Custom 4x4 Carpet Enclosure

[HoldenC]

Originally Posted by formica

I'd recommend using Plastic runners tbh, the glass movement will eventually wear away any sealant you use to protect the wood, humidity will cause rot/warpin and eventually the runners will fail - you can buy plastic runners for peanuts on ebay

Thanks for all your help, Formica. I had the damnedest time finding plastic runners. No one in town has them, not even specialty glass stores, and I couldn't find a seller from the U.S. on eBay. There is one American chain store that sells runners online, so I'll try that.

Originally Posted by LarryS

Id be interested to hear more about the plastic welding if you don't mind. What kind of welder do you use, is there a steep learning curve?

I find this part fascinating.

The build is looking great!

Thanks Larry! Welding polypropylene has to be the easiest weld there is. Basically, it's an industrial-grade thermal glue gun that melts plastic rods onto the joints of the poly. You guide the rods through an adapter head on the welder gun and slide the heated rod along the joint. The head of the welder heats the poly and the rod, melting them together.

I attached a pic of our welder. The switch for the cooling fan broke today, so we had to get creative.

[Mikoh4792]

Coming along very nicely! How will you heat it? Will you use heat tape and overhead heat?

[HoldenC]

I'm thinking one 160w RHP (12" x 43"). The floor is heavily insulated.

[LarryS]

That is looking great!


Thanks for the info on the thermal welder.

The last time I ordered plastic track it was from Rockler.

http://www.rockler.com/m/product.cfm?page=2275

[benja1]

I would use plastic runners as well. Also with plastic runners you dont have to worry about the size of the gap between the two glasses. By the way it looks awesome so fare:-)

[HoldenC]

I ordered the black plastic runners from Rockler. Good call.

[HoldenC]

Almost done. Fitting and sealing the poly liner was a nightmare, and the top of the enclosure wasn't completely square (off by 1/8-1/4"), but I think it turned out almost perfect.

I'm sanding, treating wood and installing the adjustable vent covers tomorrow. Then it's ready for python stuff.

[Terranaut]

Looks awesome. Nice job.

[pdomensis]

Really good work there. Come over to Aberdeen and build me one!

[formica]

excellent work, cant wait to see it finished i like the angled ''feet'' at the bottom, is that an air gap under the enclosure, or is that just detail on the front?



I noticed sum slight chipping between your ventilation holes, this is a common problem with plywood, you can avoid this happening in future by using a spare piece of wood, underneath the wood that is being drilled, and by putting slightly less pressure on the drill, this will stop the drill suddenly breaking thru the outer layer, causing those chips

[dbank999]

Originally Posted by formica

I noticed sum slight chipping between your ventilation holes, this is a common problem with plywood, you can avoid this happening in future by using a spare piece of wood, underneath the wood that is being drilled, and by putting slightly less pressure on the drill, this will stop the drill suddenly breaking thru the outer layer, causing those chips

^^
Great tip.

Looks good other than that

What are you doing for lighting?

[HoldenC]

Originally Posted by formica

excellent work, cant wait to see it finished i like the angled ''feet'' at the bottom, is that an air gap under the enclosure, or is that just detail on the front?

I noticed sum slight chipping between your ventilation holes, this is a common problem with plywood, you can avoid this happening in future by using a spare piece of wood, underneath the wood that is being drilled, and by putting slightly less pressure on the drill, this will stop the drill suddenly breaking thru the outer layer, causing those chips

The "feet" are just for decoration. I'm going to paint the exposed frame black for added effect.

The air holes will be covered with plastic vent covers, so you won't see the chipping. My old man got in a hurry and drilled from the inside out. But that is a good tip, Form!

Originally Posted by dbank999

^^
Great tip.

Looks good other than that

What are you doing for lighting?

I'll try to get pics up, but there's a hidden space where the three interior walls meet the ceiling. I'm running LED strips inside the gap and out the false ceiling.


Thank you all for the kind words and helpful comments. I really appreciate it!

[LarryS]

Wow,looks fantastic!
I agree on the feet, really nice. They add a furniture look to it.

What type of joinery did you use on the face frame pieces?

[HoldenC]

Nothing fancy on the joinery front, Larry; just some 90 degree cuts, wood glue and finishing nails. This project was a much more complicated and expensive than we planned, so we were ready to get it over with.

[Mikoh4792]

Is it light enough to carry by yourself?