Hot Tub in Macrocarpa

Great job Andy, what an idea!! looks like it’s going to lasta while. If your wife keeps burning herself you can always use it to make wine.

-- I didn't go to college, I was too busy learning stuff - Ted Nugent

i was wondering who uses Macrocarpa outside of NZ :-)
Should be handy for those cold winter nights…

-- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...

Hey Andy
This id one cool hot tub. How did you put the bottom in?

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Yes, like Jim I’m wondering about the build. I’m fascinated by this I’d love to see more revealing pictures.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://gagnerwebsite.com/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

If you are going to have a crack at this, If you can afford cedar then that is the best, or maybe redwood. I drew up the 1500mm dia on sketchup and worked out about 36 staves. make 40. I made a knife for the spindle moulder. With this I concaved and convexed the edges of the staves so they interlock.
The bottom of each stave is cut out with the same cutter used for the staves. Next time I would use a square dado cut…better seal.
Slap it all together with help from the kids and a tie down then install the stainless steel straps.
As I had a few problems with leaks, I painted the beast. I tell you, there is more to these than I thought, but fun learning.

-- Andy Halewoodworker. You can't finish if you don't finish. So finish it, because finish is everything.

Sorry I don’t have any more pics of the build. I made a jig for the spindle moulder that enabled me to run a cove across the grain about 4 inches from the bottom of each stave. I rounded the edge of the bottom and pieced the staves together around the bottom. The bottom is just coved together. I always new this would be the problem area. I named this tub the “Eddisen Tub” as I learnt 500 ways not to make a hot tub.

I did end up trying to glue the bottom because I was loosing a bit much water. I let it dry out too much and the bottom severely shrunk. Not to be out done I had some weed mat in the garage that I painted on to the bottom. That stopped the leaks and it is still functional. I also put hemp around the edge of the bottom. Hope that goes a little way toward explaining how the bottom is done.

Next time I would do the bottom out of marine ply or try to do a kind of spiral from the centre out. Probably the best thing to do is to use the tried and proven timber “Cedar” or “Red Wood” but my percentage of Scottish blood is too great….he he.

-- Andy Halewoodworker. You can't finish if you don't finish. So finish it, because finish is everything.

Nice work, andyboy. I want to make a cistern and this is kinda what I was thinking, only a bit taller. Also, what is the angle of the hot tub’s side wall? Looks like a right angle but I’m not sure. I am thinking about a 7-10 degree side wall angle for the cistern.

-- People say I hammer like lightning. It's not that I'm fast -- it's that I never hit the same place twice!

Hey Don. I worked out how many I need using sketch up. The joints are knuckle joints so they can pivot to suit whatever the angle. If you do go for an angle joint I would put a bead groove in each join and even go as far as putting a length of rubber down each join.

Cheers,

Andy.

-- Andy Halewoodworker. You can't finish if you don't finish. So finish it, because finish is everything.