# Rack build - no tools, no workspace, small budget...



## Pinwallace (Jul 30, 2009)

Ok, so the budget was kind of medium for a rack that can accommodate eight adult royals, and I did have one or two tools, but very limited workspace.

I started off by making the tubs: 

I bought heavy duty plastic storage trays ( 910mm x 620mm x 160mm ) on ebay for a very reaonable price. I then installed 70mm soffit airflow vents and windows using 2mm ariel glazing sheets. The glazing is very easy to score with a stanley knife and then snap to the required size. I used double sided tape to fix the glazing to the inside of the tubs, and black rubber edging to seal the windows and hide my sawing skills. :whistling2:



















Shelfs next:

I wanted to give my snakes a little more height inside their tubs so I used 33mm x 33mm pine for the frames which also made it possible to install a couple of LED lights on the inside of each frame. ( I am not using lids for these tubs, they simply slide in between two shelfs. ) The shelfs where glued and then screwed to the top of each frame. The bottom of each shelf got a couple of coats of waterproof stain to protect the wood against humidity.


















This gives an idea of what it will look like :










Puting the frame together: ( in the spare bedroom :blush: )

The sides where screwed to the top of the rack before flipping it upside down and then adding one shelf at a time. I used the glazing off cuts as spacers between the shelfs and tubs.


















The spacers did their job and none of the tubs where stuck in the frame after all that. 










Next step - heat strips:

I would recommend using a heat mat at one end of each tub instead of strips that run along the length of the back, but I wanted the option of using two smaller tubs per shelf so heat strips where my only option. ( I don't like heat cable )










Now, installing the lights:

I used two large LEDs per shelf, simply fitted by drilling holes through the frame and wiring them in parallel. All the lights run off a single 9v wall adapter. ( on a timer ) Look at me being all green ! :2thumb: 
The wiring was "tidied" with a staple gun, cable ties and cable clips. 


























I forgot to say, I'm using a Habistat twin channel thermostat for the rack. The top four shelfs are running off one channel and the bottom four off the other. I am also using insulation board in between the wooden pannels to help insulate the rack without making it heavy.

And there it is finished:


































Thanks for looking : victory:


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## sender (Jan 19, 2009)

looks good : victory:


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## genghis55 (Jul 13, 2009)

wow that looks amazing


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## Whosthedaddy (Nov 29, 2009)

Looks good, very different and well made.


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## SkinheadOi85 (Sep 28, 2008)

Very nice indeed! VERY VERY nice.

Wish i had the time, skills, money and patience


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## BumNum (Dec 13, 2009)

Mate that is really good, so what was the final cost of materials then? and approx how long did it take to complete?


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## Pinwallace (Jul 30, 2009)

Thanks for your comments ! :2thumb:
The total cost of the rack ( not including tub furnishings or tools ) was about 420.00. The tubs were 6 pound each from ebay and then I spent about a fiver per tub to convert them. The most expensive items were the heat strips @ 17 pound each. 
It took me about 6 weeks to complete, but I'm sure I could have done it in half the time if I had to. : victory:


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## eyespy900 (May 9, 2009)

that looks amazing, i am thinking of building my own rack and that has given me some good ideas, i think i will defentaly be trying it you way, it looks fairly easy and the photos are really good.

thank you so much for taking the time to make this thread. i will let u know how i get on with it, 

many thanks


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## Pinwallace (Jul 30, 2009)

eyespy900 said:


> that looks amazing, i am thinking of building my own rack and that has given me some good ideas, i think i will defentaly be trying it you way, it looks fairly easy and the photos are really good.
> 
> thank you so much for taking the time to make this thread. i will let u know how i get on with it,
> 
> many thanks


Cheers 
It was definitely less complicated than i thought, and apart from one or two minor mistakes it all went fine. 
Good luck with your build and please let me know if you have any questions. : victory:


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## alan1 (Nov 11, 2008)

nice job Pw, like the lighting touch... :2thumb:


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## eyespy900 (May 9, 2009)

Pinwallace said:


> Cheers
> It was definitely less complicated than i thought, and apart from one or two minor mistakes it all went fine.
> Good luck with your build and please let me know if you have any questions. : victory:


 
thanks, so i went and brought most of the wood, still need to get a few more bits, i only had enough money to get enough wood to make 6 shelves and get the upright bits. my questions would be :-

where can i get the airflow vents from?
where can i get the l.e.d.'s and and power unit from?
would a bit of normal thickness hard board be sufficent as a spacer between the shelves when building?

many thanks

pete


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## Forest Gump (Aug 9, 2008)

Good job, those tubs look huge! Nice touch with the lights also


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## Pinwallace (Jul 30, 2009)

alan1 said:


> nice job Pw, like the lighting touch... :2thumb:





Forest Gump said:


> Good job, those tubs look huge! Nice touch with the lights also


Cool beans, glad you like it. : victory:



eyespy900 said:


> thanks, so i went and brought most of the wood, still need to get a few more bits, i only had enough money to get enough wood to make 6 shelves and get the upright bits. my questions would be :-
> 
> where can i get the airflow vents from?
> where can i get the l.e.d.'s and and power unit from?
> ...


The vents are normal 70mm soffit vents. I got mine from ebay, you will need a 70mm holesaw to cut the holes :
10 BLACK 70mm plastic round soffit airflow vents on eBay (end time 21-Jun-10 21:35:32 BST)

The leds come from ebay too, the seller is based in Hong Kong so delivery took about 2 weeks : 
items - Get great deals on 10mm 5-Chips High Power Led items on eBay.co.uk Shops!

The leds come wired with a resistor, so you can run it from a normal 12V acdc adapter. Mine is running off a 9V but the leds just burn a bit brighter on a 12V. Something like this will do the job :
12V 500mA 12VAC AC Mains power adaptor supply adapter on eBay (end time 20-Jun-10 15:49:43 BST)

Yes, 3mm hardboard should be fine to use as spacers, i wouldn't use anything with a thickness of more than 3mm, the glazing off cuts i used were 2mm.

Cheers
Kobus


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## Brett (Jul 21, 2009)

thats awsome :2thumb:


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## eyespy900 (May 9, 2009)

Pinwallace said:


> Cool beans, glad you like it. : victory:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thanks for the information mate, i have got some led's on order from the uk. not sure if they are fitted with a resister, but the are pre wired and do have the black sheef on them. if they have not, what size resister would u reccoment me using?

thanks


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## loxocemus (Sep 2, 2006)

duuuuuuuude! great minds and all that  wish id thought of ur increasing height idea, very smart, very neat










rgds
ed


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## Pinwallace (Jul 30, 2009)

loxocemus said:


> duuuuuuuude! great minds and all that  wish id thought of ur increasing height idea, very smart, very neat
> 
> rgds
> ed


Thanks :2thumb: 
and thanks for the advice, my cartentry skills are not quite up to your standard, but she turned out fine anyway, and should save me a few quid in elec. : victory:


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## Pinwallace (Jul 30, 2009)

eyespy900 said:


> thanks for the information mate, i have got some led's on order from the uk. not sure if they are fitted with a resister, but the are pre wired and do have the black sheef on them. if they have not, what size resister would u reccoment me using?
> 
> thanks


My guess is that they will have a resistor fitted, when you get them just pull back the black sheef to make sure. If not you will probably need a resistor of about 20 ohms, depending on your power supply. You can work it out more precisely with a resistor calculator like this one : LED Resistor Calculator

: victory:


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