Built My Rack!

[Danegerous]

This rack was completely inspired by Halfdawg, here on the forums. I did exacly as he said, and it worked perfectly. Although, somehow mine came out to a grand total of $80 minus the tubs...so, maybe I accidentally stole all the materials.

If you want a right up, lemme know! I did one thing different than the man, I left a gap along the left of the shelf to allow for the wires, now I don't have to drill. No biggie. I should be getting a Helix very shortly, along with my Flex-watt tape.

[Patrick Long]

did you even have to cut anything?

[a2timmann]

NICE!!!!!

[Hotshot]

did you but it pice by pice? Or was it unit

[Danegerous]

They only had 3 precut pieces, so I had two full sheets cut down at Home Depot. It's free for the first two cuts, then a quarter for the next 10 then a buck per cut for the rest. The thing is, they never notified the front of the cuts, so they were free. Then, I told the boner at the front that these came from two $32 dollar sheets (which is still a steal over the precut) and he only marked down one. Then I think he even gave me the precut for free.

THe accessory stuff was $22, then $3 for pop. So, out of $80, only $55 was actually the wood...

So, yeah. It was piece by piece. Oh, then I don't think he rang up the hardboard either, haha. What luck, huh? I think he was trying and got frustrated and a little embarrassed so he just improvised. haha.

[fenderplayer108]

Nice rack! I like the step-by-step pictures.

[Danegerous]

Thank you very much. I really studied the construction of these for a while and actually went to build one earlier this week, but decided against it when the material list took me into the $200 range with the stat and tubs.

Thanks to Dawg, I was able to make a better rack for a third the price. If anyone needs a write up, let me know and I'll edit the first post. Heck, I probably will anyway.

[Halfdawg]

Great Job, Nice looking rack. I liked the way you coverewd the screw heads on the sides.

[Danegerous]

Time: I took about 2.5 hours to get this done, and I have to admit something…this is the first thing I have EVER built. I mean, aside from a hamburger and a soapbox derby car, this is it. I have never used a square, or a drill, or a screw gun or anything like this, heck, even an iron! So, this is a project suitable for even computer nerds like me.
Materials:
- (9) 23 ¾” x 48” Melamine particle board ($11.99 per precut piece or $31.99 per 8’ x 4’ sheet, which yields 4 smaller pieces.
- (2) pieces of 24” x 48” 3/16” (or your preference thickness) hardwood (~$4.50 each). *Note – these piece are shorter than the width of the shelves as a whole, this is to allow the cord space as seen in the pics. You can instead opt for a full sheet of hardboard and cover the whole back, and then simply drill the cord holes.
- 50’ Malemine Edging. This is Iron-On edging that really makes the shelf look polished. It is very easy to use and inexpensive. I bought (2) 25’ packages.
- 1 case of 1 5/8” drywall screws.
- Up to 18 Sterilite 1756 32 Qt. Clear tubs. I chose 12 of these and 2 74 QT underbed (no wheels) tubs. The 18 QT were $6.99 each and the 74 QT were $13.99 each.
- 2 containers of screw head covers.
- One medium roll of 2” thick foil tape
- A basic surge protector
- (1-6) basic 6’ extension cords ($1). If you want your flew-watt controlled as one unit, and heat always going to every shelf or none, use one. If you want every shelf to be independent and also be able to be unplugged when not in use, use 6. (I opted for 6).
- Flex-watt Heat Tape. I got mine from www.BigAppleHerp.com. They offer many different sizes, but Big Apple offers the clips and cords, too. I am making my own clips by soldering them to the cheap extension cords. I will splice the wires and connect them (these are still in the mail).
- Helix DBS-100 from www.HelixControls.com ($169 with 2nd day air shipping, still in the mail).

1. With all cut boards together, the first step is the hardest. I did not include a kick panel on the bottom, so I simply laid one board flat, the but another up to the flat board at a right angle (I used a carpenter’s square for this). With upright board being held in place I made sure that the back of the shelf was flat (so that the hardboard would mount easily in the future). I made a permanent marker dot about 4” in on each side, and another in the middle. *Make sure the upright board is resting on the ground, not on the flat board. You will short yourself a good inch if you screw them together that way.* Now simply screw the upright board into the flat one, then repeat on the other side. For the second upright board I turned the three on their sides (image 3). You will notice the shelf is a bit wobbly at this point, but that will get corrected.
2. Then turn the shelf back upright to add the new shelves (Image 4).
3. Next, put the two sheets of Hardboard flat on the inside of the bottom shelf. Then place the three 32 QTs (or one 74 QT) on the hardboard (image 6). Next, place the next shelf on top of the tubs. This will give you the height needed for the next shelf while still leaving enough room to slide the tubs out (image 5). But sure when placing the spacer (in my case the hardboard, but it can be anything) that your animals cannot escape through that size gap!). This is where I got down on the level of the shelf and simply eyeballed where the center of the shelf was and marked three dots on the side of the upright. This gave me my three screw locations, similar to the bottom shelf. I found that from screw head to screw head it was about 7”, but I didn’t use that, so eyeball it up or measure yourself. Then simply screw in the three screws and repeat for the other side.
4. In Image 7, you can see the shlves start to come together. You simply repeat step 3 until you get to the top. You could have easily opted for a kickplate at the beginning, and sacrificed that space at the top, I like the space for tall things.
5. Once the shelves are done, I went to the back and attached the hardboard. First, I lined up the left board along the left side and then added the right to see where they would best align. This is where I made the gap intentionally. I could have made the gap bigger or a tad smaller, but this was the best size. I then marked the shelf location on the hardboard and screwed in a screw on every level along each far edge. I then did the same for the other sheet. At this time I mounted my surge protector on the back. This required me to drill out the holes on the surge protector a little bit to fit my screw heads, no big deal. I then went back and put a middle screw in each shelf row.
6. Then I applied the finishing touches. I put the screw caps on all of the screws, and this made a world of difference. It is much friendlier to the eyes at this point. Then I added the Melamine Edging. I heated up the iron and grabbed a piece of printing paper. I measured the distance by eye and cut a strip a tad longer than I needed. Then I held it in place and ironed the paper resting on the edging. This way you don’t melt the edging, the paper protects it. It was very easy, just a little time consuming.
FUTURE
7. Now I need to add the flex-watt Heat tape. There are little clips you can do, but I will be soldering mine. It’s really simple. Find the positive and negative side of the heat tape and the white extension cord. *UNPLUGGED OF COURSE!* cut the receiving (female) end of the extension cord off. Now, using a wire stripper, expose the wires. You can now use the clips to clip the tape, then insert the wires and clamp them or solder them. There is also an option to order the tape WITH clamps and a 6’ wire, that may be the best option. Now simply run the wire out the back of the shelf and tape down the heat tape with the foil tape you have. For Ball Pythons, you will want the tape on the bottom of the shelf to allow belly heat for warmth and digestion. Boas like it on the back, I think. To prevent damage to the heat tape and direct contact with the tubs, I will be adding strips of foil tape directly over the heat tape. It will still transfer heat appropriately.
8. Next, you will install the thermostat, and plug all of the cords from the heat tape into it. Then set the thermostat and you’re ready to roll! You do need to place your probe, though, and that is VERY important. Without this probe in the correct spot, the thermostat might be adjusting the wrong temps. I will be cutting a small chunk of the corner of a Sterilite tub (one I already have, the wife’s shoe box or something) and put the probe on TOP of that and tape that to the top of the heat tape. The reasoning for this is, this almost perfectly simulates a tub thickness on the heat tape. Aside from drilling a hole in one of my actually tubs, this is the closest I can get to accurate. This will show me how the heat tape transfers heat through the foil and the tub thickness…perfect!
Possible additions: I may route out the bottom of each shelf in the future to allow for the heat tape to site recessed in the shelf.
I may route out the top of each shelf in a ¾” line in order to insert tube for a misting system in every tub…that would be sweet. I already did that for one terrarium…that’s the next right up!
Enjoy!

[.Matt]

Good to see I'm not the only one who went out and built a rack when they saw the other thread!

Nice looking rack, exact same as mine! I'm just waiting on flexwatt