Building Crossfire-inspired viv, question about doors

[causeascene203]

I'm running out of surface area to put vivs, so I've decided I'm going to make a 3 tier stacked Crossfire. I know a lot of you have made vivs inspired by the Crossfire design. I'm assuming most of you have used Plexi-glass for the front.

For anyone who has one of those crazy, hormonal, active male beardies who want to get at everything they see, do you have a problem with the Plexi-glass scratching up from their nails? I can only imagine that Bones and Zero are both going to destroy their doors in a matter of days.

Who's used Plexi-glass and who's used glass for the doors, and which is better?

(And WHERE ON EARTH am I supposed to find those tracks? I swear they don't exist. The guys at the store just looked at me like I was nuts when I asked for them.)

 

[foolsgold]

Check here, if you don't want to pay shipping there may be a store close to you (I got lucky on this one) http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2275&cookietest=1
More expensive but (imo) better (I'm going to use that on any tanks I build after this one.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=127&cookietest=1
DoItBest also has a lot of stores around the US.
http://doitbest.com/Sliding+door+hardware-Knape+and+Vogt-model-P2417TAN48-doitbest-sku-224037.dib

I think that should help you to get you started. Also if you don't like any of those when you go to Lowe's go to the glass section and they have SINGLE channel track, you would have to buy a TOTAL of 4 of these (two top two bottom), screw them in and then I would run some silicon across the bottom so that the screw heads don't hang up the plexi/glass.

 

[ronni1221]

You can only find the tracks online. Some people have said that they've gotten them from local hardware stores, which is certainly possible, but I have called dozens of hardware stores around my area and no one has them. You're better off getting them online. Doitbest will ship them for free to a local Doitbest hardware store in your area.

I'm not sure if the claws scratch the plexiglass, but I'm almost finished with my enclosure and I've definitely thought about that. I'm afraid Brutus will scratch the heck out of it while glass-dancing. However, plexiglass is sold in different grades- some being stronger and less scratch-resistant. Check out your local Lowes or Home Depot to see the differences.

 

[KUdragonGirl]

I wish i could be helpful when it comes to answering your question....but sadly I have no idea.....I am really interested in seeing your "stacked" tanks when they're done. I"m just in the first stages of planning my design. How much space did you leave between tanks to stop the bottom ones from overheating the top ones??

 

[foolsgold]

There are local DoItBest and Rockler stores in my area that I have called and they DID have the tracks in stock. I would suggest seeing if there are any of those stores in your area that have them in stock.

 

[acer]

http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/2008_Master/lg_display.cfm?page_number=27
I bought from this company about a year ago. I actually bought over 100ft, but if I remember correctly they told me they would sell any amount. The pieces come in 12ft lengths and they can only ship 8ft long by ups so I had them rough cut each piece at the 8ft mark, giving me an 8ft and 4ft out of each piece. As for the claws scratching the plexi... it will, to say the least. I used plexi for the bottom cages in this pic and for my large iguana cage and they look terrible. You can see if you look close at the bottoms of the doors that they are really hazy. I have been using them for about 2 years, but they looked bad after a couple of months. I'll go take a couple of pics of the cage I used the door track on in a few minutes.

 

[acer]

Here you go. This cage uses the Outwater Plastics tracks and glass doors. This is the way I will build all of my cages from now on.

 

[causeascene203]

I'm really anal about keeping things perfect, so I'm thinking if those doors get hazy, I'm going to have to replace them. I'll probably be better off with the glass ones.
Thanks for all the advice about the tracks. The guy at Home Depot knew exactly what I was talking about, but he said that he didn't carry them. If my local hardware places don't have them, I'll order online. Thanks for all the links!


And I'll post pictures for you guys when I'm finished.

 

[fkalb]

i used plexi and havent had any problems with scrtaching

 

[causeascene203]

Well, as it turns out, it's very difficult to find panes of glass that are cut to the size that fits the Crossfire measurements. I have no idea how to cut glass, and no one around will do it for me, so plexi-glass it is, I suppose.

I'll post pictures when it's all done. Thanks again!

 

[ronni1221]

I couldn't even find glass in hardware stores around my house. Try a Lowes if there is one near you. I found glass and they had complimentary cutting.

 

[fkalb]

Yeah to cut the plexi i used a high speed multi cutter

I was thinking of making a guide to run along so it would cut perfect but didnt want to go through all the effort so I cut it free hand. It work out perfectly, Just went veerry slow 8)

 

[ronni1221]

Plexiglass is pretty easy to cut. I have a plexi-blade, just like an exact-knife. Use a straight-edge and score it several times, then snap! You can just break it at the score.

 

[causeascene203]

Ohmygosh, I hate melamine! What a nightmare to work with!

 

[ronni1221]

Ohmygosh, I hate melamine! What a nightmare to work with!

I agree, but if it's laminated, I don't think it's as bad.