I started building my first custom melamine enclosure. For anyone interested, it's based on HetForHuman's design. I've modified it to be 36" X 22" X 22" because that's the biggest size I could get comfortably out of one sheet. Might have gotten 23, but I wanted an inch or two of waste so theyt could square it if necessary. At this size I get one enclosure plus an extrra panel for my next enclosure. I'm using 1/4" glass instead of 1/8" because I have kids who could bang into it, so I want the extra strength.
When it's done either my corn or my bull will be moving into it. I'll make a second identical cage for the other, and stack them. The plan is castors on the bottom cage and rubber legs on the others.
I have a few observations and/or questions. The two problems I'm having working with melamine are:
1) screw not centered causing a bulge under the laminate. My pilot hole is the core diameter of the screw, and 1/2" shorter than the screw. My screws are 1 3/4" #8 flooring/particle board screws. Is there a more forgiving screw or pilot hole configuration, or do I just have to pay more attention to keeping my pilot holes plumb and centered?
2) laminate is cracking, and particle board bulging when I counter-sing the screws. I guess I could get non-counter sinking screws, or I could get a counter-sing drill bit, and drill the counter-sink angles. Anyone have this problem before?
A third question: how many screws do I need to make it secure? I've been using 4 on the 22" sides and 5 on the 36" sides, so I guess I'll have about 50-60 screws in it when I'm done.
It seems pretty secure because the design provides a lot of bracing anyway.
Hey, I thought of another question. I'm using 5 3" vents, but the hole-saw cuts cost me a bit at Rona. Is there a cheaper alternative for vents? Any bigger than 3" and it's jigsaw work, but if it's fewer holes it might end up cheaper.
Got another: any recomendations for where to buy plate glass in Ottawa?
Oh, I found a cheap-ish dual thermometer/hygrometer with min/max memory. It's at home outfitters in Kanata for 30 bucks
rg
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