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I used the oak vaneer plywood with a oak stain and polyurathane over that and it looks okay but I put in some holes( need to fill and sand and restain these) and I just dont like the over all look.I have raw edges still too..
This is for the outside of the cage btw not the inside.
Is it possible to paint over the oak vaneer with a black latex paint without all the grain showing? How can I fix this?
I would sand off the urathane and then maybe primer it then paint? I dont want a "painted wood" look.I want a smooth black enamel look...........Im just frustrated and overwhelmed because I really dont know what Im doing..

>>I used the oak vaneer plywood with a oak stain and polyurathane over that and it looks okay but I put in some holes( need to fill and sand and restain these) and I just dont like the over all look.I have raw edges still too..
>>This is for the outside of the cage btw not the inside.
>> Is it possible to paint over the oak vaneer with a black latex paint without all the grain showing? How can I fix this?
>>I would sand off the urathane and then maybe primer it then paint? I dont want a "painted wood" look.I want a smooth black enamel look...........Im just frustrated and overwhelmed because I really dont know what Im doing..

Oak has a grain very different than the web. To paint it you must fill and sand the grain of the wood. They make grain filler for this purpose. Although you can use primer it's just much more labor intensive. You will have to sand off the urethane as the filler won't stick to it, and your paint finish will result in an odd look.

I'm still a fan of washed wood... I can't remember who it was but someone on here used a gray wash over the cage, looked amazing. However you could tell it was wood, which I liked.

Your looking for a candy shell like appearance. The alternative is a laminate, such as Formica.
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.1 Normal

0.1.2 Morelia Viridis

I dont know if I want a washed look, I cant really picture it.
But I dont want a painted wood look.It sounds more complicated to "candy coat" then just fixing the finish I have now.
I think I will just keep going, ive been working on this since jan '10...

>>I dont know if I want a washed look, I cant really picture it.
>>But I dont want a painted wood look.It sounds more complicated to "candy coat" then just fixing the finish I have now.
>>I think I will just keep going, ive been working on this since jan '10...

I would be inclined to agree with you.

I have been working on a new cage pedestal made of the cheapest wood I can find and have a ready surplus of scrap...OSB.

I'm not sure how the finish is going to turn out which is why I haven't posted anything yet. However it uses a similar method to fill, but with a harder material.

If it works there is no reason the inside can't be given a resin coating and the outside a paint coating. My thought was a single sheet of 1/2 osb costs $7. For a few hrs of work you could have a $50 cage cost of glass that looked great. Downside is weight. And if it didn't last but 3 or 4 years the glass is reusable!
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.1 Normal

0.1.2 Morelia Viridis

The talented guy was not happy with the outside finish either, so he wrapped the cage in that carpet-like material used to cover speaker cabinets. Looks pretty awesome actually. Neat idea I thought and fairly inexpensive. Completely hides edges and edge imperfections.
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Mark

Here is a pic of a cage i made. The side visible in the pic is hardwood (birch) plywood. It was painted with a primer first, then semi gloss black paint. If you remove the poly finish from your cage as you've stated, i think this process would give you the same look, however maybe somebody knows something about oak plywood that I don't. A knowledgable employee (if you can find one) at a hardware store may be able to verify whether a filler which was previously mentioned is necessary. I hope this was of some help. Kevin

What a beautiful background. Is that foam covered with grout?
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Mark

Yes, it is sculpted foam, but I don't use grout. After the carving process the foam can be heated and shrunk with a heat gun. this gives the foam a crisp outer shell. then i paint with primer, then a three color wet blend of exterrior paint. I keep snakes, for snakes this method works well and eliminates weight that grout would add to the cage. for lizards who each have 20 sharp claws grout would be recommended. Kevin

Every time I see it I think "that is an amazing BG!!!"

Keep up the good work. Ever thought about a build thread?
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.1 Normal

0.1.2 Morelia Viridis

Thanks Jeremy. My problem with doing a cage building thread is that i hate taking pics. I am just not a photographer in any way shape or form. couple that with the fact that I am still taking pics with a ten year old sony mavica 3.5" floppy disc camera and yo can be convinced i hate photography. I am working on a four cage group now that should be finished in a month. i will try to take some pics along the way and make a brief post when they are done.....If you are interested, the occupant of the cage pictured above is a suboc about 2years & 4months old at present. she laid a perfect clutch of 9 large eggs last summer, all hatched. she has lived in the cage since she was 6 months old. Since she has been in that cage I have only touched/held her three times in order to weigh her. When I hold her I do take note of her musculature and strength, which seems to be much greater/stronger than her siblings that are in Xlarge sweater boxes. This cage experiment has convinced me to make more large cages for some snakes in my collection and reduce the size of my collection because lets face it, a sweater box is no way for a snake to live its life. knowing this, I am as guilty as the next guy for keeping snakes in sweater boxes, so I pass no judgements on my fellow keepers, only onto myself. Kevin

Great idea, thank you.
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Mark

not sure what you don't like about the finish is it the color or something else? As for the raw edges you can buy an edge banding that you use an iron to put on it ts avalable at most hardware stores.

Rick