Rack for Tall Bins

I was going to post this to the "Questions for Rack Builders" thread, but I didn't want to highjack it:

I went out and bought 4 of the the 90qt Sterilite bins. Very big. Same 'footprint' as the 41qt. I just didn't like how short the 41 is, and for the near and mid term future, I'll only have 4 adults down there, so I don't mind the tall bins. I bought cheap shelves, but I can just tell that I'm not going to stick with that. I will probably build a set of shelves so I don't have to use the lids. I melted in a row of air holes all the way around the top (under the step down about 2 inches from the top) every 2 inches, and a second row mid way to down, again every 2 inches. Is that enough?

Since the bins are so tall, I don't think there'll be a problem using MDF. I want to make it sideways, with open sides and back. Still chewing on how I want to construct it, but I have a few ideas in mind. Will use Flexwatt on one end of each, and wire each one seperately so that I can control each one independently. My concern is the little 'feet' on the bottom of the bin. Will enough heat transfer to the tubs, while still not getting hot enough to scorch the MDF? Should I take some thin aluminum sheet and form that around one end large enough for the Flexwatt (better insulate the flexwatt well in that case)? But even if I find real thin sheet, would it make too much of a gap if I don't have the sheet the whole length?

Thanks.

WOW................

Honestly, this is so close to the plans that I have been tossing around in my head it is scarey! I have 5 of those bins sitting down in my basement right now that I bought the other day and plan on melting the holes in them on Monday and getting some melamine to construct the shevles and I plan to have it open from the end and even leave an opening on the side....I will be heating with cable though and trying something new. I have the luxery to build it and set it up in the room, and get it all ready and tested before I need to move snakes around. Good luck, let me know how yours turns out!

The flexwatt will be fine just as is and will heat your cage just fine, even with the feet. And you shouldn't probably have to worry about heat transfer between shelves, mdf is a poor conductor, but you might want to use 3/4" just in case.

hartsock said:

WOW................

Honestly, this is so close to the plans that I have been tossing around in my head it is scarey! I have 5 of those bins sitting down in my basement right now that I bought the other day and plan on melting the holes in them on Monday and getting some melamine to construct the shevles and I plan to have it open from the end and even leave an opening on the side....I will be heating with cable though and trying something new. I have the luxery to build it and set it up in the room, and get it all ready and tested before I need to move snakes around. Good luck, let me know how yours turns out!

Click to expand...

Well... here's what I did instead of watching the 1pm NFL games (man, I AM hooked on this!).



My local Home Despot :grin01: was out of 24X48 3/4" melamine, so I bought 12X48 (they have nicely finished edges that the larger sheets didn't, so it wasn't a total waste). I cut chunks of 1X2 pine that you see. The two blocks on each end are just to keep the two boards lined up and together and they're laying flat attached with 1.25" brads. The inside pieces are attached edgewise, using 2" brads (gosh, honey, I HAD to buy that brad gun for this project!!). The back piece is 36" long and the two side pieces are 16". The mainly serve the purpose of making sure I don't push the bin too far in giving the snake an escape route out the back.

Now, to turn these into actual shelves, I was chewing a couple of ideas. What I think is most interesting would be to use more blocks of the 1x2 stock to frame a 'pocket' at each corner that would snugly fit a 3x3. I'd put a 'pocket' on both the top and bottom at each corner. Then cut 3x3s to the correct length such that the bins fit nice with maybe a 1/8" gap. (I can see a belt sander in my future to 'tweak' the 3x3 lengths). Since the load would transfer straight down each level to the one below, I think it ought to be pretty solid and stable. I could always shoot a brad or two into each 3x3 through the sides of the pockets. Whaddya think? It would look pretty clean, and would be easily moved, rearranged or added to. My main concern is stability. I guess I'll have to test it out to see.

Question for people using Fexwatt... do most people wire then in series? How do you control the temps? One thermostat with a dedicated thermometer for each bin? Since I'm only going to have 4, I'll probably configure them to run independently with their own thermostat, but IF I expand further, that would probably get too expensive. TIA.

Changed my mind again... 4 segments of Flexwatt, connectors and one Herpstat on order from The Bean Farm.

Will you continue to post pics on your progress?!!

CornNoobie said:

Will you continue to post pics on your progress?!!

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If it's not insanely boring to everyone, but I guess that's what's the back button is for...

Yeah I would love to see progression pics as my family and I are planning another rack but this one is a large scale one that the pins will sit sideways and we are putting wood and plexi on what would be the top but will now be the front. I'm wanting to make a wall unit that will house 12 to 15 adult snakes and give them a luxury feel ..So i've been looking at what everyone else is building to see if I can get any other ideas..LOL

Good luck it looks great. As for the Flexwatt..we wired ours in a series then hooked it up to one helix proportional. I basically have four strips of 6' of the 4" wide flexwatt. I use two probes placed in different bins to monitor the heat besides the Helix. I just move probes around from time to time to make sure the whole unit is keeping similar temps. Mine holds 24 bins for babies/sub-adults and 8 adult bins.

Good luck!!! Can't wait to see more pics

Hows it coming along Merlin?

CornNoobie said:

Hows it coming along Merlin?

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haven't touched anything all week. By the time I get home from the job I only have an hour to spend with my son before his bedtime and I don't want to waste that by doing amateur carpentry.

Plus, I had to re-think my method of connecting the shelves, since my HD doesn't carry 3x3s (and I never trusted that it would be stable that way). Once I get that figured out I'll work on it tonight with Jam Master C (aka Cooper). I'm picturing a frame that I can just set the heavy shelves into. That way they'll be removable and easier to move around. The frame will still be bulky, but at least it'll be light. Who knows...it might turn out to be a lot of firewood, but I'm having fun! I'll take some step by step progression pics on the off chance that this works out and someone feels like copying or improving upon the design. I'm definitely making this for function, not beauty.

Finally! Finished my rack...

Here's some pics and descriptions:

First I made the shelves using 2ea 12X48 laminated particle boards. Used 1x2 pine to pin the halves together and create a 'pocket' for the bins.



Then, using 1x3 pine and more 1x2 pieces, I built a ladder-type frame that the shelves sit snugly in (shelves are removeable). Had to juggle with the distance between shelves to get a pretty small gap between bins and the
'roof' created by the shelf above. Everything is fastened by either 1.5" or 2/25" brads. Here's two shots of that:

Ladder arrangement:


Full frame view:

I did end up putting another cross brace in the back mid-way for added stability, but it probably wasn't needed - I had extra wood.

Here's a shot of the unit with shelves installed and 2 of the 4 90qt Sterilite bins in place:


Next post describes my 'change in plans'...

I planned and built the rack intending to house adults (hence the large bins), but decided that I'd rather get more babies. Since I already had 4 11" Flexwatt segments and a Herpstat thermostat on the way and didn't want to change the structure of the rack (they will grow up, after all!), here's how I plan to house young'uns eventually...

Four 12 quart Sterilite bins occupy 2 shelves of the rack. Each has its own flexwatt with individual 2-zone temperature monitoring, and humidity monitoring (all inside the bin - no wires coming out so I can move the bins to my work table easily):


Here's a look inside each bin. I bought 3" terra cota pots for hides and a plant saucer to use as a water dish. The saucer is glazed on the inside.

Dang! Hit submit instead of preview...

Anyway, here's the aforementioned shot of the accomodations:


Here's a close-up of one of the hides. I used a Dremmel tool with a cut-off wheel (at least 2 wheels per hide, actually) and then a sanding drum to take down the sharp edges.


If anyone decides to do this (cutting out an entrance of a terra cotta pot with a dremmel) I strongly suggest using a dust mask. Otherwise, you'll be blowing red, muddy snot for a few hours (don't ask how I know).

Anyway... that's it. Thanks for taking a look.

Now... as for tennants... stand by. :dancer:

WOW you have done a great job...

I am really glad you posted the pics because this is something that I have been thinking of doing but I was not sure how to put it all together...

Thanks very much for sharing this with us. !!!! Rep points on the way...

Thanks... I kept receipts for everying, but dare not do the math! Rough estimate, though, including the thermostat, flexwatt and wiring... maybe $225 or so, with better than half of that being the stuff for heating. Could've made it cheaper, but I didn't have time to scrounge.

Oh, that doesn't count the $100 I spent getting the brad gun (but honey, we neeeeeeeded one anyway!).

Congrats on finishing the rack it looks great

I know we changed our minds several times while building our first one and we have a second one that I cant even count how many revisions we have had so far on the plans. It must be the male mentality to make sure in the plans somehow a new tool is incorporated.:laugh01:

But I never give my husband heck because he lets me buy all the reptiles I like..LOL

My wife said she liked how the rack matched the look of the unfinished basement. :uhoh: Should I take that as what you ladies call a 'hint?'

Hmmm... gonna need a table saw... .22cal nail gun... Power miter... :spinner:

can i just ask you.. Are all them heat matts individuals ones or are they all connected to some kind of large heating system. I am asking because i have always wondered how to heat a full rack ?

ROFL..Yeah Merlin that is a strong HINT..Don't wait for her to hit you over the head..LOL

Yeah my hubby is currently working on a Beardie Cage for my ever growing reptile collection now and he has already hit me up for another router..The nail gun was a project or two back and I dont think we could own one more saw:shrugs: