Greg remembered his father’s wise words: “Having the right tool, is half the job done”.
As he was going to build his aluminium canopy in his garage and he already had a welding machine, he decided to build the frame of steel. The frame would then be covered with aluminium cladding.
He only bought extra adjustable clamps and a proper bevel gauge. These tools, says Greg, were paramount to the success of the project.

How was the canopy designed?
Because I didn’t have access to an existing canopy, I started photographing canopies to get an idea of what I wanted.

How did it turn out?
Apart from leaking at one door jamb while I was using it around town, it works perfectly. And it only weighs 60 kg. My friends think it’s great and I’ve got one order already.

What tools and other materials did you use?
•    Work bench and a 100 mm jawed engineer’s bench vice
•    Welding machine
•    Bevel gauge
•    Clamps. Get as many as you can.
•    Vice grips, for when you run out of clamps.
•    Grinders, big and small, for cutting steel sections, cleaning up the welding and
      for trimming.
•    Hack saw
•    A pedestal and a pistol-grip drilling machine
•    Electric jigsaw, for cutting slots for the locks and for the windows.
•    Pedestals (bokkies)
•    Spirit level to make sure the jig stays level and that the roof is level.
•    Stanley knife, to cut the rubber seals and trim the adhesive overflow.
•    Flat and square files, to make the lock slots neat and trim.
•    Caulking gun, to apply adhesives.
•    Stainless steel Nylok nuts and bolts
•    Countersunk, sealed aluminium rivets
•    Water-based paint
•    Sikaflex Fix adhesive
•    Pressure-adjustable gas shocks

Where did you buy the materials?
•    RCM Engineering for all my “cut & bend” steel and aluminium
•    Mc Naughten’s for the locks, hinges and gas struts
•    KGM for the angle and flat aluminium sections
•    Rivco for the rivets
•    BASF for the Sikaflex Fix
•    Rubber Products & Moldings for the seals
•    Parow Bolt & Tool for the nuts and bolts