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Easy Homemade Rack

J

jkgeorge

New member
I found the idea for this type of rack on another forum and decided to give it a try. It is super easy to build and only takes an hour or so at most. All you need are pieces of melamine shelving, nuts and washers, a drill bit, and all thread. My shelves are 48" long 16" wide and 5/8" thick. I used 3' pieces of 5/8" all thread. All you have to do is drill holes in the ends of the shelves and place a nut and washer above and below each shelf. They can be adjusted to fit any size tub and you can get a good tight fit. I still have room to add another shelf on mine, which I'll be doing soon. I can fit 5 6qt, 3 15qt, or 1 15qt and 1 28qt sterilite tubs per shelf. It is super sturdy, no wobble and no shelf drooping. I decided to use ultratherm heaters on this one. I'm not experienced with flexwatt, but I may give it a go on my next one.
Rack.jpg
 
I'm in, I've got a handful of hatchlings coming in abou 4 weeks, I'll try this for a simple small rack for them. Thanks for the idea!

Steve
 
If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for this? Tubs don't need to be included in the price. It looks very nice! You can PM me if you want. Thanks!
 
airenlow said:
Very cool! Better than cardboard too...
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Lol.. most definitely.


I wanted to build a rack in this style, but I am so confused on how that works :shrugs:

Seems like it needs specialized tools to cut the holes for the poles? And where in the heck does everyone find melamine? I have looked and looked and have been unable to locate any in Home Depot or Lowes.
 
The melamine shelves came from Lowes and were around $15 a piece (I think, it's been a while). They were located with the shelving and brackets. They are plywood/particle board type shelves with a melamine covering. I used 5/8" "all thread" so I used an 11/16" spade type drill bit. When looking at the corners of the shelves, I measured 2" from the end and 2" from the side and marked that for the center of the hole. You can drill the holes wherever you like as long as they are the same on all the shelves. The holes are very easy to drill.
I guess i should say that "all thread" for those that don't know is threaded metal rod, like a bolt without a head. You purchase nuts that are the same size as the "all thread" and screw them onto the rod. It takes a little patience to get everything lined up, but it isn't too bad.
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I'm really interested in what you have here. I just don't really know much about the ultratherm heat. Would you mind explaining a bit to me?
 
I think Ultratherm is kinda like flexwatt for dummies, LOL. They are undertank heaters that come in various sizes and are basically like laminated, pre-wired pieces of flexwatt. They are easily attached to shelves or aquariums with aluminum tape. They are very reasonably priced compared to other UTHs and seem to be very good quality. They are sold as "No thermostat required" but as always, that's a choice the user has to make in the end. I decided to use them on this small rack since I don't have any experience with flexwatt. I am really pleased with them, and I would recommend them to anyone looking to purchase a "ready to go" UTH.
This is still in it's plastic package.
2012-08-21_23-22-51_827.jpg
 
Thats a really great alternative to flexwatt. I've been looking for snake rack ideas, but then shy away because of the flexwatt. I just don't trust myself with it. But with this, I think I can finally put my fears behind me and start building! Thanks!
 
It is extremely sturdy. The 5/8" all thread is very strong and won't budge and the melamine shelves seem to be equally sturdy. The down side is that it is pretty heavy, but I have no worries whatsoever about twisting or flexing. It could be possible to introduce some "wiggle" into the rack if the holes in the shelves are excessively large, but tightening the nuts and washers above and below the shelf really locks everything in place.
If I remember correctly the person who I got the idea from was making these using 6' pieces of all thread and placing caster wheels on the bottom and had no problems with the sturdiness of the rack.
 
Norm Damm came up with this idea 30 years ago. The hard part is drilling the holes in the right place. Best off to make a jig for the holes
 
Vinman said:
Norm Damm came up with this idea 30 years ago. The hard part is drilling the holes in the right place. Best off to make a jig for the holes
Click to expand...

Or you just make sure you measure right and the spade bit makes it WAY easier to make sure your on your center mark :D
 
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