use to Snaop-On versus Crapsman pricing. *lol*

Hey,

If you slow your router down a little especially with acrylic the bits will last three times as long. Give amana compression spirals a try they will outlast any multicutter bit made.

Don
 
SHOP SHOTS!!!

Canopy is finally coming together. Got what I feel is the perfect height thus far. I still need to mock it up on the tank and check things out. More pictures will be posted as the day progresses. You cannot see it in these pictures but the side panels are cut 4-1/2" from the front for the opening so to help eliminate light coming through when closed. Trust me, you'll have to wait and see it when it coes together to fully grasp what I am having trouble explaining. :lol: It will be way easier to see when this thing is fully trimmed. Just need to get this picture out of my brain.

Cheers,
Alex

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THx for the advise DonW. I've been looking into purchasing a good spiral bit. Should I look for an upcut or downcut? Or combination?

Cheers,
Alex
 
THx for the advise DonW. I've been looking into purchasing a good spiral bit. Should I look for an upcut or downcut? Or combination?

Cheers,
Alex

Upcuts are the most universally useful and keep dado cuts cleaned out. Spirals are the best for acrylic. With 2 or three wing cutters slow the router speed control to get the biggest possible shaving, this goes for wood or acrylic.

Don
 
MOCK UP SHOTS ARE HERE!!!

I must admit it does look larger than life when mounted up on the tank. But my measurements show that the overall height is 71". This puts the maximum height of the halide bulb at 10" from the water surface. I can almost taste the saltwater!!!

Oh and of course my wife says to me... "It sems much bigger than I was expecting." Opps... At least she ended the conversation with... "I guess it will probably look better with the trim on it and less like an oversized box."

Cheers,
Alex

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Oh yes, I forgot to mention that my wife isn't non to happy about having to move her shelf there behind the tank. :lol: Of course I told her the only other option would be to leave the shelf and do the built in tank now. *lol* She said... "We can move the shelf. That's not a problem."

Cheers,
Alex

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I just backread and see I missed your question about the silencer. Nope, still have not gotten to that part yet. The skimmer is out in the garage running on ocean water and working great but I still need to do the silencer hook up.

I opened the air in to 3/8" and built the silencer, but I still need to figure out the air hookup to it. I posted a picture of it in the last pic's on my build thread.

Any suggestions are very welcome.

Frank
 
Hi Frankie,

I'll check your build thread and try and send you a pm before the weekend is through. Been busy here working on the canopy build. So far it is coming together really nicely (knock on wood) :D

Cheers,
Alex
 
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