Building a Sideways Rack, Progress DUW(seriously)

[Kaorte]

I have purchased everything I need to build my sideways rack so far. I need to run by HD tomorrow to get some more screws and aluminum tape, but other then that, I am ready to go. My heat tape gets here tomorrow and I will be wiring that up

Here is my progress so far. I will be updating this as I get more and more done and maybe when I am done I will write up a whole How-to if anyone else wants to give it a shot.

This is my first ever rack build so bear with me

My main goals for this rack were to be economical with materials and for it to look like a piece of furniture rather than a snake rack. To do this I did a number of things. I found pre-finished black shelving that I am using to build my rack. Because the HD by me did not have the right size, I had to fudge it and buy a shelf that was a few inches smaller and then I cut 3 inch strips to glue to the backside. This worked pretty well and will be sturdy once I screw them into the sides. My only problem with this method is that the sides are not flush with the shelves, they will be overhanging by about 3 inches. Which I suppose isn't that big of a deal.

SUPPLIES!!
For those who haven't seen it, here is my shopping list:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=90125

The only difference is the wood material that I bought and the combination of tubs. I instead purchased the following:
(3) 48"x12"
(7) 24"x12"
(2) Mens shoebox tubs
(5) Boot Box tubs

Here are pictures of some of the materials and tools:











PROCESS!!

The first thing I did was fix the depth of the shelves. All I did was glue on some 3 inch pieces to the ends of the 12 inch shelves.

Tada! 15" shelves

Then I soldered the holes in my tubs (this took like an hour and it felt like a really long time). I made myself little template so the holes were evenly spaced.



Then I prepped my extension cords so I could solder the connections to my flexwatt which will be arriving tomorrow 4/30. There were like 5 tags on each of the extension cords, I don't know why they need so many..




For tomorrow I am going to (hopefully) solder all the flexwatt and possibly drill all of the shelves into place. Then I will be fastening the handles to the tubs and lastly I will be making a drawer for the bottom of the rack. Then my rack should be complete and I will be ready to move my crappy collection (2) of snakes in to their new snake condo!

[Drew87]

Looks good so far keep it comming more pics!!!

[Kaorte]

Alright, I was up late last night determined to get this thing in working order! I am basically done except I need to put on the hardware for 2 more tubs and eventually, add the drawer to the bottom space.

Here are some pics of wiring the flexwatt, putting the shelves up, and the semi-finished product.


Non wired flex


Prepping the soldering surface


Oh look! They are all magically done!


Adding the shelves


All shelves in! Taping in the flexwatt


Tubs withe the awesome pulls


Blurry picture of it in my room.


Hope you all like it!

[MarkS]

Looks good, I like the drawer pulls they add a nice touch.

[jgjulander]

Very cool. I love building my own racks. I like the pull idea.
Justin

[blackcrystal22]

WHAT type of wood is that!?
I want that, I hate melamine!

[Kaorte]

It is acutally pre-finished particle board shelving I found in the shelving department at home depot.

[Kaorte]

Alright, I plugged in my thermostat and have added the 2 residents to the snake condo!
I also added some stoppers so the snakes can't push their way out. These work well and look nice too!

I will post pictures again when I get the drawer at the bottom done.



The messy back side

You can't really tell but that is one of the little twisty stopper things.

My masterpiece!

I see you in there!!


Thanks for looking!

[ScottyBoa]

Nice setup you got there. I like the pull idea. Are those handles stuck on or fastened on? I can't imagine stick ons lasting very long...

[Kaorte]

They are all fastened on with screws I don't think stick ons would last long either.