Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to be building a few rack and I think that expanded PVC is the best stuff for the job. Does anyone have any experience working with any of the major brands. Is there any difference between Sintra or Celtec or any others? Any other pointers about this stuff would be cool as I have never even seen it before.

In 1/4" (6mm) all of the products are pretty similar. It's when you step up to 1/2" that the products start to vary.

I think Celtec is considered the best when it comes to thermoforming in 1/4" but I'm assuming you don't plan to thermoform for a rack?

For a typical sweater-box rack I recommend 1/4" for the sides (and back, if you plan to use one) and 3/8" for the shelves, assuming you're building enough racks to justify buying more than one thickness.

The 3/8" for the shelves is more resistant to sagging and it thick enough that you can strengthen the joints with screws or rivets. 1/4" can be used for the shelves as well but it's not the best choice, IMO, for hatchlings or species that are otherwise good escape artists. 1/4" is also thin enough that strengthening the joints with screws or rivets is not easy.

But back to the point, buy whatever brand you can find locally, as you'll almost always save money over having it shipped in.

this material can be chemical welded it an solvent that somewhat melts the material then rebonds it as one very simple to use

the major difference beetween cletec and sintra is that celtec has a slightly glossy and textured surface that help to protec againt stain. Sintra surface is flat in color and verry porous wich mean easier to scratch and also harder to clean. Actually sintra when cleaned will always leave water spot and stain verry easly....i dont understand why theres still copanies making plastic cages that use sintra material.....

I have tried a lot of different plastics to make cages and racks (cpvc, pvc, pvcx, hdpe,...), and the best material to make racks so far i found is 1/2 hdpe seabord. It is the material used to make cutting board, that has a slight texture and is extremely hard. It is also extrenely heavy, so if you are looking for a light rack...not a good choice. Altough lightweight and rack to mee are 2 word that doesnt fit togheter. 1/4 and 3/8 pvcx are still not verry solid. Even 1/2 pvcx bow and warp easly....
Considering the cost of pvcx sheet, id rather spend a bit more on a good quality hdpe sheet ( you have to be carefull because not all brand are similar in quality). If you want something cheap...melamine is by far the best choice....a lot better tha any pvcx to me

The rack I am building is going to be a small hatchling rack, so I won't really have to worry about sagging. I was planing on using something nearly 1/2 inch thick so that I could router a groove for heat. I know that this stuff can expand a little when it gets warm, but do you think that the heat rope will warp the entire racks shape? Also, anyone know a good (cheap)distributer in the tristate area for any of the materials suggested?

for han hatchling rack, the best thins would be to make 4 tubs per shelves with a spliter in the middle because the shelves would warp even if not heated. If you want to go with 1/2, id go with something else than expanded pvc because that material do warp and expand when heated so if you leave a 1/16 space, you might have trouble to slide your tubs after a couple weeks

The entire shelf is only 14wide x 13deep, with only two boxes per shelf. do you really think sagging would be a problem with such a short length? I know its a random size, it has to fit in a small corner.

i had 17" wide shelves made of 1/2 pvcx that were not super solid. I could move them up and down a bit with my hands. If you go with 1/2, go with cutting board, maybe 20$ more than pvcx, but 1000 time more sturdy

sintra and celtic are the same material just different manufactures called it something esle yes i have worked with this material whats gauge thickness are you going to use 1/4" will sag if the shelves are long will have to use holders or dividers i would suggest using polypro or polyethalene its a more rigid material and not foamed core its solid material sintra is good for smaller caging

i know theres tons of different pvcx brand, but not all brand are equal in quality and not all brend are manufactured the same way with the same components.

Whatever brand you buy, just make sure it doesnt have a flat rough finish.