This is how I finally built a screen top for my 73-gallon bow-front aquarium. The trickiest part being of course the curved front. I did mine in two halves because that is how it would set into the top of my tank that had a support across the center.
The best ideas are of course stolen so thank you to
Jimflies https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f30/clear-mesh-top-5124.html
And Bergy and Psykokid http://thelittleocean.com/smf118/index.php?topic=54.0
Project-Specific Materials Needed:
2 - 48" aluminum framing material (HD, Lowes, Plesants etc)
8 - screen frame corners (at a $1.25 for 4, I bought an extra pack, anticipating screw-ups)
1 - roll of spline material
1 - spline roller (I strongly advise the cheap plastic one. Half the cost and unlikely to cut your mesh by accident)
1 - roll of garden netting screening material (I used black)
1- wooden dowel, slightly smaller than the spline
Other tools needed
Heatgun (know anyone in the military? They use it to polish shoes.)
Dovetail or hacksaw etc.
Strong adhesive/epoxy. I simply used Crazy Glue
Hammer
Flat head screwdriver
Screws
Scrap ply wood (FREE, thanks Lowes)
Marker
Work gloves
Total cost in my area $24.10
$12.50 for framing, spline, and 4 corners in a combo pack
$2.50 for 8 more framing corners
$3.00 for spline roller
$6.00 for garden netting roll. I could probably make 10 more screens out of this but there wasn’t a smaller package)
$.10 wooden dowel
The best ideas are of course stolen so thank you to
Jimflies https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f30/clear-mesh-top-5124.html
And Bergy and Psykokid http://thelittleocean.com/smf118/index.php?topic=54.0
Project-Specific Materials Needed:
2 - 48" aluminum framing material (HD, Lowes, Plesants etc)
8 - screen frame corners (at a $1.25 for 4, I bought an extra pack, anticipating screw-ups)
1 - roll of spline material
1 - spline roller (I strongly advise the cheap plastic one. Half the cost and unlikely to cut your mesh by accident)
1 - roll of garden netting screening material (I used black)
1- wooden dowel, slightly smaller than the spline
Other tools needed
Heatgun (know anyone in the military? They use it to polish shoes.)
Dovetail or hacksaw etc.
Strong adhesive/epoxy. I simply used Crazy Glue
Hammer
Flat head screwdriver
Screws
Scrap ply wood (FREE, thanks Lowes)
Marker
Work gloves
Total cost in my area $24.10
$12.50 for framing, spline, and 4 corners in a combo pack
$2.50 for 8 more framing corners
$3.00 for spline roller
$6.00 for garden netting roll. I could probably make 10 more screens out of this but there wasn’t a smaller package)
$.10 wooden dowel
Last edited: