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How-to: DIY Hobbyist Hatchling Rack
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Old 08-07-2016, 07:17 PM   #1
HerpsOfNM
How-to: DIY Hobbyist Hatchling Rack

PART I:

DISCLAIMER: Cornsnakes.com Forums, its Staff, nor myself assume no responsibility for the actions of others taken in recreating this How-to. Members, registered or not, undertaking the re-creation of this How-to perform such solely at their own risk.

“Work smarter, not harder.” Various woodworking tools can, and will be, used in constructing this rack. As such, be they manual or powered, such tools can pose a danger in use if not used mindfully and for their intended purpose(s). Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as hearing, eye, and/or respiratory protection may be recommended or needed.

WARNING: This is going to be long!


TOOLS (I used):
Circular saw, corded or battery powered
Rip/Guide fence for circular saw
Compound mitre saw
Drill with adjustable torque, corded or battery powered
#1 and #2 Phillips (cross-tip) screw bits
Various drill bits (twist bits: 5/64, 7/64, 9/64 and spur (wood) point bit: 3/16)
#8 and #10 countersink bits
T or L square
Tape measure with resolution of at least 1/16 inch
90 degree corner clamp
“Quick-Grip” or “C” style clamps
Saw horse
Clothes iron and kraft (brown butcher) paper
Work gloves

TOOLS (that may make this faster):
Table saw
Dado blade set
Various length of bar (parallel) clamps – mine were too short, personal issue
A full Master Carpenter arsenal/workshop
Record number (for me) of red ratsnake eggs set to start hatching in less than 2 weeks
Adult Liquid Refreshment (note: the consumption of alcohol does not guarantee better build quality, your mileage may vary…I was working in an east-facing garage in triple-digit heat, not factoring heat index, and consumed no less than 6 bottles of water while constructing this; the ALR was consumed afterwards)
Foresight (like measuring the height of the room this rack in going into BEFORE you actually build it)

MATERIALS:
2 - Melamine Shelf Pre-Drilled Board (3/4in x 11-3/4in x 97in)
20-23 - Decorative Shelf – 5/8in thick (length can vary, I used 12in x 36in, actual is 11-3/4in x 35-13/16in…manufactured length varied from just under 35-3/4in to 35-13/16in)*
1 - 4ft x 8ft x 3/16in peg board
1 – 1in x 4in x 4ft pine board (length may vary if you make a wider or narrower rack)
2 pack - 1-3/4in Melamine screw and cap (10 count/pack)
1 box - #10 x 1in wood screws
1 – 3/4in x 25ft Melamine edging
7 packs – 1/2in white shelf peg (12 count/pack, optional)*
12in bottom mount drawer slide (optional)*
Ziploc Large Rectangle Container (old style, see photos, quantities will vary)
Kroger (aka Fred Meyer, Ralph, Smith’s Food & Drug Stores, City Market, Dillons Supermarkets, Fry’s Food & Drug, etc.) Home Sense Large & Extra Large Rectangular Container (quantities will vary)
Target up&up snap and store large and extra large rectangle containers are exact same as Kroger Home Sense.

PURPOSE:
I have ran out of caging space due to purchases of additional red ratsnake mutations and holdbacks from a couple seasons. Additionally, this season will mark the first time I have the potential to produce over 100 red ratsnake hatchlings. This new rack will free-up my former hatchling rack (n=36), allowing me to utilize it as a holdback or juvenile rack. This also marks the beginning of my revitalization of my herp room, where I will be working away from keeping my “pets” in tubs and moving them into custom built display caging. Racks will become strictly a means to house and rear hatchling to sub-adult snakes or geckos.

CONSTRUCTION:

Foresight:
I mentioned Foresight within TOOLS (that may make this faster), so before we even begin shopping for supplies, measure the height of the ceiling where you plan to place this hatchling rack. Keep in mind you don’t have to use the 97in (8ft 1in) drilled melamine board. You can use shorter sections (4ft or 6ft drilled panels) possibly available within the closet aisle of any favorite hardware store (I used Lowes and Home Depot as other local [local = 15 miles or closer for me in this case] hardware and lumber stores did not carry pre-cut and drilled melamine panels/boards). Foresight…for some reason I thought my ceilings were 9ft, but instead they are 8ft – an amateur mistake, aka brain fart on my part. As such, I had to trim 7/8in off the bottom in order to finish construction and install the rack. There was another way to do this, but one way or the other the circular saw was coming out and trimming a little off each panel was the quicker option and it didn’t interfere with shelf height placement.

Planning:
This is a “smarter” version of my current hatchling rack. The idea came to me 2 years ago when buying some melamine panels, but I never really put much brain cell use to designing it. Recently the idea was brought back to the front burner while looking at Cornsnakes.com Member aleks’ Facebook page and stumbling upon one of his rack photos. My current rack, now former, instead was built to use Ziploc Large and Kroger Home Sense Extra Large Rectangle Containers by using a router to create a “through housing joint” where the rack sides were routed with a spacing slightly taller than the container, the shelf was slid into the channel created, and secured in place with melamine screws. Such joints work well when one needs to bear weight on the joint. Unfortunately, this style of rack building doesn’t lend to a modular design in allowing for manufacturer tub redesigns. This is fine if you have all the tubs you need to initially fill the rack. However, if you wind up adding tubs as you need, you might be met with changes in height in my case. Ultimately, that problem comes down to budgeting…

For this new rack, instead I’m doing a simple “square-ended butt joint” at all secured perpendicular contact points. Since square-ended butt joints tend to be weaker, the use of pegboard on the back of the rack lends to added rigidity by securing it into the top, bottom, and side panels to keep the entire unit square. In keeping with the use of the Ziploc and Kroger containers and then seeing aleks’ rack an “oh really” moment popped.

These containers measure as follows, with lids in place:
Ziploc (old style) 9.5cup/76oz/2.25L Large Rectangle Container – 11.5in x 7.25in x 3.125in (L x W x H)
Ziploc (new style) 9.0cup/72oz/2.12L Large Rectangle Container – 10in x 6.75in x 3.1875in
Kroger Home Sense Extra Large Rectangular Container – 13.25in x 9.25in x 3.0625in
Kroger Home Sense Large Rectangular Container – 11.5625in x 7in x 3.0625in

In aleks’ photo I could see the sides of his rack were drilled. Having these measurements, I went to Lowes and Home Depot to find the pre-drilled panels. Lowes, at least here, only carries what they call Thermally Fused Laminate (aka melamine), the pre-drilled panel is 15.75in x 97in x 0.75in and the hole spacing is just over 1.25in (actual hole spacing in 32mm or 1.25984in). On the other hand, Home Depot carries 2 versions of the pre-drilled panel. One is 11.75in deep and the other is 15.75in deep. I would have preferred the 15.75in deep, but neither Lowes nor Home Depot stock a precut shelf that in 5/8in (0.625in) thick and 15.75in deep. Both stores only carry 3/4in thick shelves that are also 15.75in deep.

The reasoning for 5/8in thick shelving was 1) the placement of this rack couldn’t go wider than 44 inches so I could get away with a thinner shelf without worrying of sagging, 2) it’s lighter, 3) shelf height spacing, and 4) it’s cheaper than 3/4in thick panels/shelves. The really cheaper option would have been 1/2in or 5/8in thick 4ft x 8ft 2-sided melamine board, but no one in the south-central portion of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro seems to carry that. Going that route also comes with the time consuming need to have to cut each shelf from the 4ft x 8ft board (10 total if you stay to 11.75x36in wide shelves). So the dilemma becomes one of cost vs convenience and since I don’t own a table saw yet, ripping 4ft x 8ft boards becomes very laborious and time consuming. Point 3 of shelf height plays into the combination of container height and pre-drilled hole spacing. Since we know that the holes are spaced just over 1.25in, every 3rd hole gives a shelf height of 3.75in. This minus the shelf thickness of 0.625in = 3.125, but actual winds up at 3 x 1.25984 = 3.77952 – 0.625 = 3.15452, which is just over 3-1/8in (3.125in). This allows for perfect fitment of the Ziploc (old style) and both Kroger containers! The use of 3/4in thick shelves would not allow for this. From there, if using the Ziploc and Kroger Large Containers, one can fit 5 containers across each shelf if using a 36in wide shelf.

Using the 8ft drilled panels, there are 75 holes top to bottom, 150 total (front and back holes). However, when reading reviews on the panels it became obvious that there was potential for no 2 panels being alike in hole placement (bring a T-square with you to check hole alignment). Some users commented on the holes being 1/4in off, but I think these reviewers overlooked measuring the hole distance. Hole distance = If you lay each 8ft panel down with the holes facing up such that the holes become oriented left to right, the measured distance from the left panel end to 1st hole is different than the measured distance of right panel end to 1st hole. I opted to use the greatest distance from panel end to 1st hole as the top. The downside to this, as would be using the shorter distance as the top, is that each panel only has 1 orientation. These panels only have 1 of the long sides covered in melamine edging to yield a finished look. In order for the holes to mirror each other results in having the mirroring panel showing the unfinished, non-edged long side. I didn’t take photos, but all you need is a roll of melamine edging, an iron, and something to protect the iron face from the glue of the melamine edging – just simply line it up and iron away, then carefully trim excess with a utility knife.

Knowing these variables, one can then use shelf pegs spaced every 3rd hole (going from the top, the first peg starts at the 4th hole due to how the panels are pre-drilled, but rest are every 3rd). Doing this will yield 24 shelves. If one does 36in wide (5 containers) x 24 shelves = 120 containers for hatchlings! 8ft is TALL though, again foresight. I’m 5ft 6in and would need a step stool to reach the top 4 shelves. Instead I’ve left this space open and use the very top shelf for storage. Additionally, something I like from aleks’ rack was the inclusion of a sliding shelf. This is optional. I installed one and placed it at approximately 38in height, keeping my shelf spacing intact. If I recall 36.25 inches high is the ergonomic height for the likes of kitchen and bathroom counters. Obviously one can place this higher or lower based upon what is comfortable for you. This slide out shelf and the shelf below it will be used for storage of things like a small digital scale, nitrile gloves, feeding record book, etc, with the slide out shelf most likely functioning as my feeding station for the rack. Since this shelf slides, the shelf below runs the risk of containers sliding off as you pull it out. Again, this is optional and one can always just keep the shelf in place if the cage spacing is needed.
 
Old 08-07-2016, 07:21 PM   #2
HerpsOfNM
PART II:

Building:
The following will be photos showing the planning process coming into fuition.

When handling melamine, HANDLE WITH CARE AS EXPOSED MELAMINE COATING IS SHARP! I speak from experience thinking I could handle it barehanded with care…nope! Wearing gloves is strongly recommended.

I had from my previous hatchling rack build a sizeable chunk of 3/4in melamine laying around. I trimmed this down to form my top. Beforehand I conveniently had out of 20 shelves, 2 that measured the widest. These 2 shelves are my middle and bottom shelves. The measured width is 37-5/16inches wide. With shelves installed and squared, I measured the width of the unit again…measure twice, cut once! If you don’t have any scrap around, you’ll need to purchase a separate shelf; I’d use an 11.75in x 48in x 5/8in board, though you can use 3/4in board too – whatever happens to be cheaper or available.

If you have 8ft ceilings, take this time to also trim 7/8in off the bottom of your left and right side panels. This will give you enough clearance to assemble the rack in your “herp room” and still be able to then stand it up and move it without hitting the ceiling.

With the top trimmed for both depth and width, I used 90° corner clamps to square the unit.


Top-Corner-Rack by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr


Squared-Rack by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

While clamped and squared, holes were pre-drilled for the top. Before drilling, using a screw as a guide set your drill bit just a little bit longer than the overall length of the screw. Melamine board is usually either made of MDF (medium-density fiberboard) or particle board. The melamine used here was particle board. Because of this material, one needs to pre-drill screw holes to avoid breakout or mushrooming for a secure, flush fitment.

I used “melamine screws” for a clean look with white caps for finished appearance. If you can find them locally, confirmat screws are the preferred means to screwing melamine together but they also require a specialized drill bit. Again, I use melamine screws here, and though frowned upon, coarse-thread drywall screws could even be used – the key is a coarse threading and to avoid over-torqueing the screws when tightening the screws into place.


Top-Corner-Rack2 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr


Hardware-Rack by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

Once holes are drilled, double back with a #8 countersink bit and create your countersunk hole. Even with a sharp countersink bit, you may have some melamine chipping. This is just the nature of melamine and is usually hidden when the caps are installed.

So you can free up the corner clamps, go ahead and screw your top and side panels together. I used 6 screws, 3 per side, with the front and back screw brought in 2inches from their respective edge. The 3rd screw was placed in the exact middle of 11.75in (half of 3/4in is 3/8in, half of 11in is 5.5in [5-4/8in] so middle is 5-7/8in). Do not cap the screws yet. Keep the unit oriented as in the 2nd photo above.

Now that the top is screwed into place we need to find middle, but based upon shelving placement. For how the panels are pre-drilled, the first shelf pegs will go in at the 4th hole from the top. Counting from this point, a shelf peg will be placed every 3 holes. You’ll have a peg, then 2 open holes, peg, 2 open holes, peg,…etc. The middle shelf is screwed into place versus sitting on pegs in order to add structural integrity to this tall of a rack.

The middle shelf should conveniently be located at approximately 45.25in down (46in down if you measure with a 3/4in board as your top). Alternatively, this measurement is between peg no. 36 & 37. If your holes match what I have, then you can place 4 shelf pegs in what should be hole #37 left/right/front/back, again from the top. Place a shelf here. Using the 2 corner clamps freed from the top panel, square up the shelf on left and right sides, making certain the bottom of the shelf remains flush with the shelf pegs. If flush and square, take a pencil and mark the left and right side panel fronts where the bottom of the shelf is in relation to the side panels. Using either an L-square or small enough T-square, draw a line completely across each side panel edge where this bottom mark is. Since we’re using 5/8in panel, half of 5/8in is 5/16in. Measure 5/16in above each marked bottom, this is the middle of your shelf and where we want screw placement. Repeat this for the bottom shelf. I have my bottom shelf placed at peg # 73. You can see the guide lines for the thin edge of the side panel below.


Squared-Rack-Middle2 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

Remove either the left or right side corner clamp from the middle and bottom shelves, keeping at least 1 clamp in place per shelf, and without twisting CAREFULLY rotate the entire unit on its side.


Squared-Rack-Middle by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

Re-square the shelves on their non-clamped sides by aligning them to their marked bottom shelf line. Take your T-square and line it up to the middle shelf’s bottom mark and draw a line on the side of the side panel. Move up to the middle of shelf mark and repeat drawing a line. Again, see the image above that shows these lines. Repeat this for bottom shelf. Take the 2 freed clamps and place them on the front/back (depending upon how you started the squaring process, with front facing down or back facing down, I started with back facing down as to not scratch the front edging), using them to square your shelves. Measuring off the shelf middle line, measure in 2inches from the front and from the back and mark these locations – do this for both middle and bottom shelves.


Squared-Rack2 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

Using the marked locations, drill your screw holes for the middle and bottom shelves. Countersink the holes and then screw the side panel to each shelf. Remove your 4 corner clamps and repeat this process for the other side.

With the middle and bottom shelves screwed into place, measure the distance between the left and right side panels just below the bottom shelf. If your panels measure the same as mine, after having taken off 7/8in from each side panel bottom, you should have a measurement of 3.5in from the bottom of the bottom shelf to the bottom of each side panel. Take your 1in x 4in x 4ft pine board and trim is down to fit between the side panels. The true measurement of this panel should be 3/4in x 3.5in x 4ft. Once trimmed down to the rack width, it should fit perfectly. I installed this “kick panel” to keep for any potential escapees from getting under the unit.

If the unit fits, remove it, and from the front edge of the bottom shelf measure in 3/8in at left, right, and middle. Take a straight edge (my L-square is 24in) and draw a line through all 3 points. Then mark 2inches in from left and right and another mark at middle. Using 2 C-clamps, or Irving Quick-Grip clamps, secure your kick panel into place, making it flush with the front edge of the bottom shelf and side panels. Drill your screw holes, countersink the holes, and screw the panel onto the bottom shelf.

Next, measure 1in up from the bottom of each side panel. Then measure 3/8inch in from the front edge of each side panel. Drill your screw hole, countersink it, then fasten your screw.

I forgot to take photos of this process, but you can see the kick panel in this finished photo at the bottom (it’s tan). I originally had a piece of 3/4in melamine here, but that was before I realized I couldn’t stand the unit up due to ceiling height. If I had a table saw I could have just trimmed it down, but instead I had to buy a piece of wood here.

From here, you'll need to turn the rack over so that it is face down. Measure the top, middle, and bottom from left to right, then measure your rack top to bottom long ways. This dimension is what you'll trim the pegboard to. Once trimmed, square the pegboard up on the back of the rack. I placed screws at the top left and right corners, then 1 in the middle, and then 2 more, 1 each between the middle and corner screws. With the top secured, I ran down each side every 8in with a screw. Again, make certain to pre-drill your screw holes. Countersinking is option at this point, though I opted to for the pegboard. I chose this due to wanting the rack to rest flush against my wall. Since the holes in pegboard are 3/16in, I used #10 wood screws since they have a head larger than 3/16in, just incase I wound up needing to place a screw where a hole was located.

Once this is done, you can stand up the unit and start placing your shelf pegs and installing your shelves. Before standing it, if you want, you can cap the melamine screws on the top board. Simply press the caps into place and then use a tack hammer to gently hammer in the caps.


Completed-Rack by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

And here is the slide-out shelf extended


Completed-Rack2 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

Here are the containers:

Old Style Ziploc

OldStyleZiploc by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

New Style Ziploc

NewStyleZiploc by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

Kroger Home Sense Large Container

KrogerLarge by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr
 
Old 08-07-2016, 07:23 PM   #3
HerpsOfNM
PART III

Purchased at Home Depot
  • Melamine Shelf Pre-Drilled Board (3/4in x 11-3/4in x 97in) - 2 @ $18.97 ea, $37.94 total
  • Decorative Shelf – 5/8in thick (12 x 36 inches, actual 11.75 x 35.75 inches) - 20 @ $7.48 ea, $149.60 total
  • Melamine screw and cap, 1.75in (10count/bag) - 2 @ $1.24 ea, $2.48 total
  • Pro-Line White Shelf Peg, 1/2in (12 count/bag) - 7 @ $0.98, $6.86 total
  • 12in bottom mount drawer slide - 1 @ $4.99 ea

Purchased at Lowes:
  • Peg Board 4ft x 8ft x 3/16in - 1 @ 15.48
  • Pine board 1in x 4in x 4ft (actual 0.75in x 3.5in x 4ft) - 1 @ $4.76
  • #10 x 1in Wood Screws - 1 box @ $6.18 (100 count/box)
  • Melamine edging 3/4in x 25ft - 1 roll @ $6.58

Grand Total (tax not included) = $234.87
This does not factor in price for the containers. I already have ~50 on hand from previous years. I will break that down for containers though and post in here on cost to setup an actual hatchling container.

I also ran no heat to the rack since my herp room hits 82-83°F and the wall the rack is installed on is west-facing that does not get blocked. After having stripped the window sills, resurfaced, and painted them, then stripping out the window caulking and resealing them, that room is extremely stable temp wise.
 
Old 08-07-2016, 08:04 PM   #4
daddio207
The warning should of also stated "MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT MATERIAL INSIDE" LOL
Nice job and detailed !

I like that you made it to incorporate lidded containers! As an option to cut down on cost and weight what I do is double or triple stack the containers snuggly on each shelf hence using less shelving. Since the container has to be removed completely from the rack to service pulling two or three at a time is no more work. Also if you use paper as a substrate you will find that the container will need to be replaced with a clean one so what i do is have 2/3 clean ones ready to go with a clean water bowl, paper and pinky. That's my modus operandi anyways.
 
Old 08-07-2016, 08:19 PM   #5
HerpsOfNM
Quote:
Originally Posted by daddio207 View Post
The warning should of also stated "MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT MATERIAL INSIDE" LOL
Nice job and detailed !

I like that you made it to incorporate lidded containers! As an option to cut down on cost and weight what I do is double or triple stack the containers snuggly on each shelf hence using less shelving. Since the container has to be removed completely from the rack to service pulling two or three at a time is no more work. Also if you use paper as a substrate you will find that the container will need to be replaced with a clean one so what i do is have 2/3 clean ones ready to go with a clean water bowl, paper and pinky. That's my modus operandi anyways.
I did that in 2014. It honestly didn't even dawn on me to stack. Well now I just have shelves for when I have to make my 2nd rack.
I hear my wife walking at me with a sharp implement.
 
Old 08-07-2016, 10:47 PM   #6
hypnoctopus
Very nice guide. Thank you for posting. (Also, love your wall color!)
 

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