I built me a rack tonight!

Took about two hours to put this together. This thing is solid and could probably survive a nuke. Made it out of 3/4" Birch from Home Despot.

fits 6 x 41 quart tubs. If i had halved the size of the kickplate at the bottom, I could have fit 7 tubs total. I plan on putting the tank with my bearded dragon on top. Overall looks good. Can't wait for the flexwatt to finishing warming (used 11") to check temps and make sure all is perfect.

Got the base built and putting on the first side. In total, it is 36.5 inches wide, 48 inches tall, and 17 inches deep.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...ot/photo-1.jpg

Mounted the flex watt using the HVAC aluminum tape and now securing the other side.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...t/photo2-1.jpg

Stood it up, here you can see the 11" flex watt.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...t/photo3-1.jpg

My friend who helped me build it had these sample countertop styles that were about 1-2 mm thick. They were perfect for spacing that little extra room between the tub and the shelf above it. Here we are practically done as we installed the shelves from the bottom up.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...t/photo4-1.jpg

Put on some backing and voila! complete! Brought it home and got it hooked up to my thermostat.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...t/photo5-1.jpg

All in all, for the wood, screws, tape, flex watt and tubs, the total cost I would put at about $200 Not shabby for a piece of furniture I proudly put in my living room!

Very nice.

I like it! :gj:

awesome. i just built a stand for my tank (much easier than what u just did) but it probably saved me $50 so I asume u saved a ton. Nice work!

Looks great I need to build me a hatchling rack this winter :)

Looks great!

Very clean looking. My own project starts soon :D Hope it looks half as good as yours :rolleye2:

looks good! Did you cover the shelves with anything? just wondering because the humidity might cause them to warp.

That's what I am wondering. Is it water proof?

Looks lovely though!

looks great I would suggest staining( sealing it cause the humidy going ot mold the wood real fast ( specially if your tubs don't use lids.)

Thanks for the worries. The wood is not stained or sealed, the tubs do have holes melted into them every 2 inches or so with a soldering iron. I live in Houston where the relative humidity INDOORS is already pretty high and since I used a hardwood (birch) the likeliness that it would warp just sitting there here in my AC'ed living room (73ish degrees) is highly unlikely. The flexxwatt is doing a good job keeping the tubs warm on the one side. Amazing how such a thin and basic material can get that warm!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rawbbeh

Thanks for the worries. The wood is not stained or sealed, the tubs do have holes melted into them every 2 inches or so with a soldering iron. I live in Houston where the relative humidity INDOORS is already pretty high and since I used a hardwood (birch) the likeliness that it would warp just sitting there here in my AC'ed living room (73ish degrees) is highly unlikely. The flexxwatt is doing a good job keeping the tubs warm on the one side. Amazing how such a thin and basic material can get that warm!

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This is actually what I was wondering about. With the flexwatt not actually under the tubs do you still get high enough warm side temps? How high do you have to crank the thermostat to get it warm enough?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gene Collins

This is actually what I was wondering about. With the flexwatt not actually under the tubs do you still get high enough warm side temps? How high do you have to crank the thermostat to get it warm enough?

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That seemed odd to me too, mine have it under tubs for belly heat.

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