Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok so everyone always swears by the 3/4" melamine but who has actually used the 1/2"? i am debating building a rack out of it, just a smaller rack. say 5 tubs, 28qt, straight up rack. will that small of a area really warp that bad? I mean there is plastic racks that are far flimsier then the wood.

i would love to hear every ones experience with 1/2" melamine, good and bad, and if possible even pics!

I dont see anything wrong with using 1/2" melamine, but I only see it available in 3/4 were I live.
Also,it would be alot trickier to screw it to itself on the ends, 3/4 gives you a much better margin for error. Bob

Thanks for the input, they just recently selling the 1/2" around here and only at one location. the whole screwing it together was my main concern also

The pieces I'm using measure 5/8" and they are very sturdy. Check out the link below for an awesome design. I went with this design only on a much smaller scale. The best part is that you don't have to worry about screwing shelves together straight or getting the perfect distance between shelves. They are infinitely adjustable and can be changed anytime. Big thanks to the guys on the Kingsnake forum for this design.

JOSH

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1771208,1771208

Link

that is AWESOME!! thank you for the link, I will deff have to save that!!!!!

It can work. Keep in mind, a lighter plastic shelf that bends down on the box below is less problematic then a heavy shelf, so the more "flimsy" plastic shelf can work well even if not being as rigid.

One way to boost rigidity is to affix a piece of the 1/2 x 3/4 extruded aluminum along the front edge of each shelf. Just allow for the 1/16 inch needed for the box edge to clear that. Looks nice too. Some people glue wood molding instead to the front edge. For 1/2 inch melamine, you will have to cut down the standard 3/4 inch molding to 1/2 inch wide. Oak "screen mold" molding is more rigid than pine and not very expensive for 6 pieces (5 shelves = 6 pieces).

thanks for the input!