Hey Chris, First off, thank you for all your good work here on the caging forum. I see you offering great advice all over the place. I think it may have been some or you posts that:

A) got me started on building my own racks and
B) posted the construction pics along with comments.

In answer to your questions:

1) The Kreg system still does need clamps to hold the workpieces together while driving the screw. If not clamped, they can (and usually do) move. With the racks, tollerences are tight for the tubs and I wanted to be absolutely certain they were dead nuts straight and square. If you look at the pics you can see I not only have the shelf sitting on the spacers but have pieces clamped above the shelf to hold it down and clamps sideways to hold the sides to the shelf. There is a second set of clamps on the other side. The real beauty of the Kreg system is once the screws are driven, it's time to take off the clamps no need to wait for any glue to dry (when using glue). I built my racks dry, not a drop of glue. The screws will be more than sufficient to hold it together without movement of the pieces. Not recommended for typical wood - wood aplications but with melamine, the joint is particle board to melamine surface....not a very good glue joint anyways.

2) I'll post some pics, maybe tonight, in a new "off topic" thread.


I have to admit, almost my entire shop was paid for by raising rodents. I started by raising some for my self since the pet store prices were so steep. Not too much after that, I had too many. Started selling to my local pet store, at the time their breeder was flakey. I went into full production and supplied them with all they needed. We had a weekly order they committed to and adjusted from time to time and I did my best to fill it. Usually had no problems. The profits went into power tools, diamonds for my wife and even helped on the down payment for our second home. I was clearing several hundred a month and kept the money seperate. I still raise my own but got out of the breeding for profit, it was leaving me with too little time for my snakes which was why I started breeding rodents in the first place. BTW, for those interested, the mice were signficantly more profitible than rats. They eat much less and the volume the store wanted was way higher than rats.

A whole kitchen job is HUGE, I have several spots with no hair left now But all in all, WOW and I can say I made them. Most people are totally surprised and quite impressed.



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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"


0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

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