Plastic Racks

[Danegerous]

does anyone know how to make plastic racks? I'm really interested in trying my hand at making some plastic ones and I could use some tips or direction. I'm sure a handful of others would love to know, too. Thanks!

Dane

[dsirkle]

I have never made one but if I intended to I would first find a source to purchase PVC or the material of my choice. The 2nd thing I would do would be to purchase a rack that is shipped disassembled to use as a template and incorporate any design changes that I deemed beneficial. If I could borrow racks that could be disassembled I would consider that as well. It would be quite easy to make a rack that screws together by doing as I just mentioned. It would be a whole different skill level to learn to use chemical welding or heat fusing. All you would really need is a small table saw and a drill.

[Danegerous]

so, it would essentially be just like building one out of melamine or whatever, only using pvc then...that's kind of what I figured, it just seems that material is super pricey. I guess that's why they cost so much to begin with...hmmm...

[Blue Apple Herps]

I made a hybrid rack out of sintra and wood. I wanted the sintra because it was a little lighter and also water proof so I didn't have to worry about sealing it up. I originally had it entirely made out of sintra, but didn't like it. I used the pieces from it to make these. These are working great so far!

[Gloryhound]

The cost of the PVC board over the laminate is crazy. You could build 3 or 4 racks out of Laminate at the same price to build one of the same racks out of the PVC board. Also if you screw up a cut on the laminate it is not that bad, but screw up with the plastic and . Plastic looks nice and is great stuff, but the cost right now does not make it worth it. I would like to fool around with a plastic one eventually, but it just does not come across as something you can play with too much as it is so expensive.

To built a rack the process is the same regardless of the material. Blueapplepaste has a nice rack that probably cost less than $100.00 to make each one. You go to the PVC and you will be looking at about $300.00 to make the same rack.

On another note unless you buy a pro built rack like vision racks or something build the rack that has a solid bottom that the tub sits on and not the type the hang from the upper rails. The solid bottom and top make it much easier to regulate temps. I have built both and I am currently using both. The hanging ones have issues with hitting the flex watt encasement in the back and not always closing very easily. The solid bottom ones slide great. Hanging bottom temps on my Herpstat pro jump between 90.8 and 93.2 degrees. On the solid bottom they go between 91.9 and 92.1 for sweater boxes and my juvies go 91.9 to 92.0.

Below is a picture that has both racks incorporated into it. The 6 on the left of the picture are CB-70's that hang and they are my problem child racks that I will probably change to solid bottoms and tops eventually. The 4 on the right of the incubator are the sweater boxes with solid bottoms and tops. Up top you can see the 12 juvies. This is just my experiences though and you can take it or leave it.



Also to regulate the temps correctly on the CB-70's I had to use a seperate channel for each level. (Total 4 channels or one Herpstat Pro.) For the sweater boxes all 4 are on one channel and the juvies are all on one channel as well.

[Halfdawg]

I was looking into building a rack for hatchlings out of 1/2 plastic material. The stock cost 86 dollars for a 4 x 8 sheet. I have talk to the guys at the plastic place and I am sure I can get them to cut the material for a small price. I just have not sat down to see how many sheets I would need to build it, but I would think around 3 sheet would work. 3 x 86 =276.06 with tax, plus solvent 6 bucks = 282.06.......20 bucks for cutting charge.....302.06. now for some tubs and heat and you are done. Now you have to solvent weld it together with out messing it up. I guess that is why they cost so much pre-made.

[Argentra]

Build a plastic rack?? The only build that is really needed is assembly and possible cutting down of legs.

I have two plastic racks made from utility shelving units; one from Lowes and the other a group of them from WallyWorld. The longer unit is shown here:



The short length units are being altered to make a hatchling rack and I don't have pix yet. Basically, tho, I took four units (a unit is four shelves) and am cutting the 15" legs into 5" lengths, giving me 3" of space between shelves for my corn hatchling boxes. There are 12 shelves total with a storage area underneath and each shelf is 21"x14" and holds 3 'sandwich' size boxes. In the future, I plan to make another unit, not quite as high but with 7" of space, for BP hatchlings.

I guess what I'm trying to say in all this rambling, is that buying those storage units and cutting the legs to whatever height you wish (I use a PVC pipe cutter) is ALOT cheaper than getting the PVC board and such.

[Subzero]

Build a plastic rack?? The only build that is really needed is assembly and possible cutting down of legs.

I have two plastic racks made from utility shelving units; one from Lowes and the other a group of them from WallyWorld. The longer unit is shown here:



The short length units are being altered to make a hatchling rack and I don't have pix yet. Basically, tho, I took four units (a unit is four shelves) and am cutting the 15" legs into 5" lengths, giving me 3" of space between shelves for my corn hatchling boxes. There are 12 shelves total with a storage area underneath and each shelf is 21"x14" and holds 3 'sandwich' size boxes. In the future, I plan to make another unit, not quite as high but with 7" of space, for BP hatchlings.

I guess what I'm trying to say in all this rambling, is that buying those storage units and cutting the legs to whatever height you wish (I use a PVC pipe cutter) is ALOT cheaper than getting the PVC board and such.

Not the type of rack were talking about.

[Argentra]

Oh, I know that you're talking about the basic tub rack...and that's what I'm talking about too. Just because that pic (which is old BTW) shows tanks on the shelves doesn't mean they can't hold tubs.

In fact, the part about cutting down the legs to whatever length you need was FOR a tub rack. All you have to do is measure the tub height, cut the legs leaving 2 inches for the inset, then add a back and sides(if you wish) using corrugated plastic(sign material). To add flexwatt, just place a strip of aluminum foil down first, shiny side up, to reflect the heat mostly up. Just search for a shelving set that has the length/width dimensions you want and you're set.