This will be a write up first, followed by pictures so bear with me!!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Ok, here goes..
A couple of months back, there were these really cool looking fiberglass tank blinds for sale in the classified ads for $300. After seeing what Brian (Brianlg31) and his son did with theirs, I was wanting one bad and Brian offered up a TBH Express to Seguin for me. I couldn't resist and took him up on it. This was going to be my first attempt at making a blind from anything other than plywood. After talking back and forth about the blind, Brian knew how excited I was and I think he got excited about getting the blind to me so before I knew it, he was on his way to Ft. Worth to pick them up and on his way down, he gave us a call so we could get an idea on what time to meet him. I had originally planned on buying him lunch/dinner at the Dixie Grill as a way of saying thank you but once my wife and I got the call, we had to pack up the kids and hustle our way from Corpus to Seguin with a stop in La Vernia in order to pick up a trailer to get the dang tank from Brian. To make a long and aggravating story short, we were going to be super late meeting up with Brian...
Here is where I tell you about Brian Gardner and the type of man he is! After revealing to Brian that we were going to be late to meet up with him, he OFFERED to bring the blind to my folks place in La Vernia. This was a big deal to me because to give y'all an idea, its about a 45 minute to an hour detour in the complete opposite direction he was going!! You're a heck of a man Brian and I can't tell you how much I appreciated what you did! We shoulda snagged a pic in front of the blind!
After Brian and I said our "good bye's", I got to rolling this thing around and taking pictures with my dad and kiddos (first group of pictures). This is when I began to realize that these tank ends are heavier than they look, lol! I managed to roll the blind to the back of my parents place in preparation for the next weekend when I would be back to work on it. The only problem was that we had things come up for the next month and I couldn't work on it so, it had to wait.
When I was finally able to get back to LV and work on the blind, I was stoked! I went and bought my supplies, some 2X4's, some 3/4" decking, some screws, foam sealer, silicon, paint, etc. I had also ordered my Deerview windows and I was anxiously awaiting their arrival!
Once we got back to my folks house, my little brother and I got to work putting the deck together. I must say, it was fun having my younger brother inside that tank tracing out the floor and knowing that I was the only way he would be getting out... I should have thought harder about what I could get from that situation but by the end of the day, we had the floor built and the Deerview Windows came in! (Picture Group #2)
The next weekend, we started the base. We wanted this to blind to be handicap accessible because my dad isn't getting around as good as he once used to so we decided that we needed to make a metal base with a ladder and door for the ol'fart. So I ordered square tubing from Laredo Metals out of Three Rivers and they delivered. I bought 3 - 24' sticks of 10 gauge 1.5" square tubing and 4 - 24' sticks of 1" square tubing. After putting all the metal together, I realized my plan was faulty and that I bought the dang 1" for nothing because the 1.5" was plenty. Oh well, now I have 96' of 1" square tubing that I can do something with eventually.. That weekend I got the base welded together and the legs cut out of scrap 2" square tubing and one piece of 2" drill pipe for a total of 6 legs. (Picture Group #3)
The next weekend, was time for me to cut out the windows, cut out the door, and place the floor on the base to see how it fit and right off the bat, we had issues. When I built the base, my internal brackets were spaced too far apart which allowed for this fat guy to stand on one edge of my floor and drop it below the base. So, I had to add some angle iron to my base and fill in some gaps.
In Brian's thread, he recommended using the diamond grinder blade so thats just what I did and it cut through the fiberglass like a dream. It did produce a lot of dust and I used a fan to help mitigate that. (Picture Group #4)
The next weekend was the finale. My dad and I framed out the door, I cut it out and we painted the dome. My dad had painted the base earlier that week and my little brother and I made stairs that my dad could climb. Since this blind was going to my grandparents pasture, I didn't want to use curse words on the blind so I named it the "Dam Dome" and since I am not technically cursing, I feel good about the name. We painted both the inside and out. The inside took exactly 1 gal of black paint and the outside took 5 cans of spray paint with about a half gallon of exterior paint for the roof.
When we finally to the down to where we wanted, I think I busted a gut trying to get it placed on the floor, placed on the base but, we eventually got it and in the last group of pictures, she is placed nicely!
I can't thank you enough Brian for making this a reality! We are going to eventually carpet the floor and finish sealing her up but we think the "Dam Dome" is awesome! Thank y'all for taking the time to read and follow along! -
To give y’all an idea of the size of this thing, I am 6’2” and I weigh 330 lbs.
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
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Looks GreatComment
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Great ideas thanks for all the pictures!Comment
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that's SWEET!
I need to get ahold of one of those tanks!!Comment
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Nice stand!Comment
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Nice Job!Comment
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Thanks yall! I appreciate it! I'll try to get an inside picture soon!Comment
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Justin you are right, I was excited about getting it to you as you were to get started. Once again no problem.
Man it turned out great. You and your kids will have so much fun and build a lifetime of memories in that. Can’t wait to see some hunting pictures.Comment
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Awesome blind there .Comment
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I know you were and I wish I could have started sooner than I did!!!Originally posted by brianlg31 View Post
We should be getting carpet in there soon and then finish sealing all the holes. We are glad to finally have a blind that should last a long time! Thank you again Brian!Comment
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What did you use to cut that puppy? The fiberglass looks very thick. Looks great by the way.Comment
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awesome !Comment
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