antsterr
Always mostly awesome
I’ve been thinking about a design for something like this since last year. I had multiple hatchling escapes last fall from my current rack set up, which was designed for juveniles and was only being used for hatchlings because I had nothing better to use. My theory on racks is that you buy the tubs and build the rack around their dimensions, with this in mind I set about building a 52 suite apartment for my expected 2013 hatchlings. I’m expecting 50+ this year, I’m glad that I won’t have to cohabitate groups of them like I have in the past.
So, to start out I purchased 52 plastic 1L containers. Since I had all winter to get this project done, I waiting until they were on sale at The Real Canadian Superstore and scooped them up for about a dollar each. Plus tax, cost = $58
I ordered 6ft of 12inch flexwatt from Greg at cornelsworld.com (a good place to order from in western Canada) that came preassembled with the wires and clips attached. Cost =$58 (very speedy shipping! It was here 2 days after I ordered it)
The rack material was cut from 8ft melamine laminate which I picked up from home depot, because the tubs were only 9” deep and the melamine was 11” wide I had an inch trimmed off at the store so that the shelving wasn’t too much deeper than the tubs. I used my miter saw to cut all the shelving pieces to size, though if one needed to you can get this all done at the store for $1 per cut. Cost = $60 +$3 for having it trimmed down to 10”
For a back to the shelving I used an old piece of wallboard I had kicking around and cut it to the size of the rack, 27”x36”. I put strips of 1x4 down the back behind the areas I was stapling so that the staples had something solid to bite into. When stapling flexwatt, make sure not to puncture through any of the copper strips or the black heating elements, but stapling through the clear plastic is fine.
With the flexwatt in place I began to assemble the shelf, putting down 4 tubs to see how well they would space out. I used screws to fasten the corners, pre-drilling each hole to make sure the melamine would not split. I built it upside down so that I could ensure that the top was perfectly flush.
So, to start out I purchased 52 plastic 1L containers. Since I had all winter to get this project done, I waiting until they were on sale at The Real Canadian Superstore and scooped them up for about a dollar each. Plus tax, cost = $58
I ordered 6ft of 12inch flexwatt from Greg at cornelsworld.com (a good place to order from in western Canada) that came preassembled with the wires and clips attached. Cost =$58 (very speedy shipping! It was here 2 days after I ordered it)
The rack material was cut from 8ft melamine laminate which I picked up from home depot, because the tubs were only 9” deep and the melamine was 11” wide I had an inch trimmed off at the store so that the shelving wasn’t too much deeper than the tubs. I used my miter saw to cut all the shelving pieces to size, though if one needed to you can get this all done at the store for $1 per cut. Cost = $60 +$3 for having it trimmed down to 10”
For a back to the shelving I used an old piece of wallboard I had kicking around and cut it to the size of the rack, 27”x36”. I put strips of 1x4 down the back behind the areas I was stapling so that the staples had something solid to bite into. When stapling flexwatt, make sure not to puncture through any of the copper strips or the black heating elements, but stapling through the clear plastic is fine.
With the flexwatt in place I began to assemble the shelf, putting down 4 tubs to see how well they would space out. I used screws to fasten the corners, pre-drilling each hole to make sure the melamine would not split. I built it upside down so that I could ensure that the top was perfectly flush.
