chuck21570
Member
So I did another thread telling the story as I went, but figured I would do another one giving the details of the my build after the fact for those who might like to see but didn’t follow along with my other thread.
some of the technical details:
1. 56 inches wide by 23 inches deep. I know a little smaller than ideal, but best I could do. I think it is ok.
2. front wall is 9 inches high, side walls 10 inches, and the back part of the wall that hold the board the lights are on is 18 inches high. With the substrate in the enclosure and the routed out holes height for the lights, that puts the lights exactly 12 inches over the little guy, which I believe is where we want them to be.
3. Plexiglass opening is 31 inches long and 6 inches high.
4. Materials all bought at Lowe’s, and the wood for the front and sides is 3/4 inch white wood, which I believe can be made of different types of wood, but normally pine or fir. Floor and back wall are oak plywood.
5. Waterproofed with pond shield and GE 1 silicone.
6. Took about 8 hours in total to build.
So, some of the “unique” features I did:
I don’t like the look or safety of clamp lamps and lamps just all over the place, so I have mine across the top of the enclosure on a piece of the white wood. I bore out holes in the wood for the light to shine through, and used a router so the light fixtures could sit in the wood a bit, making sure more light got into the enclosure, and so the light Fixtures didn’t fall through the holes, and making them less likely to get knocked off by just sitting on top of the wood. A couple of pics of what I mean:
I also build the hide with a roof on a hinge for easy access for cleaning / adding moisture:
lastly, for the plexiglass, I screwed in the plexiglass beteeen the front wall, and a piece of plywood behind it, to keep it nice and secure.
some pics of the final product with the little guy in it. He seems happy and seems to have adjusted well to his new spot. Let me know what you think.
some of the technical details:
1. 56 inches wide by 23 inches deep. I know a little smaller than ideal, but best I could do. I think it is ok.
2. front wall is 9 inches high, side walls 10 inches, and the back part of the wall that hold the board the lights are on is 18 inches high. With the substrate in the enclosure and the routed out holes height for the lights, that puts the lights exactly 12 inches over the little guy, which I believe is where we want them to be.
3. Plexiglass opening is 31 inches long and 6 inches high.
4. Materials all bought at Lowe’s, and the wood for the front and sides is 3/4 inch white wood, which I believe can be made of different types of wood, but normally pine or fir. Floor and back wall are oak plywood.
5. Waterproofed with pond shield and GE 1 silicone.
6. Took about 8 hours in total to build.
So, some of the “unique” features I did:
I don’t like the look or safety of clamp lamps and lamps just all over the place, so I have mine across the top of the enclosure on a piece of the white wood. I bore out holes in the wood for the light to shine through, and used a router so the light fixtures could sit in the wood a bit, making sure more light got into the enclosure, and so the light Fixtures didn’t fall through the holes, and making them less likely to get knocked off by just sitting on top of the wood. A couple of pics of what I mean:
I also build the hide with a roof on a hinge for easy access for cleaning / adding moisture:
lastly, for the plexiglass, I screwed in the plexiglass beteeen the front wall, and a piece of plywood behind it, to keep it nice and secure.
some pics of the final product with the little guy in it. He seems happy and seems to have adjusted well to his new spot. Let me know what you think.
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