Posted by:
chris_harper2
at Tue Dec 14 09:14:37 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by chris_harper2 ]
>>It is going to be a 48"Lx24"Dx18"H space inside. It is really gonna be 26" deep inside so I can put a litter dam and sliding doors, those take up about 2" or so.
>>I am going to make the tops, side, and back out of 3/4 birch cabinet grade plywood. The bottom I was going to use a plywood BC handy panel or something. I don't care if the bottom looks crappy, it's gonna be covered up anyway, and it saves me buying another 4'x8' sheet of plywood.
I'm out of town right now and don't have time to check the math, but if you limit the outside depth to 24" I *believe* you can get away with one sheet of plywood. Again, I'd have to check the math.
Also, when I build a 4' cage I make them 49.5" long when using 3/4" plywood and 49" long when using 1/2" plywood. In other words, my sides go on the outside. This means cross-cuts for most of your pieces which tends to simplify things.
Not a huge deal by any means.
>>I was going to use wood glue and nails to hold it together. I can't make any fancy dovetails, or biscuits, or anything like that, so it is just nails and glue holding it together.
I think counter-sunk screws is better unless you have a nail gun. But again, this is not a huge deal if you're pretty handy.
>>Inside on the bottom, I was gonna use expanded PVC, but it only comes in pipes around here, so I am probably going to use vinyl floor tiles, or a piece of FRP, or acrylic, or something like that.
Don't use acrylic or tiles. Acrylic is not all that easy to clean and is the most likely to crack when exposed to certain disinfectants. Tiles are the most likely to allow water through.
Expanded PVC can be found at sign shops, ask for Sintra. FRP is nice but you'll have to buy a whole sheet. Vinyl flooring is pretty good.
>>I am using these sliding doors. I'm gonna put glass in them.
>>After I build it, and put the doors on, I am going to put a little frame around the outside edge, so it looks nicer and gives me a little backup in case a door pops out of track.
I'm sure you've seen the pictures of my oak cage. I used some oak mouling with a leaf pattern routed in to cover the exposed plywood edges and to hide the glass track. Worked very well. I can post another pic if you like.
>>What I need help with is:
>>After I put it all together, I stain it, then seal the seams with something like caulking or aquarium silicon, right?
You need to stain it AND clear coat it. Is this for a Dumeril Boa? Use several thin coats of OIL-based polyurethane and then caulk the corners with 100% silicone.
>>Do you think 2 vents that are about 6"x2" will be enough? I can give you an exact measurement and picture of them tommorrow.
I'm sure that will be enough.
>>If I use these sliding door tracks, where can I get a lock for the doors to keep them closed?
Rocker carries locks or you can use simply wooden dowels to keep the doors shut.
>>What stain? I like birch or maybe walnut.
Birch plywood is not the most accepting material of stain. As such I've been told that darker colors are preferable. I used a Mahogany stain and ended up with a dark cherry color that I really like. That's my bearded dragon cage. Again, I can post pics if you like.
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Current snakes:
1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)
3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)
2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)
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RE: Almost ready to build cage - chris_harper2, Tue Dec 14 09:14:37 2004