So I've been spending most of the day working on a tub for Nessie. I'm a little sick of her tank, and I just can't seem to keep it as clean as I want it. Here is my progress:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/17/e3ery5e6.jpg
It's a Rubbermaid 65qt, which is a little big, but it's what I had on hand. I'll be building my own rack, so I'll be able to accommodate it, but I wanted it to be able to open halfway... struggling with the whole lid every time I wanted to get in seemed silly. Here's the after photos:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/17/yvudyvud.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/17/3a9ase8u.jpg
Basically the back half is secured by two rivets and the clicking action of the lid itself. I'm also planning to line it with a bead of hot glue to prevent sneaky getaways.
The inside:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/17/6agyrepa.jpg
What you see here are reinforced pieces of duct tape, folded in on each other to make a durable, non-sticky strip. I used 3 of these, with two rivets each, to create a hinge loose enough to account for the uneven lid type. Then I coated the outside of the hinge with denim, again to prevent sneaky getaways.
The only thing I'm stumped on now is reinforcing the front half. I need it to open fairly easily, but I also need it to keep her in when I'm not interacting with her. The corners are probably loose enough to get her head through, and once her head is out the rest of her body will be too.
As I was typing this, I came up with my answer: Velcro! Photos of that coming up.
I know I'm probably going far beyond what is necessary for this kind of project, but I like to become emotionally invested in my endeavors, haha. Hopefully I won't have to make another hinged lid, but this one was just too large and unwieldy to take on and off.
Let me know what you think!
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