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Question for rack builders

dwyn127

dwyn127

Cinderazzo
I'm building a 6 foot tall rack for my adults. I'm using 41qt Sterilite containers with 11" flexwatt for heat. I want to stack 8 to 10 Sterilites. Will heat displacement be adaquate or will there be a wide temperature fluctuation from the top container to the bottom?

Thanx in advance!
 
If you are running the heat tape up the back panel of the rack for what is called "back heat" it should be the same all the way up. As long as you have decent air circulation around the tubs...
 
Actually, I'm setting it up with belly heat and will look like this one built by blueapplepaste only 8 to 10 high.
 

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Cool. Still shouldn't matter as long as the total footage of the tape isn't more than your t-stat can handle. Looks like you will have good airflow around the tubs.
 
Hey, that's my rack! ;)

I haven't noticed a huge temperture difference - maybe a degree or two. It's never been an issue for me and all the snakes do just fine top to bottom.. If you have any other questions Danny - feel free to just ask. Though it's very straight foward. Good luck with the rack; post up some pics when it's done.
 
All of our racks are exactly like Matthew's. They are made from melamine. We use belly heat with our adult/juvenile racks and back heat with the baby racks. The melamine is thick enough to hold the heat where it needs to be and disperse it where it doesn't. As long as you use a good rheostat/thermostat you will be fine. One thing you could do is use pegboard for the back so you will creat a good air exchange around the bins. Look around at your local Home Depot or Lowe's, They usually have precut pieces with the edging already done. You can make them on a smaller scale and stack them. We did this because it made assembly very easy (build it upside down ;) ) and if we ever have to move them it makes them more manageable. Here is a couple pictures of ours so you can see what I mean. Hope this helps.
Jay :cool:
 

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Wow Jay! That's a bunch of racks. I like the idea of making small stackable ones...

I am actually thinking of making one that just has two shelves. Then I would slide it into my metal rack. I mainly want to be able to use the tubs without worrying about the lids coming off.
 
blueapplepaste said:
Hey, that's my rack! ;)

I haven't noticed a huge temperture difference - maybe a degree or two. It's never been an issue for me and all the snakes do just fine top to bottom.. If you have any other questions Danny - feel free to just ask. Though it's very straight foward. Good luck with the rack; post up some pics when it's done.
Click to expand...
Matthew, I want to set mine up like yours with the upper shelf being the lid. What is the measurement you used from the top of the bottom shelf to the bottom of the top shelf? I want to combine Jay's idea of 2 smaller stackable racks with your design. Also did you find the melamine pre-cut? I'm guessing yours is 18"X36" since it covers the tops of the Sterilites. I can only find 16"X36" pre-cut.

Thanx again for your willingness to help the (UN)handyman.

And thanx Jay for the smaller stackable suggestion.
 
dwyn127 said:
Matthew, I want to set mine up like yours with the upper shelf being the lid. What is the measurement you used from the top of the bottom shelf to the bottom of the top shelf? I want to combine Jay's idea of 2 smaller stackable racks with your design. Also did you find the melamine pre-cut? I'm guessing yours is 18"X36" since it covers the tops of the Sterilites. I can only find 16"X36" pre-cut.

Thanx again for your willingness to help the (UN)handyman.

And thanx Jay for the smaller stackable suggestion.
Click to expand...

I used the pre cut shelves (they're actually like 15.75x35.5) or something like that. Not quite the advertised measurements. What I did was just extend each shelf using a piece of 1x2 drilled into the melamine. Look here at the 2nd pic down: http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47373

You can see where I installed the 1x2. I installed it vertically just to avoid having to rip it down. It sits flush with the "top" of the shelf that acts as the lid of the tub. This effectively extends the shelf to ~16.5 which is the width of the 41 qt tubs.

And are you talking about the measurement from shelf to shelf, or from the top to the bottom of the rack?
 
Thanx. I'll be working on it this weekend

blueapplepaste said:
And are you talking about the measurement from shelf to shelf, or from the top to the bottom of the rack?
Click to expand...
Shelf to shelf. Each tub measures 5 5/8". I'm guessing you add approximately 1/8" for clearance?
 
When we built ours we just laid the bins inside and the boards on top..and built from the upside down method it really made it easy and we had only one self that is a tiny bit tight but is slowly loosening up as we use it.
http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54860 This shows some pics of how we built ours ..we did it so it could hold to sizes of bins.

100_0695.jpg


This is our finished project..Good luck I know we had fun building ours and it has made it so much easier..Still need to move five or six snakes into it
 
I measured 5-3/4" for each shelf and have enough clearance for easy sliding but tight enough to prevent escapes. What I'd recommend is to measure out one shelf install it, then measure out the next one and so forth. As opposed to measuring them all out and then installing; you may find that you're off a bit and it can screw things up. So do one at a time.

Twizzy's idea works, too. However for melamine I believe it's easier to just measure and drill. The melamine is too much weight for the tub to handle so it gets squashed and distorted a little bit so that if you drill the shelf in with the melamine resting on the tub, it's too narrow of a space. You can use a spacer, but you have to make sure the spacer is not too big or too small.
 
Yeah on our next rack we won't go so pricey on the wood..it is nice looking but honestly you dont see a bit of it hardly and we steal need to do the front finish on each shelf..Melamine is the way to go.

Amazing all the things you can see that you can do different after it is done..Would love to see some pics once you get it built;) GL
 
Twizzy said:
Melamine is the way to go.
Click to expand...

Melamine is great. The only downfall to it is that it ways a ton. So moving the racks can be a real chore. That's the main reason I got rid of my melamine racks and build new ones out of XPVC and wood, so that I could move them on my own if I needed to.
 
LOL..Yeah we made the mistake of building ours out of 1 inch Birch plywood and it is one heavy sucker..I made the hubby put some wheels on it so I can slide it around..Otherwise I wouldnt be able to move mine if I tried. Next time a thinner wood will be used.

The one plus we also had over melamine was alot of it was built with the nail gun so it went together very fast and we just used screws on the back supports to make sure the shelves stayed in place and wouldnt droop over time..It is a solid thing and once I ever do the front venier on the wood edges it is a pretty looking piece :)
 
I'm basically thieving the plans for my next rack from Matthew's as well; however (as my sig indicates), I find the Sintra to be a little too pricey, and was thinking of going with medium density fiberboard (MDF) for the shelving; not as heavy as melamine, and not as expensive as the XPVC.

The downside, of course, is that MDF sucks up moisture, so I was thinking of covering it with "contact paper". Has anyone tried this? Would anyone think there would be a problem with doing this?

regards,
jazz
 
Couldnt you seal the mdf with a waterproofer as well?!?..you would have to let the wood air for a while so it wasnt toxic to your snakes..I just refinish antiques and when I have a plain wood that I dont want to actually put a finish on but keep it natural after striping it I use something like thomsons water sealant..now you would have to ask someone else if this would be txic tho to the snakes as I'm not to familiar with how that would do for them just an idea..

Contact paper from a womans point of view..stinks!!! It wont stay on..it would last maybe a month and you would constantly need to replace plus heating would keep the glue warm and it would slide around..IMHO
 
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