You need to check out the long sterilites for your big dudes. Their like 24" and $7. The clarity isn't great but their practical and stackable lol. All my pamphos and phormics will be going into that eventually. For now they are in the size below. Same length as the shoeboxes but wider.
dang !! Cheap !!
If you have one near you Home Goods has some pretty cool containers that would probably make decent enclosures as well. Pretty good prices too.
Theres a market for cheap clear enclosures that you can add ventilation to. Clear bins, clear mainstay types. Go all the way up to 2gal+ but taller. Increase the durability a bit to make them last. Not even acrylic or magnetic closing. Either twist caps or clips. I've yet to see anyone go after this. If I were a millionaire I'd make prototypes.
I'm sure as hobbyists many of us come up with ideas that would make for great products but we just don't have the resources to make them work. I applaud those who do.
a bit steep, but depending on how they are building them costs start to add up. If they are doing them via CNC then an entirely new cut file has to be created, and the parts need to be ganged onto a sheet. A whole sheet will most likely need to be used as their other sizes are already ganged to maximize yield, minimize waste. So you are essentially buying an entire sheet of material and the cutting time to do it. So generally that's a $50 to $75 cutting feel plus material. If it is high grade ACR you are talking $90 a sheet, so $50 plus $90 is $140. Then $10 to lay out the new cage.
Nice post Matt, do you build cages
Good explanation of possibilities. It also explains why custom cages are so expensive. I've always said custom cages are way to expensive...and they are worth every penny.
I am mostly in retail display and fine art graphics. I work with the materials daily so I am quite aware of all the factors going in. I used to build cages in my spare time, but gluing is a pain and impossible to compete price wise with Asia. I make replacement lids for glass terrariums and ExoTerras and will move on to ZooMeds next. I do those mostly for myself, and friends but sell some @ shows as well. Yes, all this stuff gets cut on CNC tables by mfrs like Zund, Kongsberg, AXYZ, Coles etc.... if you search some of my posts I have photos and videos of the process. You can cut an entire 4'x 8' sheet worth of parts, including ventilation holes in a matter of minutes. Again, gluing is the worst part, lots of loss due to glue leaks / imperfections. That's why you see many new acrylic pieces that are slot and tab construction. Eliminates gluing (so reduced labor costs and reduced losses during fabrication), Ships flat (money saving) and less product damaged in transport. They are even shipping the parts with the protective liner still on (gets removed for glueing) so less scratches as well. Last, the tolerances are less tight with tab and slot so you can use lower grades of Acrylic like cast, versus extruded. This is an example of my actual day gig. Those are photographs face mounted to Acrylic with a PVC backer and wall mounts. One done as a normal triptych photo(rectangles) the other 2 cut into the Logo and Logotype of the CompanyNice post Matt, do you build cages
I understand the maximizing space thing so I can see where making it wider could possibly create more waste. That would definitely be something to think about if making a new line. Its the main reason I suppose that certain dimensions are always standard. My request wouldn't have done that though. 1 cut off the end as far I I was aware. They never explained why it was so much. The CNC thing I never thought of I don't think they were using it because you could see saw marks on the cut ends but I guess I've never seen anything done with CNC so I don't know. I have designed my own cages on occasion but never followed through simply because I don't have the place or the equipment to build them.
I saw these on sale and picked one up. I like it so far. To answer your question, the rivets are just tiny versions of trim panel clips/pushpins you see in cars. From what I've seen in my line of work, those take years of heat cycles near and engine to get brittle and start breaking, so I'd imagine these should hold up fairly well in an average home.
Thanks- but can you remove them without damage easily or it’s a pain. Some of those plastic push pins in cars suck, I’ve worked with some too hah. I often move and have to knock things down for shipping.
Was wondering about the tab/slot! I knew it would be cheaper on shipping, interesting on the rest you wrote.
Gluing ACR cleanly is a labor intensive process. The glue is really thin, dries quick and wants to run. When it runs it leaves a cloudy residue. So it doesn't suffer fools so you need people with a certain skill set to be good at it.
It is, I researched it quite a bit, but decided against it. This was back when DIY acrylic was much bigger than it is now.
the one issue with slot and tab is you have lost a structural element (the glue joint) in combating warp, and with cheaper cast acrylic it will become an issue
Yep I know- nothing is perfect. That's why I prefer glass, I have acrylic too, but prefer glass for cleaning purposes, and 2 way access with ExoTerra.
Agreed. which is why I just make replacement lids for Glass tanks (Creative Habitat) and ExoTerra and am prototyping/ will be prototyping Zillas and ZooMed
I saw a frogger make replacement lids for ExoTerra using 3D printing. Someone had them up here, sounded good, seemed OK, the narrow top venting seemed ripe for tarsal claw cluster crap, but the owner of the lid said it's not as bad as it looks. Seemed to be the case w/some pics he sent me long time ago.
I'm sure it wouldn't be a challenge to find replacement rivets then. That's cool
I would imagine they would be fairly easy to remove without damage. the ones in cars are exposed to so many heat cycles that they become brittle. I don't see that being an issue in a terrarium.