NEW 28qt RACK! (New Hatred for Melamine)

So I came home from the local show today with yet another purchase...and I was outgrowing my method of housing (tubs on flexwatt on my tv stand)...so a quick trip to Home Depot, and about an hour of work and I have a new rack!

I really like how it came out when considering the little amount of time I put into it...and the fact that my helper was 6 years old :D

The only thing that really p'd me off was that I forgot to stick some cd's under the tubs when positioning the shelves to assure smooth sliding in/out on one of the shelves! So three of them slide really well, the other one...not so much. It's really not an issue, except I am using belly heat, and there's no way it'll slide over the flexwatt with out damaging it.

My solution: I am going to get a strip of 11" and run it down the back and just use back heat :)

Total Cost: $48.99 (plus the cost of a 12 foot 2x4" that I already had)
That's just the cost of the rack and the tubs..not the flexwatt, or thermostat.

http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/...h/DSCF6759.jpg

http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/...h/DSCF6758.jpg

http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/...h/DSCF6757.jpg

Looks like it was a quick, easy, and well worth it build. Sucks that you forgot to add the extra space for the belly heat though. Nice job regardless :gj:

Nice build but at the rate your growing your collection you will need more racks.

Haha...ya, this is kinda just a "temporary" solution :)

But she is making me slow down now...she told me I gotta find a nice Male for all these ladies, and then stop for a while :gj:

Looks good. You used melamine for the shelves?

Ya, melamine shelves...it was actually the perfect depth already, just had to chop the board into pieces for the right width...it splits real easy though...I wouldn't use it again I don't think. But it looks better than just plywood or something like that...

Looks good. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Theron

Ya, melamine shelves...it was actually the perfect depth already, just had to chop the board into pieces for the right width...it splits real easy though...I wouldn't use it again I don't think. But it looks better than just plywood or something like that...

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You have to get a special blade to cut the malamine and make sure you pre drill all your holes so it doesnt split. Other than that melamine is the best for racks. All of my racks are made out of melamine and I havent found anything better yet.

I had Home Depot cut the board for me...and I think they used a regular circular saw at their cutting station? But as far as the pre-drilling holes...they had told me to pilot hole through the 2x4's but no to pilot the melamine to make sure the screw would grip in there...I thought it sounded funny...and then when I made the first split, I went ahead and piloted the rest of them...so it wasn't too bad I guess :)

Just made it into a back heat rack too...I couldn't fit the tubs with the flexwatt as belly heat, so I wired up a strip of 11", mounted it on a piece of peg board, and mounted that on the back of the rack...I love it !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Theron

It's really not an issue, except I am using belly heat, and there's no way it'll slide over the flexwatt with out damaging it.

My solution: I am going to get a strip of 11" and run it down the back and just use back heat :)

Total Cost: $48.99 (plus the cost of a 12 foot 2x4" that I already had)
That's just the cost of the rack and the tubs..not the flexwatt, or thermostat.

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Hey there, I had built a rack myself (my first one) and I also had an issue with one level not sliding right because it was a tad too tight. You said you use back heat there now, so not sure if you are still interested in getting it back to belly heat, but what I did was I got some sand paper and I sanded down the top edges of the tub just a little bit and it worked like a charm for me.

are the 28qt tubs sufficient in size for a full grown female ball

For an adult female no 28qt is not sufficient


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I know many many breeders that use 28qt for adult females....but it just depends on how big your adult females are...if they are massive gals, then no...but a breeding female...around 1500 grams or so, they are plenty big enough. That girl I just got is around 1200 grams and she looks tiny in it.

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Originally Posted by Rat160

You have to get a special blade to cut the malamine and make sure you pre drill all your holes so it doesnt split. Other than that melamine is the best for racks. All of my racks are made out of melamine and I havent found anything better yet.

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A good quality plywood blade works well when cutting melamine. These run about 20 bucks at home improvement stores. There are laminante blades but they are in excess of $80+.

And melamine is not "best for racks". Plastics hold up longer and are easier to clean. Melamine is just economical.