Reptile & Amphibian Forums

where can I get sheets of melamine? Is there any stores that regularly carry it? How much does it usually cost per hseet and how big are they? I want to build me a few racks and I realy don't want to use wood because it will bow up and stuff if humidity gets up and you don't have it sealed real well. What are some other materials I could use for them?
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Justin

Justin,

Melamine is still a great product for racks despite its weight. It's worth it for you to find it if you can.

I have been able to buy full sheets of it at both Lowes and Home Depot, depending on the region. I see it occasionally at Menards, again depending upon the area of the country.

Lumber yards and cabinet shops are also good sources for melamine and in fact often carry higher quality products than large Home Improvment centers.

If you can't find it I'm sure you can find melamine shelving. In fact I pretty much only use the bull-nosed melamine shelving from Menards for racks. For around $25 I can cut eight full shelves. For the same money of melamine sheet I can get ten. I'll gladly pay the extra 50 cents per shelf for the finished bull-nosed edge and because it is already cut down (I can't fit a full sheet of melamine in my truck).

The same holds true for the melamine shelving that has edge-tape applied. The edge tape on these shelves is applied with banding machines worth more than my house and that quality is hard to match. The melamine on the shelves itself is also of very high quality.

So at least use melamine or melamine shelving for the the individual shelves. For the sides, you can use just about whatever you want. HTDesigns, a frequent poster on this forum, uses shower board which is very cheap and light. I have used 1/2" plywood and solid pine for the sides.

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Current snakes:

0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.6 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Chris,

I'm curious, what is bull-nosed melamine?

Also, if you use melamine shelves for racks and use flex-watt tape for heat what is the best method for adhering the heat tape to the melamine so the tubs don't rub it?

Thanks
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

>>I'm curious, what is bull-nosed melamine?

Bull nosed melamine shelving is particle board shelving that that has a radius routed onto the long edge. Then the melamine is thermosfused onto the entire piece, including that leading edge, therby giving a very finished look and one that is much more durable than the edge-tape finishes. No huge advantage but I like it.

>>Also, if you use melamine shelves for racks and use flex-watt tape for heat what is the best method for adhering the heat tape to the melamine so the tubs don't rub it?

Lots of ways to do this. Some people route a grove, some people use thin strips of wood or Sintra to shim the boxes up a bit above the heat tape.

I prefer the Sintra method and would want to have quite a bit of the tape in contact with the Sintra which allows the heat to move conductively into the box.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.5 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Thanks for the info Chris. I'll have to look for this at my local home improvement stores.

As far as the sintra goes, do you suggest sandwiching the heat tape between the sintra and the melamine shelf? If so, should I be concerned about lack of air space for the heat tape?
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

>>As far as the sintra goes, do you suggest sandwiching the heat tape between the sintra and the melamine shelf? If so, should I be concerned about lack of air space for the heat tape?

Regarding the air space, that's a double edged sword. With an air space the heat tape often has to work harder which can be a dangerous situation. But no air space also comes with its own sets of hazzards.

The Sintra is actually a good compromise. Since it has a foamed interior some of the benefits of an air space are realized. But since the Sintra is actually in contact with the heat tape it better helps distribute the heat.

One thing that can be done is to drill holes through the Sintra or route shallow grooves on the underside to allow some ventilation.

Personally I would put down a thick layer of Sintra, thick enough that heat cable could be routed through it. Similar to how the heat cable is setup on my Vision rack.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.5 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Good ideas Chris, thanks. So I could use melamine shelves with a thick layer of sintra on the shelves with the tubs. Then router a path for the heat cable in the sintra.
Do you have pics of your rack with the heat cable?
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

You can see the heat pads on Vision's site.

If you wanted to use the heat cable on a melamine rack I would do things slightly differently. The problem with the way you described it is that you would need very thick Sintra which gets expensive.

Instead I would route the grooves in the melamine shelves and then just put thinner Sintra over that. It might make it a bit more difficult to access the cable but it would be more practical.

Or you could put heat tape underneath the Sintra. Again, the nice thing about Sintra is that it sort of bridges the gap between the safety and efficiency tradeoffs of air-space vs. no air-space.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.5 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

instead of routing grooves for the cable to lay in i wonder if you could put screwes in at a few inch intervals and leave them sticking out about an inch and 1/2 or two inches making a sort of grid. you could then weave the heat cable in and out of these and then attach a thin layer of sintra on top. this would give excellent heat space, and if all went well it would heat up that whole thin sheet of sintra.
just an idea i havent tried this yet
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1.1 Gargoyle geckos
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.1 leucistic leopard gecko
0.0.1 asian golden tree frog
1.0 oriental firebelly toad
0.1 european firebelly toad
1.0 albino betta
1.0 orange tabby
0.0.1 asian painted frog
1.0 broad headed skink
0.0.1 fowlers toad
1.1 red eyed tree frog
1.1 red eared sliders
476.769.47 feeder crickets

Thats why I like this forum, always intersting ideas! Thanks. For me, the hardest decision is what plan to finally go with
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

>>instead of routing grooves for the cable to lay in i wonder if you could put screwes in at a few inch intervals and leave them sticking out about an inch and 1/2 or two inches making a sort of grid.

Why so much?

Regardless, the problem with this is that it would not provide that much stability for the Sintra and the Sintra may not be perfectly flat.

I would instead use several strips of Sintra glued down to the melamine. Those strips should be a hair thicker than the cable.

Then another piece of Sintra over that.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.5 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Ahhh that makes sense. Many thanks again Chris.
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

Chris, said it well but I thought to add what I do.
I route a channel around the rack and rope the tape through it. I then hold the tape down using "Aluminum Foil Nylon Filiment Reinforced Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tape" AKA "Space Tape" costs about a $160 a roll but I aquire it other ways. It works great and reflects all forms of EMR.
I use a twin Ranco setup and am pleased with the results.
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

Wow $160/roll! Expensive stuff. Thanks though for the idea.
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net