Do you Purchase or make your own enclosures?

[Zebo777]

Very good thread awesome enclosures warpig

 

[WARPIG]

After I cut the Acrylic, what could I use to make the edges smooth?

I used a saw blade made for cutting plastic and the edges are fairly smooth. However you can use a Mapp plumers torch (NOT a propane torch) to polish the edges of the acrylic once the enclosure is adhered together.

PIG-

 

[Zebo777]

I guess a sander would scratch em up?

 

[WARPIG]

I guess a sander would scratch em up?

The idea for a truly pro finish is to get a glass edge finish, the only way to do that w/ acrylic is to burnish the edge, only Mapp gas will give a glass like finish.

I did not do this to my enclosures. I bought a high quality plastic cutting blade, I think its 90 teeth (the more teeth the smoother the edge) put it on my table saw, and was pleased with the result.

I have heard (never tried) cutting the acrylic w/ a router, It may work well!!!???

If your going this route, and do not have power tools, its better to have the acrylic co. cut the sheet for you.

PIG-

 

[Zebo777]

I got a table saw with a finishing blade for wood also have a router table gonna have to start experimenting

 

[vvx]

Yes, you can sand them. Make sure to use a nice flat block as you want very straight edges so that the acrylic cement works best.

Seems to me that you do not want to flame polish the edges that will be glued. Can't remember where I read that though. But as long as it's flat any tool marks left on those edges will be hidden anyway. The other edges that won't be glued though could certainly be flame polished. I would sand them first and then flame polish them unless you're using either a router to smooth the edges (supposedly the smoothest edges are made with a router, well, other than a laser) or a special blade for a saw.

And it should go without saying, don't take the paper off the acrylic til you're done cutting/sanding the edges.

-- Good site detailing a lot of different processes when working with acrylic. I might try some new stuff from here. http://www.custompc.co.uk/blogs/syrillian/

 

[WARPIG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oDNkMMaDnM&feature=player_embedded

This is how you flame burnish the edges. This would be done when the enclosures are adhered together.

PIG-

 

[JimM]

If you try to clone tarantulacages style cages the cost savings are not significant.

I have to disagree...last time I checked, 25 was still less than 75.
Don't get me wrong, his cages look fantastic, but if you're handy with that sort of thing you can build them for significantly less.

I'll be building and marketing an enclosure of my own, but I'll be the first to say that if you have the tools and ability you can build them
yourself for less. That's more or less always the case.

 

[dougle]

dougle

I totally agree I think Adam has great cages but I now cant just see myself paying large amounts of money to house my T collection ,espicially when the cages are more than the Ts ,thats kind of backwards I think when you want to have the huge collection that I am slowly building ,I may still go ahead and purchase a few though because they are nice.

 

[vvx]

I have to disagree...last time I checked, 25 was still less than 75.
Don't get me wrong, his cages look fantastic, but if you're handy with that sort of thing you can build them for significantly less.

I'll be building and marketing an enclosure of my own, but I'll be the first to say that if you have the tools and ability you can build them
yourself for less. That's more or less always the case.

$25 is less than $75. But I haven't seen anyone able to price out the mats to make an 8x8x16 cage (their $75 model) made out of acrylic with 7 2" aluminum vents for $25.

I have seen someone make 6x6x12 cages w/out vents, but that's more comparable to the $40 cage, but without the aluminum vents.

There is a possible savings no question about it, but it really depends on what tools you already have and how cheaply you can get the materials as well as the quantity you're going to build. I encourage everyone to consider that and to price things out before making a decision.

(Incidentally, if anyone is able to make a "clone" (meaning the same in every way) to the $75 cage for only $25 I'd love to know your sources for mats.)

 

[JimM]

For starters

http://www.mflouver.com/ps_round_aluminum_louvers_2.asp

Acrylic is inexpensive enough if you stay away from Tap Plastics.

 

[vvx]

They don't even list prices, or sell them from that website? Is that supposed to prove anything other than companies make vents? Yeah, I'd hope so, I don't see tarantulacages.com running an aluminum factory.

 

[scottyk]

The vents can be had starting at $5.75 per dozen here....

http://www.bestlouver.com/product_info.php?products_id=28&osCsid=49b9df845233c89ff62d1b47ca0510d4

 

[JimM]

They don't even list prices, or sell them from that website? Is that supposed to prove anything other than companies make vents? Yeah, I'd hope so, I don't see tarantulacages.com running an aluminum factory.

Umm...what? Why the defensive tone?

2" vents are approx $1.00 ea, or $12.20 per dozen
An 8x8x16 case uses approx $10.00 - $12.00 worth of acrylic (3/8")

The math is not difficult.
I'm not bagging on Tarantulacates.com, I think he does an amazing job, and good on him for doing his thing and making a buck. I hope he's at it for a long time. That being said, yes you can duplicate those cages for significantly less if you have a few basic skills and the appropriate tools...period.

 

[JimM]

The vents can be had starting at $5.75 per dozen here....

http://www.bestlouver.com/product_info.php?products_id=28&osCsid=49b9df845233c89ff62d1b47ca0510d4

I checked them too, for a 2" screen louvre I think they ended up being slightly more, but still cheap.

 

[vvx]

That's the source I use.

However, you linked the RLS series. Those are bladed vents, they work better in places where you don't want water getting in. For use in cages, you want the LD series. They start at $8/dozen, but that's for a 1" vent. If you want a 2" vent, they start at $15.25/dozen (you can pay more for other colors.) You'll also pay shipping. If you were to buy only 1 dozen, it would cost you a total of $26.92. That comes out to $2.24 per vent.

Now you can of course get that price lower by purchasing higher quantity, as the shipping cost would be divided among more units. This is one reason why the quantity of cages you plan to build is a factor in price. If you only wanted to build 1 cage clone of a tarantulacages.com cage you'll pay out $26.92 (unless you find a different source.) If you built 10, you'll pay less per cage due to shipping costs being divided over the 10 cages.

 

[scottyk]

The 2" bladed ones work fine and are $6 per dozen. I paid about $1.25 each with shipping the last time I ordered.

Keep in mind that I am also not saying that the price for what you get at TC.com is not good. I'm not paying for the LD series just to pop it into a Micheals cube. I buy these for the better ventilation, not to make super high end cages...

 

[vvx]

Umm...what? Why the defensive tone?

2" vents are approx $1.00 ea, or $12.20 per dozen
An 8x8x16 case uses approx $10.00 - $12.00 worth of acrylic (3/8")

The math is not difficult.
I'm not bagging on Tarantulacates.com, I think he does an amazing job, and good on him for doing his thing and making a buck. I hope he's at it for a long time. That being said, yes you can duplicate those cages for significantly less if you have a few basic skills and the appropriate tools...period.

Not defensive, well, sort of. As someone who does build their own enclosures I try to put people on the spot when they make bold claims because if those claims are true, I can cut my costs and save myself money. I'm just selfish.

So to that end, I'd love to know where you found 2" mesh louvers for $1. I tried all the hard ware stores within 20 or so miles of here and couldn't even find one that carried mesh louvers. As far as $12 for the acrylic, let's figure out how much a sheet would need to cost to meet that price. 8x8x16 is 4.444 square feet of surface area. A sheet of 4x8 is 32 square feet. So that would be enough to build 7.2 cages. So an 4x8 sheet of 3/8" acrylic costs $72 - $86.4. That's a fantastic deal, one I don't believe exists. Especially at 3/8". I'd go with 3/16" inch and even then that's still a great price. I've only been able to find a 4x8 sheet of 3/16" for $150-$160.

Camano Island is driving distance for me. I'll drive out there to buy my acrylic I think. Where should I go?

 

[vvx]

The 2" bladed ones work fine and are $6 per dozen. I paid about $1.25 each with shipping the last time I ordered.

Keep in mind that I am also not saying that the price for what you get at TC.com is not good. I'm not paying for the LD series just to pop it into a Micheals cube. I buy these for the better ventilation, not to make super high end cages...

Well, even if you use the bladed ones, they are not $6 per dozen of 2". They are $6 per dozen of 1". Remember, I'm questioning that a "clone" can be made of a tarantulacages $75 cage for $25. Using bladed instead of vented vents is bad enough, using vents 1/2 the size (1/4 the ventilation) is just .. cheating? It would be better to use the price of the 2" vents. That's $6 + $6 to upgrade to 2" or $12/dozen. Not including shipping.

 

[JimM]

The 2" RS -100 screened Louvre here are
http://www.mflouver.com/ps_round_aluminum_louvers_2.asp

$12.20 per dozen.
For larger enclosures I'm actually eyeballing the The RS-100 3” @ 17.56 per dozen.

You don't need seven 2" vents on an 8x8x16 cage. 4 or 5 would do the job nicely.
For a 12x12x18 I'm thinking 5, 3" vents, but 4 would be sufficient.