Specification


Building
Tools
Philips screwdriver
Drill
Drill bits up to 4mm
Counter sink bit
(normal clothes) Iron
Metal ruler
Pencil
Set-square
Circular Saw
Tenon saw
Jigsaw
Hole cutter
Sandpaper
Paint brush(es)





Instructions

1. Check everything first. There are no doubt errors or omissions in these instructions and your requirements may also vary. Use this as a guide and make sure you agree before going ahead.
2. Cut chipboard according to cutting list (or get the man in B&Q to do it – much easier).
3. Drill screw holes using a 2mm drill bit. The hole should be smaller than the screw so that the screw can bite into the chipboard. Proper chipboard screws are important as others can pull out.
4. Counter sink all holes so that the screw head is flush.
5. Cut-out fan holes using the jigsaw or hole cutter.
6. Cut-out cable/pipe notches using the jigsaw.
7. Assemble the main hood according to figure 2. Part D should also be glued down under the screws.
8. Assemble the front lid according to figure 3.
9. Assemble the rear lid according to figure 4.
10. Screw the hinges on the front and rear lids to the centre brace of the main hood according to figure 5.
11. Cut softwood strips to cover inside edges for resting on glass edge and for mounting reflectors to top of lid.
12. Using 20mm chipboard screws, screw softwood strips with bottom edge 30mm up.
13. Varnish the interior with 2 or 3 coats of yacht varnish and allow to dry according to instructions on the tin.
14. Glue screw caps over all exposed screws.
15. Install fans and lights.


Figure 1. almost-orthographic projection.


Figure 2. Exploded assembly diagram of main hood.


Figure 3. Assembly diagram of front lid.


Figure 4. Assembly diagram of rear lid.


Figure 5. Complete assembly diagram.


...some photos to follow...

This post has been edited by MAM: Oct 19 2005, 11:58 PM

Main hood before centre brace was fitted.


Checking fitting before fixing hinges.


Complete assembly.


Showing front lid open.


Showing rear lid open.


Showing fans and reflectors installed. Rain gutter brackets were originally intended to hold the reflectors, which would have worked well. Instead they were just used as a ‘tool shelf’.


...and with the T5 lamps.


Closer view of the wiring.


with front lid open and tool shelf in use.


...…with rear lid open. Access to lamps for maintenance is easy.


…access to filter for maintenance is also easy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I Should have left more space between the lights and the fans because they are blocked a bit and it causes them to be more noisy. Need to look into that some more.

You can see extra screw caps on the front face in my pics because I drilled some holes that I didn't need

I have noticed that some of the above diagrams have arrows hidden or off centre. I shall rectify soon.

I also have all of the above in a Word document. If anybody wants it then let me know.

This post has been edited by daza: Jul 30 2005, 08:46 PM

"Bloody Hell" Daza, you sure went all out on this post. Absoulutly excellent. This is the kinda stuff that keeps this forum alive.

Regards
BigC

thanks BigC. I like to get my teeth into a project like this every now and then.

This hood now houses, hopefully enough lighting to get some plants growing like yours do! I also added a nutrafin co2 system today, so hopefully I'm getting there planted wise

Did you use a computer aided program for your plans. (the pics of the screws and their relative positions).

nope...nothing so sophisticated!

I used Microsoft Word! I was suprised that it was possible, but using the drawing and 3D features and clipart screws it worked.

Thanks Daza, for that, must check it out. It works very well and would be very useful when trying to explain my Overflow Breeding System. I have a system up and running to breed killifish which incorporates several tanks which overflow into each other, therefore only needing one heater/stat and a powerfliter. The only problem is I have difficulty explaining the mechanics to people. I think I could work with that kinda tool to get my plans across.
Regards
BigC

sounds like a good project. With Word, just draw the shape in 2D with the normal drawing toolbar and then select the '3D-style' button, you can choose depth and drag the objects angle/perspective around. You can change the position of light/shadows too.

Draw each object/shape and convert them to 3D seperately and then drag them together to build up the picture.

Pretty good stuff considering it is primarily a word processor!

I found the easiest way to make them a jpeg picture file was to group all objects together (hold shift and click on each in turn, then right click -> grouping) and then copy it, paste it in to Paint, resize as neccessary and then save as a .jpg file which can be uploaded to the web.

Good luck with it, look forward to seeing it.

The cooling fans you've used, are they just 12volt cpu cooling fans, or something else...... where did you get them and how much where they.

I,m looking into instaling a few into my juwel rio 300, its a little hot in there at mo!

This post has been edited by simonbrown403: Jul 31 2005, 12:17 AM

Wow what a truely amazing job ! Just fantastic. Well done it looks great !

thanks bloozoo

simonbrown - the fans were from Ebuyer. They are only 50p each and are amazingly quiet for that money. They are computer case cooling fans, rather than direct CPU cooling and run at 12 Volts. If you get a variable voltage adapter then you can reduce the voltage to reduce the speed (and hence noise and effectiveness) of the fans if neccessary.

I also bought some fan filters to cover them with, they were 56p each.

So nice and cheap but work well, the way I like it

This post has been edited by daza: Jul 31 2005, 08:35 AM

Cool just what i wanted to hear, i think thats goint to be my next project. thanks daze

This post has been edited by simonbrown403: Jul 31 2005, 08:50 AM

Fantastic post daza, hood looks excellent, i really like the design of it, excellent for incorporating lights and still able to feed etc.

And as i type im checking out some fans cant believe how cheap they are.

Great stuff, great post

I completely forgot out this brilliant DIY hood (after just asking for help on how to maka DIY hood). Daza, out of interest, how much did it approx cost and take to make ?

I intended to add it up at some point, but am a bit scared to!

Actually, it didn't cost that much. The lights were the most expensive part of course.

For the wooden hood alone it was roughly:
- 2 pieces of laminated chipboard (called conti-board or furniture board) £5.50 ea (£11)
- 2 pairs of hinges £0.50 ea (£1)
- Chipboard screw set containing the 30mm and 20mm lenghts required (plus a load of others not needed) (£3)
- Iron on edging strip £2 ea
- Cuts in B&Q are 2 free then 50p per cut so this depends how well you tell the B&Q man to cut each piece or if you do it yourself (but they didn't charge me anyway!)
- Softwood strip 12x12mm (not sure how long it was) £3

So thats about £20 (plus cuts)

It should only take a couple of hours to drill screw holes and screw it all together. It will take longer if you cut your own wood of course.

If you cut fan holes then they can be a pain and take a while. B&Q can't do them as far as I know. Cut the holes before varnishing and varnish the exposed chipboard. I could have used square holes for the fans which would have been easier.

Then the varnish has to be left for about 6 hours between coats (according to my tin) and I gave it three coats with a day in between each. Each coat only took a few minutes to apply though.

The iron-on edging strip covers exposed chipboard from edges that have been cut. Use the iron on the 'linen' setting and iron on with a piece of brown paper between the iron and the strip. Use something to push down on the strip behind the iron. It doesn't need the heat applied for long, just move along slowish (~30sec per metre). It should stick well. Leave a bit of overhand each side and at each end and trim after it is properly stuck. This only takes a little while. Finish by sticking screw caps over exposed screw heads.

Fitting lights and fans depends on which you use of course.

Hope that helps.

Fabulous ! Thanks so much
You make it look and sound not all that hard

Neat work m8,some nice ideas in there, looks good.

where do you get the yatch (how the hell is it spelt!!!) varnish from?

And how did you attach the T5 light to the wooden hood?