Lucifer's enclosure

[cduncan26]

so i started working on the little guys enclosure lastnight... this is honestly the first time i have ever built anything. and i was terrified i would waste money on purchasing all the materials only to screw it all up... the melamine i got from home depot had a gash in it... which will be the bottom back piece. so you won't see it... a few of the screws i screwed in alittle to deep and cracked the melamine around the screw... i'll probably patch those up with caulk once its all finished... other than that its not really turning out to be that hard. so this is the start of my enclosure for the little guy.

i'll also note that i live in Kansas. and well, the huge field fires from Oklahoma kicked in a bunch of ash and dust with all the wind. so, my garage now looks like a dust bowl... hoping to have the rest of it done minus the plexiglass by the end of the weekend

 

[Rampagingraptor]

Looking good so far! I wouldn't worry about some of the damage you have done so far as long as it doesn't compromise the integrity of the enclosure, which by the sounds of it does not. I did kind of the same thing, in that we screwed in a few too deep and made some cracks, but its been doing fine so far. Here is a few pictures of mine if you are curious.

Honestly, the only hard parts about making the enclosure is cutting out the glass. You have to be extra careful with that, and if you pick the right thickness glass, it will take a while to cut through it by hand. Just have to be patient with that part.

 

[cduncan26]

your build looks GREAT! im just going with the circle vents, i decided to not go with the side vents at all... i am trying to figure out a way to cut the plexiglass... going to see if home depot can do that for me.. lol

 

[Rampagingraptor]

Thanks!
Took me about 3 weekends to make it with my dad's help.
I tried getting it cut by them too. They wouldn't for me, and they don't as far as I know.
Unfortunately, every way I know of cutting Plexiglass you have to do by hand. It is REALLY tedious.
Here is a link of how to do it. http://www.wikihow.com/Cut-Plexiglass
Took pretty much all the same steps as we did to cut it.
Edit: By the way, it is incredibly heavy, so I highly suggest getting handles on the side.

 

[cduncan26]

Ive been calling around to a few places... found a plastics business in town who will cut the plexiglass. up to 5 pieces for 20 bucks. but couldn't tell me if i could provide my own or if i had to purchase the plexiglass from them... im waiting until i get my measurments and will call them back next week

 

[Rampagingraptor]

That sounds great!
Keep in mind that you can get a piece that is a little larger than the space it will go in because then you can cut it in half and have even doors. Don't forget you want it at a decent thickness, too, so that you won't have to worry about it breaking or cracking.

 

[cduncan26]

the track i purchase says it will use a 1/4 thick piece...the pieces i have found at home depot are .220... which is pretty close to 1/4 i believe

 

[Rampagingraptor]

Yeah, I have almost exactly the same thickness. That should work perfectly.

 

[cduncan26]

i haven't measured the opening just yet... but going by the pieces cut for the project, i think a 19X48 would work...

 

[cduncan26]

i plan on adding the track first obviously, should i still go my the measurements without the track, or do i need to measure it with the track in place?

 

[Rampagingraptor]

What's the dimensions of your wood pieces?

 

[cduncan26]

its a 4x2x2.

top and a bottom to 24x48
sides to 24x24
back 46 1/2x24
i also added a piece at the top and bottom for the track to sit on
top piece is 2x46 1/2
bottom 3x46 1/2

so the sheet of plexiglass should be alittle longer than 46 1/2. im thinking a sheet with the length of 48 would work. especially since they seem to come in that length already. and the height i am doing simple math here.. 24 - 5 in = 19... so 19x48 or am i not looking at this correctly? as i have stated, this is my first time building anything... if i had just gone to shop class instead of skipping to go smoke pot and skateboard....

 

[Rampagingraptor]

Get a 24" by 48", then. It will have to be cut twice, but that will be the size you will find, it will provide ample room to cut it height wise, and the width will be perfect as that will be cut in half anyways to fit the door and provide decent length for sliding while still closing the opening.

 

[cduncan26]

so am i right by thinking it will be 19" high?

 

[Rampagingraptor]

How big are the wood pieces that are holding it in place?