Jewel Hood

[skeat12]

Has anybody ever made a hood for a Jewel Trigon? I keep looking at my tank (not a Jewel but very similar) and wondering how to do it, the lid itself is relatively easy, it's the curvature of the support frame that's giving me a headache. Has anyone ever tried this, if so how and do you have any pics?

Thanks

Andy

 

[madgap]

Do you mean the rim around the front and sides, the part thats about two to three inches deep?

If so, depending on what you want to make it out of I may have an idea that I use when making curved things.

 

[skeat12]

Yep that's the bit i mean, not too fussy about the material as long as it's suitable

please feel free to share your idea

 

[skeat12]

Guess we'll never know

 

[ktricky]

have you thought about the floor tiles for this as they can be curved and stick to most things and they can be cut easily to what ever shape you want

that is if you are thinking of the same bit as i am lol

 

[madgap]

Sorry, I didn't realise this thread was still active.

If MDF is available where you are then this would be a fantastic choise.
If not, try and get some very thin strips of timber such as sapele.

Whichever you get, you need to make a former. To do this get a thick board of timber or MDF. An old 44mm door would be brilliant.
Draw the shape onto this by drawing around the tank onto the thick timber board.
Cut this out with a jig-saw or band-saw. This is your former. Take time to cut it so it is a near perfect shape.

Now. You need strips of timber anything between 3mm and 6mm and slightly broader than the boarder you want to create. Lets say, 2000mm long by 70mm wide by 3mm thick. Get three of these.
Because they are so thin, the will bend so easy.
Prepae to get messy. and have a friend to assist.
Pour boiling water onto your timber. This helps it to retain it's new shape.
Using good quality wood glue, like evo-stik resin W. Put plenty onto both sides of one length of your timber. This is your middle piece. Sandwich it between the other two.
either you or your friend needs to hold this sloppy gluey mess against the former whilst the other uses brown parcel tape or prefareably cramps. Fasten it to the former

Pull it as tight as possible Wash off as much glue as you can. Leave it for atleast 24 hours.


Remove from the former and sand it down. Now you shoud see if there is any gaps. If so, don't just fill them. Put glue in first, then fill. Leave to dry. Sand again.


I hope this is helpful to you. If indeed it is what you even want.

Si

 

[skeat12]

Thanks for the ideas, I don't think carpet tiles would be suitable, bearing in mind the hood will need to be supported by the rim and would surely look odd, the wood idea is something I had thought of (although not in quite so much detail ) and your instructions are excelent although again I would need to adapt it to support the hood, might be a project for the weekend.

Thanks

Andy

 

[madgap]

Oh, the bottom, too...
Okay, well you'll need to make more of the strip things that are narrow. But instead of three x 3mm. Maybe six x 3mm.

If you need it drawing out I'll have to do that on the weekend. But it can be done.

 

[skeat12]

Thanks for the drawing offer, My job at work is draughtsman so think i'll be ok with the drawings

 

[skeat12]

Another problem I have with this tank is filtration, I have a tetratec EX700 which is great, however, Although I perform regular gravel vacs there always seems to be bits floating around and because of the tank shape I am limited as to where to locate the spray bar, been thinking of adding a mechanical filter of some description, got any thoughts on this one?

Thanks

Andy