Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,

We have a local supplier that sell PVC sheets. The great thing is the company is down the street from my house. I called today to see how much a 5'X8' sheet would cost.

They asked what size I wanted 1/8" or 1/4". I want to make a rack that can hold 6 sweater boxes for my boas or ball pythons.

Any, suggestion would be appreciated.

Frank Hayden

Hi Frank, long time no talk. Did you ever buy that table saw?

First, are the sheets 5x8? Typically plastics come in 4x8 or 5x10.

Secondly, is this expanded/foamed PVC or just regular PVC? This is important. Regular PVC sheet is a solid material and sort of flexible. It is also surprisingly heavy. This makes it unsuitable for rack building as the weight will cause the shelves to sag.

But if it is expanded/rigid PVC sheet then you'll need 1/4" for a rack. I have some other advice for joining this material but I won't get into that right now.
-----
Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Hi Chris,

I knew you'd come through for me. I actually didn't get the table saw. I was planning to get it but we had difficulties with the management of the apartment complex we used to live at. We then decided it was time to buy a home instead of dealing with these people. Anyway, I guess that's TMI.

The sheet do come in 4'X8'. I didn't ask if it was expanded PVC. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

I would appreciate any more info you'd like to share.
Frank

Hi Frank,

Expanded/Foamed Rigid PVC is a nice material for racks. It does tend to sag a bit over time but for Ball Pythons and Boas that's not a huge deal. Unless you mean Rosy Boas?

To avoid sagging it is better to build the racks so the boxes slide in length-wise. This will have the long sides of each shelf supported by the sides. With width-wise insertion the middle of each shelf is more likely to sag.

But width-wise is still a great way to build a rack if there is more than one size box that will fit. If you like that design and won't be using a box longer than 23" it probably would work okay.

The material also works very poorly with typical edge-joints, at least when solvent welded. With solvents the foamed interior colapses slightly and the bonds are weak.

There's always thermal welders but they are not worth the investment unless you'll be building a lot of racks. It's better to learn to solvent weld this material. That means using surface to surface joints rather than edge joints.

The easiest way to do this is to buy PVC angle and solvent weld it to both the sides and the shelf. This will work well provided the angle is not warped. My understanding is that the PVC angle from Harvel Plastics is straight and does not deviate much from 90* so that should not be an issue.

The other choice is to melt the sides of each shelf to form the 90* angles. You'll need to build a MDF form to melt the shelvs over. You'll likely need a router and a heat gun to do this.

If it were me I'd just buy the angle.
-----
Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

I'm going to make it so the boxes slide in lenght wise. I'll buy the PVC angle. I plan to make a bunch of these for my collection.

I appreciate the information. I'll post some pics when I'm done.
Frank

If Harvel Plastics does not sell direct or in small orders then you can order it from USplastics. They're typically quite expensive but they do have excellent customer service.

Get the smallest angle. 1"x1" is the smallest I think.

The piece of angle holding the very top shelf will have to go on the outside-top of the rack.

The other angles will have to go on the inside of the rack.

With the very bottom shelf the angle can go underneath or on top.

With the shelves inbetween the lowest and uppermost shelf they'll have to be attached to the underside of the angle.

Does this make sense? I don't know how to use any design software to diagram it for you.

E-mail me if my post was confusing. I'll figure a way to scan a diagram or something.

What box are you using?
-----
Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Chris,

I understand your PVC angle directions. I'm going to use Rubbermaid sweater boxes. I think it's better to buy those because they seem a lot stronger than sterlite. I think Rubbermaid created a new sweater box. They look more elongated.

Frank
fhayden@tampabay.rr.com