DIY XPVC Rack - Complete with pics!

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

I wouldn't paint it either. There is no need. Cutting and everything else is identical to wood. I would use a finer blade but luckily the place I get mine from precuts for me.

Regards,

B

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B, I'm a girl... it has to match the furniture in the room! I can't have stark white on my wall. It's going to stick out like a sore thumb.

There's gotta be a way to paint the thing, right?

You can get it in different colors. Pretty much any color but it costs quite a bit more. :) I just like white because it is super easy to tell if I need to clean it.

Regards,

B

How is the rack doing? Now that you've had it for a few weeks, is there anything you would have changed? Is the open design making it difficult to heat, or is the heated reptile room making it a non-issue?

I might be building a few of my own in a few weeks and I may be borrowing your design.

That's a good question Spitzu, would there be anything you would change Simple? :)

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Originally Posted by spitzu

How is the rack doing? Now that you've had it for a few weeks, is there anything you would have changed? Is the open design making it difficult to heat, or is the heated reptile room making it a non-issue?

I might be building a few of my own in a few weeks and I may be borrowing your design.

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I wouldn't change a thing! I initially said I might use spacers the second time but I changed my mind. I like the tubs sliding in semi-tight. They are held in well and as long as you are patient with your foil tape job, there is no issues with the heat tape/foil. The rack is easy to clean, holds humidity well, and with a heated room at least, holds perfect temps. I have a few snakes that I moved to 32qt and they work great so far also. Overall, I'm super happy with it and actually need to build another one. As you can see from my signature I've outgrown it already :D I won't be changing anything for the next one. I just need to get a Herpstat 2 so I can control both racks. Then my current Herpstat will be dedicated to QT rack or hatchling duty depending on what duty calls for.

Regards,

B

Do you think this would work if I used a sheet of 1/2 inch Melamine?

Amzingg Job B, very well done im pretty sure your assistant helped out alot to ^.^ enjoy the rack :gj:

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Originally Posted by SilverBlaze

Do you think this would work if I used a sheet of 1/2 inch Melamine?

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It should work just fine. Another member is making one right now and posting the results when he's finished. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

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Originally Posted by JayyPastel24

Amzingg Job B, very well done im pretty sure your assistant helped out alot to ^.^ enjoy the rack :gj:

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Thanks :) He's the everything assistant. LOL.

Regards,

B

Wow great thread! Thanks for posting it!

Someone brought to my attention that this rack is similiar to several others on the market. I want to clarify that this rack is influenced by all the reading I've done over the years. I didn't just *lightbulb* this idea and build it. So thanks goes out to www.animalplastics.com, ssscales.com, www.boaphile.com, www.reptilebasics.com, www.visionproducts.us, all the videos and tuts on www.youtube.com, previous DIY racks on www.ball-python.net and everyone else that influenced and aided in my rack build. I think most of those cover the racks I've drooled over. I decided to DIY because of COST and the fact I like doing my own work on things. Sorry if this caused any confusion for anyone! I didn't maliciously try to steal anyone's work. My goal was simply to have a step by step informational post to help other people realize they can build their own quality affordable racks with a little patience and know-how.

Kind Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

Someone brought to my attention that this rack is similiar to several others on the market. I want to clarify that this rack is influenced by all the reading I've done over the years. I didn't just *lightbulb* this idea and build it. So thanks goes out to www.animalplastics.com, ssscales.com, www.boaphile.com, www.reptilebasics.com, www.visionproducts.us, all the videos and tuts on www.youtube.com, previous DIY racks on www.ball-python.net and everyone else that influenced and aided in my rack build. I think most of those cover the racks I've drooled over. I decided to DIY because of COST and the fact I like doing my own work on things. Sorry if this caused any confusion for anyone! I didn't maliciously try to steal anyone's work. My goal was simply to have a step by step informational post to help other people realize they can build their own quality affordable racks with a little patience and know-how.

Kind Regards,

B

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Hey Simple Man, let me be the first to say good on you brother for giving credit where credit is due on the rack design.
As for the workmanship on your rack, AWESOME!!! And for taking all the time it must've taking you to do a great step by step picture tutorial, for everyone and their pet monkey to be able to follow along KUDOS!!!
Very professional, your a great asset to the community:bow:

I had a few questions on how the cuts were made on the sheet. This is what I emailed the plastics manufacture. Feel free to use it if you need it. I have another for my 50 hatchling 6qt rack but I have not assembled that. I will update another thread when I get that put together.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file..._cut_sheet.jpg

Regards,

B

is the xpvc a lot lighter than melamine?

It is around 40lbs for an entire rack assembled. I weighed it. That's probably at least 1/2 as much as a sheet of melamine. I know 1/2" MDF weighs about 80-90 lbs for a 4'x8' sheet and I imagine melamine is close. I can move this rack around with one arm but I'm a decent size guy.

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/files/7/1/2/4/rack.jpg

A shot of my rack in action :) After dealing with it since the build I can't recommend enough that people build your own! This rack rocks. I'm going to be building another soon.

Regards,

B

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Brian:

That looks absolutely fantastic. Congratulations on taking the initiative and building one of your own.

..and thanks for sharing your plans and process with the rest of us. You've shown that with a little bit of planning, anyone can go down to their local Tap Plastics and undertake such a project.

I'm going to pick up my materials this weekend to build two 10 slot 32qt racks. They quoted me $88 per sheet with cuts, and I'll need 3 sheets with your open design. The only real difference (besides 10 slots) is I want mine to be open in the front to maximize wall space.

Thanks for pioneering this. If it works out I plan on building 3 more of these, 2 41qts, and some hatchling racks. So excited!


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/XPVCcuts.jpg

What's the measurement of each shelf is it's still 24x17? Would there be a problem if u do 24x16 that way u get 12 shelf pieces per board.

The tub's width at the top is 16", so it might be a tight fit.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Brian:

That looks absolutely fantastic. Congratulations on taking the initiative and building one of your own.

..and thanks for sharing your plans and process with the rest of us. You've shown that with a little bit of planning, anyone can go down to their local Tap Plastics and undertake such a project.

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That was the goal! Thanks.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

I'm going to pick up my materials this weekend to build two 10 slot 32qt racks. They quoted me $88 per sheet with cuts, and I'll need 3 sheets with your open design. The only real difference (besides 10 slots) is I want mine to be open in the front to maximize wall space.

Thanks for pioneering this. If it works out I plan on building 3 more of these, 2 41qts, and some hatchling racks. So excited!


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/XPVCcuts.jpg

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Be sure to post pictures. I follow what you're saying but would love to see it in action. I did mine this way because I need the dual purpose 15/32qt. If I was doing just 32qt I would do your way for sure!

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Originally Posted by blo0

What's the measurement of each shelf is it's still 24x17? Would there be a problem if u do 24x16 that way u get 12 shelf pieces per board.

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You can't fit a 32qt in there if you make the shelves smaller. You could make them smaller if you plan on doing 15qt only but I don't think the 32 would fit.

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

Be sure to post pictures. I follow what you're saying but would love to see it in action. I did mine this way because I need the dual purpose 15/32qt. If I was doing just 32qt I would do your way for sure!

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Yeah I know why you did it sideways and I would have too except for the small snake room. At least I can get one 15qt tub in there if needed.

So I'm an impatient guy, and when Pro Plastics told me that they couldn't get my sheets cut until sometime next week I drove down there (2 hours each way) to pick them up anyway. I brought my own cutting gear since I had to cut the sheets down to size on the spot in order to fit them in my car. Long story short, I LEFT a section of one of the sheets there! I am so retarded. My racks are now both going to be 9 slot racks since it's not really feasible to drive all the way down there again just to pick up a 48 X 27 piece.

Ugh. Anyway, one down one to go. Heat tape still needs to be done, and it still needs a good scrub.


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/IMG_2181.jpg


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/IMG_2180.jpg


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/IMG_2179.jpg

Looks good :)

I'm loving the sidesways rack for space savings! I might make one more that is like mine and another that is like yours for my adult males/sub-adult females. Very nice work!

Regards,

B

That first rack was a pain in the ass to build with all of those floppy supports, but after I figured it out I got the 2nd one up in about 20 minutes. This XPVC is great stuff...very forgiving unlike melamine. Thanks again for finding it.

I really like this. Thanks for the useful post.

I built this rack with a few modifications.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...69498719_n.jpg

I have both side supports on the edges instead of leaving a few inches exposed, I decided to use heat cable instead flexwatt since I can order it through amazon with prime and get more use out of it. I didn't account for needing a router though, which I do not have... So I rapped the 2 back support 4x48" boards instead.. hopefully it is sufficient.

9 x 41qt Sterilite

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4-24214902.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4-24214911.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4-24223439.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4-24223553.jpg

Regards,

B

beautiful!

im gonna have to give this ago soon!

thanks for sharing :gj:

Can I get a scan of the plans for the cuts needed for this 41qt rack? I gave the dimensions to the xpvc supplier and they didnt cut it right so I was left with a left over strip and not enough room to fit my 7th shelf..

I love your racks man!

Here's the cut sheet for my 41qt (2 sheets)

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...es/41qtcut.jpg

Here's the cut sheet for the 15/32qt

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4-19110603.jpg

After much trial and error I recommend a 1/32 spacer to be used on both edges of the tub while assembling. This gives an easier sliding tub. I tried some household things and they didn't work well. I ended up using two strips of balsa wood.

Regards,

B

that is AWESOME! I might have to try that when I get my own place and more ball pythons :D

For the 41qt tub are you still using 1/2"? Would anything thinner work? I'm trying to cut costs since it needs 2 boards vs the 1 before!

no way thinner would work. I just built 3 more of these yest.They are great.

This should be stickied.

I second the sticky add! Can you post the part where you added the heat tape? I don't think I missed that part......

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

I noticed you keep these racks at home, do you have them secluded in a heated room? Or somewhere, where the AC blows normally Reason I ask is that because they're open in the back, I would imagine they don't insulate as well as a full rack.

As of right now my snakes are my room and it can get down to 72 F, but I would love some of those open back racks.

This is a good thread Simple Man. I just added it to my favorites.

Question though? If you were to keep the flexwatt and connectors in from all the sides, do you think it would be safe to drap a piece of fabric or shower curtain around the three braced sides kind or the way they attach a table skirt.

I was just thinking for those who don't have a dedicated reptile room to be able to hold more heat if necessary.

I was thinking of using a strip of velcro around the top and that way it would be easy to put on or take off as needed. For those sports fans you could get something with you favorite team, and for the ladies who just have to coordinate, well I guess they could do that too.

Thoughts?

I have a heated reptile room. That's the only way I could afford to keep so many animals. It would be very easy to make these enclosed but you would need to use another sheet of XPVC. Depending on where you live that could cost $80-120 extra. I recently put a youtube video up that shows how to solder Flexwatt. I simply use a single piece of Flexwatt for the 15/32 qt rack. The 41qt uses 12" strips of 11" Flexwatt.

Here is the soldering Flexwatt YouTube link. http://youtu.be/mFjTLTNbwNo

I'll check back for anymore questions!

Regards,

B

I bought a less expensive material to enclose the back and got 12inch wide side pieces to enclose the sides. This forced me to route channels in the shelves to route the heat tape through.

The material i got for the back was bought at home depot and looks sort of like peg board without the holes. I believe it is the board you use for dry erase markers.

Brian has helped me out a great deal with my DIY projects. Thank man!

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

Thanks for all the kind word!

I predrilled all the holes. The XPVC was super easy to work with.

I am into the rack $85 for the 1/2" sheet of XPVC, $6 for a box of 100 screws, $5 for three two packs of generic super glue, $40 for 20 feet of 4" Flexwatt (I have extra but wanted it that way), and $80 on the tub configuration I have. The grand total is $216!

Regards,

B

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Question: Simple Man, why did you decide to use XPVC in place of regular PVC or ABS? I'v built a rack out of melamine and have decided that a plastic rack is the best way to go. I'm debating on which type of material I should use.

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Originally Posted by PsychD_Student

Question: Simple Man, why did you decide to use XPVC in place of regular PVC or ABS? I'v built a rack out of melamine and have decided that a plastic rack is the best way to go. I'm debating on which type of material I should use.

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Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, but, I'm pretty sure that PVC isn't UV resistant (unless you coat it), it's more expensive, and most of all heavier. Never heard of ABS being used in a rack though.

I'm in the process of building the 41 qt rack right now! Ran into a few problems since I'm not amazing with carpentry but it's working out perfect! minus the dead drill, which is why I'm on my PC now :P. I built your 16/32qt rack, 41qt rack, soon when I have babies I'm gonna needa do the hatchling rack! cant wait :]

Spent a little under $300 for the entire 41qt rack.

Guys I bought two of these racks from him and THEY ARE COMPLETELY AWESOME!!!! Cant say enough good things about them. And where reptile plastics quoted me an almost 2 month wait, Brian got me my racks done in 7 days!!!! :bow:

:gj: 2 THUMBS UP!! :gj:

I'm planning on building two new racks within the next month or so, and I'm thinking about trying this design. For those of you who have this rack, how sturdy is it compared to one made of wood?

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Originally Posted by PsychD_Student

I'm planning on building two new racks within the next month or so, and I'm thinking about trying this design. For those of you who have this rack, how sturdy is it compared to one made of wood?

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Just built one...its flimsy as hell when your putting it together. Once you have the side legs on its sturdy. The back legs make it solid. Its a great rack. I recommend routing out the grooves for heat tape. Its extremely malleable and routs easy.

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

I will be doing a 41qt one as well once I get some females up to that size. As it stands most adult snakes will be happy with the 31qt sideways instead of the two 15 qts. I have the stuff for a hatchling rack but haven't been really motivated because I won't be breeding for a year or two. I'll be sure to keep this updated.

Regards,

B

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Did you ever get to making the hatchling rack?

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Originally Posted by mikeNjackee

Just built one...its flimsy as hell when your putting it together. Once you have the side legs on its sturdy. The back legs make it solid. Its a great rack. I recommend routing out the grooves for heat tape. Its extremely malleable and routs easy.

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Why do you recommend routing out grooves for the heat tape? I plan on using DVDs as spacers so it slides in and out without much trouble or stress on the tape.

Also, how would you do it?

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

Here's the cut sheet for my 41qt (2 sheets)

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...es/41qtcut.jpg


After much trial and error I recommend a 1/32 spacer to be used on both edges of the tub while assembling. This gives an easier sliding tub. I tried some household things and they didn't work well. I ended up using two strips of balsa wood.

Regards,

B

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Hey everyone! So I plan on building my xpvc racks in a few weeks. I'm building some to hold 60qt sterilite bins at target, for which I need 35x19 shelves. So my question is, after changing the specs above, I noticed I would have four support legs (the frame ya know) that would be attached to the shelves. The four legs would be 6.5 in thick. Would that be enough to support the weight of the rack? Or should I revamp my specs?

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Originally Posted by PsychD_Student

Hey everyone! So I plan on building my xpvc racks in a few weeks. I'm building some to hold 60qt sterilite bins at target, for which I need 35x19 shelves. So my question is, after changing the specs above, I noticed I would have four support legs (the frame ya know) that would be attached to the shelves. The four legs would be 6.5 in thick. Would that be enough to support the weight of the rack? Or should I revamp my specs?

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Should be fine as long as you space them properly for maximim support. I haven't built anything that large so you're treading on new ground there :) Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by PsychD_Student

Did you ever get to making the hatchling rack?

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I second this! If you havent, be sure to update when you do! I will be making 1 of every rack on this thread. Right now I'm trying to decide with the 15/32 or just the 32... If I make the 15/32 rack, won't the 32 qt tubs lack a warm/cool side for the snakes? Because wouldnt the flexwatt run down the length of the tub instead of the width at one of the ends? Does that make sense?

Thanks,
SC

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Originally Posted by stupidcracker00

I second this! If you havent, be sure to update when you do! I will be making 1 of every rack on this thread. Right now I'm trying to decide with the 15/32 or just the 32... If I make the 15/32 rack, won't the 32 qt tubs lack a warm/cool side for the snakes? Because wouldnt the flexwatt run down the length of the tub instead of the width at one of the ends? Does that make sense?

Thanks,
SC

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I made the hatchling rack and would not recommend the way I did it. I ended up with 6 wide x 9 levels for 54 tubs total. I should have cut it in half and did 3 wide by 9 levels. As it stands now if I redid it I would make two 9 level 3 wide racks.

The Flexwatt, if you run it correctly will be on the back half of the 32qt. The snakes will use it when they need to or go to the other side. I haven't had any issues at all. If the snake is too big for that then you really should have them in a 41qt.

Regards,

B