I used Oak laminated ply for this project just for a nicer exterior look in the tank. The inside wood will be covered by tile and fake rocks in the future.
Really didn't take many pictures of the actual building of the tank, but I will post what I built and how it turned out.
First pic is the tank built, and the glass fitted into place
I used the table saw to run a grove on the upper and lower horizontal pieces. The Kerf of the blade was the perfect width for the glass that I bought. So thats how the glass is mounted. It slides back and fourth in the upper and lower grove.
Even though I spent more for Oak ply, I still wanted to stain it. This is the result
Basking light mounted in the next picture
This was something I ended up changing too. I originally mounted an electrical box to the top of the enclosure and then mounted a porcelain fixture on that to house the bulb. Well even with a 50w bulb I was getting temps of 109 on the floor of the enclosure. Which led me to cut a hole in the top, raise the box up out of the top, and have the porcelain fixture be flush with the inside top which caused the box to stick up about an inch. Not the best look but it's a note to make for the future.
And here it is completed with Tombo in it
You can see what I meant about the box sticking up in that last picture.
I still need to build a stand for the tank, and i'll update this thread as I do that.
All in all, I would consider this a great learning experience and I've learned a lot of things that I want to do differently in the next enclosure I build. The first being to start sooner than 1 week before getting a dragon lol.
I cut a grove into the top and bottom running boards. The kerf of my tablesaw blade was the perfect width for the thickness of the glass. So the glass slides in one "track" and they put up against each other.
Here's a few pictures for visual
I actually like this better than the track idea people have been using where the glass overlaps each other.
I really hope you let it air out for a couple of weeks before your dragon was put in it. Minwax and other stains give off fumes that can be toxic. if it still has the smell, it's not ready for use.
I really do like what you have done with it so far though.
I did. And I baked it with the lights on and installed. That's why Tombo lived in his little glass tank for the first week because the poly was still curing. FWIW I only stained the exterior, but inside and out was sealed with poly and allowed to fully cure.
My poly said it would be fully cured in 3 days. I had it in the garage sitting with lights on for over a week.
No smell.
I did. And I baked it with the lights on and installed. That's why Tombo lived in his little glass tank for the first week because the poly was still curing. FWIW I only stained the exterior, but inside and out was sealed with poly and allowed to fully cure.
My poly said it would be fully cured in 3 days. I had it in the garage sitting with lights on for over a week.
No smell.
Also, how big is the piece of glass? I wonder about the glass being heavy and how the edge feels when you move it. One solid glass piece looks splendid. Is the glass tempered?