I had a stack of Redwood lumber, which came from an old deck that I replaced. The wood looked to be in sad shape, rotting, and nail holes, knot holes, odd lengths, etc., but it was old growth Redwood and I couldn't just throw it away. I cross-cut one of the boards and saw that the inside was in excellent shape and the rotting in places was only a thin layer on the surface.

My main hobby at the time was landscaping the garden and water plants. I put two and two together and decided to make some tanks for water lilies. I started out with a little Trigonometry to calculate the angles, began cutting boards with my table saw, and learned as I went along. After a tank or two, I quickly found the hard way and the easy way to do things, things that worked, and things that did not work.

I figured that I would write down the plans before I forgot all the mistakes that I had made. If I were using new lumber, it would be quite expensive making the same mistakes twice. It seems that Math, Logic, and common sense will get you started, but with water tanks, experience is the best teacher.

This plan will guide you step-by-step through the process. It will list the materials and tools that you need, and includes diagrams, and tables to assist you in building circular Redwood tanks, from small flower pots to large water tanks. I have also included a web page calculator that you enter the size tank you want to build, and it calculates all of the key measurements that you will need.

It is a bit of a kick building round things from straight lumber, and leaves you with a real feeling of accomplishment. It is not hard once you know how, and everyone will be impressed with the results. There is just something naturally appealing about a round Redwood water tank.