Why so expensive?

[jclaiborne]

ITs not even the machine, a simple Dremel can make it, but as other said its not "plastic" its PVC/XPVC which is expensive go look to buy a single 2x2 sheet your looking at 20+$

A dremel will not give you perfectly straight cuts like a machine will, and when building a rack or cage you want your cuts to be nice and straight so your seams will line up.

If you were to price out the cost of the xpvc sheets, the cost of the equipment to cut and mill them and the time it takes I think you would find that the profit margins are fairly reasonable. If you were to undertake building your own cages or racks I think you would discover that fairly quickly.

This is where I am at now. I am building lizard cages that allow for a deep substrate layer because there aren't any off the shelf cages like this. I bought 1 4x8 foot sheet of 1/4in XPVC and had it cut and it cost me around 138 bucks, turns out that it is way too flimsy and now I need to brace it with metal framing to get the structure to be sound, luckly I have a machine shop at my disposal, but because of needing the framing I am looking at about 300 bucks all said and done for a 4x2x2ft cage. That is only for materials that is not counting labor.