Rat rack lumber

[grits]

upholstery staple gun

[kitedemon]

Heres my 4 tub



and the 6 tub

That is quite nice looking work there...

[JohnNJ]

upholstery staple gun

I assumed staple gun. Are you stapling along the thin edge of the plywood or wrapping it around?

[grits]

I make the square frame, in my case 22 1/2" x 27" then i cut a piece of screen 22 3/8 x 26 3/4" and staple it to the frame i just made.

Then i make an "L" with more plywood, that "L" will sit up against the screen and hold it in place even further. That "L" is what my tubs slide on.

I shoot all my frames with my nail gun then I screw my frames and "L"'s to the legs

Ive gotten it down to starting with a sheet of plywood and having a finished rack ready to be plumbed in about 45 minutes to an hour

[JohnNJ]

grits:

Do you use the racks for rats or just ASFs? Any escapes?

The reason I ask is that I have seen posts that say 2x2's are not strong enough for mixing tub rat racks and only 2x4's or at least ripped 2x4's should be used. Plywood with nails in the frames rather than screws gives me pause. I know, as a cabinet maker, the quality must be great but do you think the average person could make your rack sturdy enough? I don't see any braces/supports which I use to keep my racks square.

[grits]

My back legs are a huge L. The back being a 6" strip and the side being a 3" strip of plywood. That is my "secret" to keeping it square and strong. The frames that the screen are attached to are braces in them self. They are screwd to the legs every 12".

This rack and design works great for me, if it doesnt feel sturdy enough after your done you could add braces as needed. On my 6 tub rack i cant see in the top one so i climb up the bottom ones and im pushing 200 pounds.

I have used this design with rats and asfs with no problems YET lol.

[grits]

I took some better pics for you John

In this one you can see how sturdy the back legs make the entire thing.



Here is a better shot of how all the plywood looks

[JohnNJ]

Thanks for posting those.

What kind of nails do you use and how long are they?

[grits]

They are 2" finish nails, but you can see from the construction the "L"s i was telling you about support the frame also.

[JohnNJ]

Thanks.

Now I just have to find a cabinet maker with some free time.