Cage build, DIY tips and tricks!

[krazypara3165]

Morning all!

Last night I started my cage build...... This thread is not an all inclusive "how to" but more of how I have done things (right and wrong) so we can learn from my mistakes, and get a rough idea of the process of building a cage. for the record the limitations of my wood working skills are building planters and that's about it! so consider me pretty much a novice!

I welcome all critique (good and bad) and welcome anyone chiming in with better practices!

I will also include parts and costs and best places for materials (UK only)

So we begin!

Here is a rough design of what I was looking to create:



I started with with working out the costs!

Plywood £50
Additional timber £10
Glass £50
Glass runners £10
Metal strip £10
Metal edging strip £10
Vinyl £10
Mesh £10

Total £160

I then started my meticulous planning. someone has always told me with timber, measure twice, cut once. Sadly, The measurements I had started with were wrong to begin with!

My cage dimensions are just under the recommended size, the reason being is a combination of the space that the cage is going into and partly because any larger and I would have to spend Another £25 on timber which would leave a lot of waste.



The wood I chose was Wickes 18x1220x2440 spruce structural plywood.

www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Structural-Spruce-Plywood-18x1220x2440mm/p/110036

I chose this as its easy to cut and looks a lot better than most plywood it also stains and take paint rather well. Downsides are it is softwood (so easier to chew) but any plywood that is more than 12mm thick should do.

On a bit of a side note I have table mitre saw, whilst its great, its useless for this. I treated myself to a handheld circular saw from B and Q £40 and it does a great job www.diy.com/departments/mac-allister-1200w-165mm-circular-saw-mscs1200/592966_BQ.prd

So then I had to work out the cuts.... I have 2 sheets of wood 1220x2440mm.

The first one was cut into the two sides (each side was 1500x600) and the two floors (originally 900x600 but later reduced the width by 36mm more on this later!) That near enough used the first board with very little waste.

The second board was more complex. I cut the back wall (1550x900) and the two 3/4 shelves (400x900) this has left me with a few cuts that I will use as an unplanned second shelf for the top compartment or I will change the design for the top (so far I'm planning on just throwing a sheet of mesh over the top but Ill see how it goes.)

MISTAKE NUMBER 1!

The walls and back should of been built on top of the base. Instead they were screwed to the side this meant I cannot put the cage on casters as because the walls and back are screwed into the ply base it would split and fall apart under the weight.

MISTAKE NUMBER 2

If I screw the panels onto the side of the base it meant that the back panel was now 36mm too short at the sides!

MISTAKE NUMBER 3

To rectify the above issue I removed 36mm from the with of all the floors and shelfs - job done I thought..... It did work but there was a better way....

WHAT I SHOULD OF DONE....

I should of trimmed the width of the two side panels by 36mm therefore the walls and the rear could of been built up on top of the base rather than screwed into the sides!

(the base issue will be rectified with additional support and casters at a later date)

So far this is where I am....



I need to cut out the 'hatch' in the shelves and fit them in and drill a hatch into the middle floor but I am leaving this until I can find a suitable way of closing the gap as for emergencies I want to be able to split the sections.

More updates to come in the following weeks!

[moletteuk]

Brilliant! I'm sure this will be really helpful for other people! I hope it's OK how much I laughed at the way you described the mistakes! You've really highlighted that the trickiest part of a cage build is visualising the connections and overlaps and taking account of this before you cut.

I've actually made some notes and costings for a 'standard' wooden cage design, but I've never got round to drawing it up for the forum, partly because I was finding it difficult visualising the overlaps purely on paper, and partly because I don't know how to produce lovely sketches like you have on computer.

If it's just for emergencies, I would just cut a piece of wood (or metal) a bit bigger than the hatch and screw it on underneath. If it ended up longer term, I might cover the hole above and below so they don't just chew the hole bigger to get through. If you think it might be useful more regularly, like for cleanouts, maybe you could fit some brackets to make runners you can slide a piece of wood into, or put a piece of wood on hinges that you can hook into position.

Looking good!

[krazypara3165]

I knew I had gone wrong somewhere and I asked Sarah to go over it with me and even she couldnt see the issue... it was only the night after cutting the wood we were in bed and I sat up in the middle of the night and sarah asked whats up, which was when I realised what was wrong and explained it to her. she found it hilarious! I keep haveing Eureka moments only realising that each time its too late to implement lol.

John hopewell sells the hatches and it works around £8 including delivery but Im thinking of a similar idea to what you suggested.... Maybe a square metal sheet nailed in on one corner so I can swing it over the hole when needed.

[Bexi87]

One of the things I have a come across with my cage since I built it is that the walls move when I move the cage, which puts the runners out of line and causes the doors to sometimes stick.

I used shelf supports to put my shelves on, now I wish I had screwed batons across the length/width of the cage at each level to keep it sturdy.

[krazypara3165]

I decided the wood was thick enough so just screwed the shelves directly into the sides. so far it can easily support my weight and the whole thing is solid enough.... and thats before I even add the other 2-3 shelves in.

[krazypara3165]

So I did a little more work on the cage last night,

I originally planned on getting some vinyl cut to size to layer over the floors but at £6.99 PSM I would of at least needed three and then the glue to bond it. I found packs of 6 30x30 cm floor tiles from B and M which I thought I would try and for 1.99 a pack I thought I would give it a go! www.bmstores.co.uk/products/grey-slate-vinyl-tiles-275656

This is the coverage from one pack. ill probably need another 3 but they are easy to work with and although the pictures don't show it well its near enough seamless if done well.



I will be putting metal banding on the sides at the top to prevent the goos peeling it off.
www.screwfix.com/p/sabrefix-builders-band-galvanised-dx275-20-x-9600mm/38619?kpid=38619&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&cm_mmc=Google-_-Shopping%20-%20Building-_-Shopping%20-%20Building&gclid=CIyynLW4nsgCFcN92wodv0ILvQ&kpid=38619

I've also found out a good metal for the pop hatch,
www.toolstation.com/shop/p82631
The plan is to use that to cover the hole and place some screws either side of it with the heads just protruding the metal so it can be slid over when needed (if that makes sense)

No further work planned until Thursday but will update further on Friday morning

[deguconvert]

I think that looks great! Well done! I look forward to hearing how well it works for you.

[krazypara3165]

It was a 13 hour shift in work yesterday so by the time I got home it was too late to use power tools. I managed to finish off tiling the floor - realised a metal ruler was perfect to use as a straight edge when cutting tiles with the stanley knife!



I also managed to pick up some bits on my dinner. I've been looking at getting some angled metal strip for the edges, this varies considerably in price but i found for single strips wickes was the cheapest at around £6.50 per strip (around 4ft) However Screwfix sell some for 17.99 for a pack of 5 www.screwfix.com/p/stormguard-angles-aluminium-19-x-1219-x-19mm-pack-of-5/21869 that works out at around £3.60 per strip.



And to top it off it fits 18mm ply perfectly!!



I also treated myself to two LED strip lights off eBay. These worked out at £9 for the pair (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-10pcs-50cm-5630-WHITE-DC12VAluminium-Waterproof-Aquarium-LED-Rigid-Strip-Bar-/151801181771?var=&hash=item23580e364b) and require a AC/DC adaptor. To be honest I was not expecting much but they arrived yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised!!



They are in aluminium casing and appear to be of a high quality! they are even waterproof (not that its required)



They give off a great amount of light too!



this is in a dark room with one bar placed at the top front of the lower compartment, Pretty much perfect I think! (excuse the mess!!)



Ordered the glass today, £35 for four sheets of 720x450mm glass which is cheaper than I expected. going to order some runners tonight too.

Only doing ten hours today so should be back home in time to cut some more timber and metal sheets. I'm hoping to get the two shelves cut and in, vinyled, and start on the metal edging hopefully breaking the back of the project!

[deguconvert]

LOOKING SUPER!! Are you putting the tile on the bottom level as well?

[moletteuk]

All looks good

Your connecting hole in the middle shelf looks small, although it depends what method of routeway you are going to use?

[krazypara3165]

The bottom layer is my temporary cutting board..... I'll tile that once I've done the other two levels

I agree, the pop hole is a little on the small side, it's bigger than the pop holle in the JH cage that they can use with no issues. I'm going to try and make it larger but it needs to be smaller than the sheet of metal I have to cover it.

[ryanj]

This is really inspiring me to get started on our new cage for the girls!

Looks good - I agree the hole looks a little small but if they're having no problem at the moment in the other than you should be ok.

I look forward to seeing the finished piece!

By the way does anyone know if lighting is a must in the home-built cage? We're probably going to have mesh on the front and parts of the side panels so we're hoping this will let enough light through!

krazypara3165 I'm highjacking your thread to ask questions - I am sorry!

[krazypara3165]

I'm glad it's inspiring! and feel free to hijack, it's what I wanted to happen with this thread!

I enlarged the hole by 15mm and edged it with the angle. I also drilled two holes each side and put in 4 screws. The sheet of metal can now be slid in between to close the gap.

tried putting the banding around the top of the laminate but found out you cannot cut it with a mitre saw, it wraps around the blade!! A quick Google shows I need tin snips. I'll pick up a pair over the weekend, as they will come in handy for cutting the mesh anyway.

[krazypara3165]

So, I've been busy this weekend. Finished off the floor by enlarging the hole further and fitting the angle. I then managed to fit the anti chew strip.

I also managed to do another floor and kit that out!









I'll hopefully get another floor done tonight and the base. Glass and runners have been ordered too so they should be in by the end of the week. That just leaves the mesh top to be fitted and possibly another shelf..... Ill see how it goes!

[moletteuk]

Looks great You've certainly been thorough with the edging

I think you could definitely fit more shelves in, or a massive hammock or hanging basket, or some small shelves, or some really big branches - you could fit those as ramps and hang out/ chew items. Our cage has the full shelf, half shelf repeated layout and they don't tend to hang out on the half shelves so much, they like to be at the front of the cage so they can see out better. Ours love their 'cosy cube' shelf deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16376/cosy-cube-shelf

[Bexi87]

Wow! That looks amazing - can't wait to see it finished

[krazypara3165]

Cheers everyone its getting to the more enjoyable stages now! Im still undecided with another full length shelf above the one that's in but Ill decide once ive secured the top.

That said, I'm planning on getting a load of pine and building 'towers' to get from one level to the next. Going to make a load of mini shelves too.

[deguconvert]

It looks amazing! I am really interested in learning how the tile works for cleaning and controling urine odors. I expect it will work very well. It sure looks great. Beautiful work!

[krazypara3165]

Oct 5, 2015 14:47:55 GMT deguconvert said:

It looks amazing! I am really interested in learning how the tile works for cleaning and controling urine odors. I expect it will work very well. It sure looks great. Beautiful work!

I'm interested to learn myself!

The main issues ill have is if they manage to find any minor imperfections to rip the tiles up but it should be easy to repair with a stanley blade and a spare tile.

I've also not put 'lips' on the shelves...... only time will tell if that was a good idea or not. the idea behind it is to make cleaning easier. Hold a bag and simply swipe the sawdust into it.

[deguconvert]

Though I can understand your reason for doing that, I think you will find that more of your substrate will just end up at the bottom, or outside of the cage, because of how easy it will be to kick around and out. I guess trying it out to see if you like it better or hate it is the best way to go for now. If you hate it . . . perhaps a lip that is attached to the bottom of the tier using a piano hinge, and locked into place to keep it up, unlocked to let it flop down for cleaning, might work?