Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know y'all must be getting tired of my rack evolution, have another idea.

I had priced the materials to make the rack out of 3/8 pvc, came out to $1003 plus tax

Today it hit me, what if I went with thinner material. I know it would be less sturdy but with 1/4 material, I would be able to use the scraps to make full supports for each shelf. So instead of running dado's for each shelf, I'd glue spacers between the shelves. Each spacer would be the height of the tub plus clearance gap and be the full length of the shelf. And there would be very little wasted material.

Kind of like the pics below where I'm using a pair of spacers to set the shelf height EXCEPT, duh, would not be 3/4" melamine, would be 1/4" PVCX. I'd have a pair of spacers for each shelf cut to the correct length and glued (solvent welded) in place. The shelf spacers would be a permanent part of the rack. Another BIG plus is no dados in the sides, no mistakes in the dados in the sides, no scrapped sides. For "one off" racks could be a big savings.

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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 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

i think it would work well as long as the shelves didnt sag from using thin material. maybe try testing (or maybe someone like chris will have better info) to see if you will have sag problems first.
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- Jason F.

not at all tired of your rack evolotion,in fact i look forward to your ideas,it's refreshing to have someone with your constant thinking and high level of energy on this forum.

are you talking about using plastic spacers on a melamine rack or all plastic rack?

I do like this "think tank" approach, I get way cool ideas from you all.

Talking about all plastic rack, made from 1/4" material but the sides would end up laminated to 1/2"....1/4" full height and the spacers solvent welded. Like piecing together the dado's for the shelves.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 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

What price quote did you get for 3/16" PVCX? Was it for 4x8 sheets or 5x10?

With only 6mm of support at the outside edges of each shelf you will essentially be creating dados anyways and won't add much in the way of support to the middle of the shelf. I do think it will help, but I'm not sure it will be enough for the heavy-bodied species you keep and the heavy water bowls they require.

Thinking out loud here...

Idea #1

Take some scrap PVCX and make your own PVC angle. It would attach the sides but also along the bottom of each shelf towards the tub. I think that would do more than just some 6mm spacers welded in between each shelf.

Idea #2

If you have enough scrap, you could even make a frame that could be laminated to each shelf, therby making your own 1/2" shelves.

So if your shelves are 32"x18", for example, you'd have a one-piece shelf at 32"x18". But then you'd take 3" strips of PVCX or therabouts and laminate those onto the perimeter of that shelf. That would add a lot of structure to each shelf, without having to cut two full pieces at 32"x18".

Really, the strips that would make up this frame would only have to be wide enough to not interfere with the bottom of the box sliding on the shelf.

If you do it right you could also use this frame to create an air space for flexwatt or whatever heat element you might use.

You know, I really like this idea. With the 1/2" laminated layer butted up against the sides you could use screws, rivets, or some other mechanical fastener.

I'm sure you understand what I mean, but here's a visual. If you look at this rack one of the bottom shelves is white melamine. I used some strips of 1/8" hardboard to raise the boxes up. In this case it was only to shim the boxes, not to stiffen up the shelves, obviously. Those strips show up well against the white melamine.

You'd be doing this but would also include a strip along the front and back. The frame would be welded to the main shelf, so you'd get the rigidity advantages of the lamination. And you'd have 1/2" up against the side for better surface area and space enough for a fastener.

I've never tested this idea, but I'm certain it would help a lot.

Now, will you have enough scrap?

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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

Thanks Chris, Now youve got me thinking some more......

Quote was 120 and change for a 4x8 sheet, I found another plastic place nearby that I think can do better. They also have CNC capabilities so may go with thicker material and have them machine the individual pieces, will have to wait and see what they come back with.

I really like idea # 2. I'm thinking strips on the sides, one in the front and one in the middle-ish. That would leave a opening towards the rear for 11" heat tape. The back will end up supported by the back and maybe a set of vertical braces in the middle. Again made from scraps. I was already thinking I needed to something different for a recess for the heat tape.

Even though the lamination would be 1/2", it still would be two 1/4" pieces so could not run a fastener in the middle of the two pieces.

Not sure exactly how much scrap there will be but should be a fair amount of smaller pieces like 2-3 inches wide.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 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

Quote was 120 and change for a 4x8 sheet

Wow, that's a bit steep. I found 10mm in black for $80, and it's one of the lightest if not the lightest brand of PVCX. Of course, I'm going to have to drive a ways to pick it up, but I'm heading in that direction anyways.

I really like idea # 2.

I'm not sure if a fastener between the two laminted sheets would work or not. Worth an experiment.

I think a combination of your original plan and my second idea would be about ideal. But that will take a lot of scrap.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

>>I'm not sure if a fastener between the two laminted sheets would work or not. Worth an experiment.

Sorry to chime in but I couldn't resist. In regards to the above I think an experiment is in order.

You said you were using solvent weld to laminate the two together, correct me if I'm wrong.

Although I am not familiar with plastics as much as I am with wood, if I glued to boards together and predrilled for a fastner between them. It certainly will hold, I suspect the same is true with plastic solvent welds.

Like Chris and I said the only real answer is an experiment.

Keep us posted
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

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