Opinions for a DIY rack

So my mother works at a cabinet building company, and I thought I should check with her for prices of sheet melamine / scraps etc to see what they had. She sent me these pictures of some drafting shelves they had that boss man said I could have no charge. They are made with melamine, and all the shelves are removable & adjustable. My thoughts are after measuring and installing heat is to secure the shelves with screws (adjustable doesn't seem like a good idea when wanting to keep snakes secure lol) She's going to send me measurements this afternoon, but said they are approx 24" deep and ranging in height from 3'-5'. What do you all think? Snag them up and work from there? I'm really liking the shorter rack with counter top on top.

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...er85/rack1.jpg

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...er85/rack2.jpg

For free? I'd pick them up without question. I see a lot of potential with minimal mod work on those...

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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

For free? I'd pick them up without question. I see a lot of potential with minimal mod work on those...

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I agree, free swag!

I thought the same. For a beginner project rack I think it will work just dandy. Just making sure I wasn't missing some flaw that y'all might pick up on easily :) I know they're going to be heavy, but that's alright. I know they're made well and...can't argue with free stuff :D

Do you think belly or back heat? I think with the shelves being removable (before I secure them) I *should* be able to figure in some flexwatt on the shelves themselves. Maybe a little router work involved, but shouldn't be too hard. Or do you think back heat would be better?

Id go with belly heat.

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damn, that's an awesome score. would you plain the back to place the flew watt though? what are the width though? I see you said 24" deep, and 3-5" high.

I prefer belly heat on my racks, but with those being enclosed on 3 sides, I think you'd be fine with either method.

Just got the dimensions call from me madre. ARG! Most of them are only 12" wide. One of the unit's is 16 5/8". So looks like I could pick grab one for hatchling rack (which I don't need for another 3 years or so) and the single wider one for the 32q/15q set up. Still, free is good. The depth is actually 23. Looks like I'll be bringing over a couple different tubs and seeing how things fit. Keep your fingers crossed for me lol. The counter top one is 12 wide slots. Maybe I'll go ahead and grab that for my future hatchling rack. The wide one is around 42" tall or so. Could probably fit about 6 32q in it. That's a decent enough start for me :) I got plenty of time to save up for a bigger sexy rack. (Still wish they were all just a bit wider, I would take them all and put them in CC storage until needed lol)

@4ballz: Not sure yet, have to go look at them in person and have hubby figure out the mod'ing part lol.

Edit: After looking around a bit and realizing my mistake, looks like I can grab them for hatchling & Juvie size, just not the adult. Still going to take 6/15/32 tubs and see how they fit in person rather than dimensions. Still one of them should be big enough for the 32q though. Sorry, excited and rambling :D