Another DIY Enclosure

[oOLaurenOo]

Ok this is what I started with. Scored it for FREE! The top half lifts up, and the glass also slides up which is good because its pretty deep. Unfortunately the glass is heavy so its difficult to lift it up. I am going to turn it into three enclosures. A large one at the bottom for my woma python and two smaller ones at the top for some beardies. I am thinking of putting two side doors in the bottom enclosure so you can access it without having to lift the glass.

I went to bunnings and picked up a piece of ply wood, It cost my $15, and they cut it for a dollar a cut, which was awesome because I need a new blade for my circular saw, and that would have cost me a lot more then four bucks!!

The pieces fit perfectly (Thank god) So it was just a matter of putting them in place and screwing it all together.





Da dar!!!! I used some no more gaps to fill in all the edges, now I just have to sand it back, cut the holes for the vents, and the doors and paint it and I'll be ready to put in the light fittings.

 

[Dutchy88]

Good quick job mate how big are those top ones are they big enough for beardies? Also how ya gunna mount the lighting considering the top lifts up?

 

[Gruni]

Looking good so far, what are the demensions of the unit? It doesn't look all that deep.

 

[oOLaurenOo]

Its 1730 long, 500 deep and 1000 high, Now those are the measurements from inside the cabinet (I was measuring for shelves) so technically its a little bigger then that. When I say deep, I mean its a long way to reach from the top down to the bottom lol. So the top enclosures are 856 long by 500 wide, and the bottom enclosure is 1730 long by 500 high. I have quite a few juvenile beardies, they should be plenty big enough for a couple of young ones. As for mounting the lighting, only the front half lifts up, so I shouldn't have any trouble mounting the lights to the back half.

 

[Gruni]

It's just the proportions, it didn't look like 500 deep to me when looking at the pics. That is a good size cabinet.

 

[J-A-X]

I'd suggest some sort of midway support in the bottom one. Either set back from the front edge or on the edge and have 4 sliding glass panels.
Without a support it will bow eventually !

 

[oOLaurenOo]

Yea its a lot bigger then it looks! I was surprised when I went to pick it up. - JaxRtfm yea I was thinking about a how to solve that problem- I really don't want to put a support on the bottom enclosure, I like the uninterrupted view. And as for the glass sliding doors, I was considering getting the big piece of glass cut, and making it so it had sliding doors but I decided not to. I have left it as one big sheet. As for the bowing problem. I have fixed the top centre divider very well to the middle shelf, back wall, and the back part of the top (The part thats fixed) I am thinking this will work as a reverse bracket and should hold the shelf up and prevent it from bowing. The wood is also quite sturdy and should be less prone to bow.