# TV cabinet



## justin91 (Nov 25, 2012)

Finally got my hands on a nice tv cabinet today. Its about 2m's tall and weighs a far bit. Thank god it was on wheels. I haven't attempted a D.I.Y yet as I'm not the best designer. 

I was thinking of maybe removing the bottom shelf just to make it that little bit bigger. It's got cable holes in the back which is going to come in handy. I was thinking maybe trying to make a fake rock wall at the back but will have to find some guides on how to do it. 

Any opinions would be appreciated..

Justin.

Forgot to put in, its a corner TV unit.


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## Umbral (Nov 25, 2012)

If you haven't done fake rock before I would make it on some ply and fit it in once done just in case it doesn't turn out the way you had hoped.


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## justin91 (Nov 25, 2012)

Umbral said:


> If you haven't done fake rock before I would make it on some ply and fit it in once done just in case it doesn't turn out the way you had hoped.



Ah ok that's a pretty good tip actually. Thanks


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## sharky (Nov 25, 2012)

What are you putting in it? If I got my hands on something like that I'd make the top for my spotted and the bottom half for my jungle! Looks good, can't wait to see once you've started the DIY and finished!!!!!


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## JasonMini (Nov 25, 2012)

Nice cabinet!


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## justin91 (Nov 25, 2012)

sharkyy1o5 said:


> What are you putting in it? If I got my hands on something like that I'd make the top for my spotted and the bottom half for my jungle! Looks good, can't wait to see once you've started the DIY and finished!!!!!



Yeah I was thinking maybe put my spotty up top and save for a gtp or a jungle for the bottom. Yeah hopefully have it done in a few weeks.


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## sharky (Nov 25, 2012)

cool, that sounds awesome! That's going to make a really good display case in your house


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## Coastal_Girl (Nov 25, 2012)

We use the bottom cupboard area of ours as a hide box.


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## smileysnake (Nov 25, 2012)

hey justin my cabinet exactly the same as yours i went with a bark background and the cupboard underneath has a shelf in it so i am using the top half as his hide have built a bit of a cave in there aswell hope this gives you a couple of ideas...


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## justin91 (Nov 25, 2012)

smileysnake said:


> hey justin my cabinet exactly the same as yours i went with a bark background and the cupboard underneath has a shelf in it so i am using the top half as his hide have built a bit of a cave in there aswell hope this gives you a couple of ideas...



That is amazing. It looks really good. I love the idea of making his hide in the cupboard underneath. I see you have a door on the right hand side of the enclosure so I'm guessing the whole front is glass? I was thinking of maybe putting in sliding glass that could be removed for easy access to cleaning. How much did it set you back (not including any price of the cabinet itself, just the turning into the enclosure)? And what kind of snake do you keep it in it?


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## smileysnake (Nov 26, 2012)

Gday mate its not finishe yet still need the glass think I'm going with doors on hinges rather than sliding doors made that decision after I put that door in lol I think the bark cost me about $30 lights and thermo got really cheap about $50 and I'm using sand about $15 the scull $25 cabinet $10 and I'm going to put my bredli in there when he big enough not long now


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## Zanks (Nov 26, 2012)

Looks good guys.
Have been thinking of doing one of these myself as these cabinets are everywhere in the secondhand shops.
Good starting point for people with some diy skills but not into full blown cabinetry.
Did I get all the spelling right Gruni ya .................


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## Gruni (Nov 26, 2012)

Don't really care Zanks, finished my reports today so I'm in a different frame of mind now. But thanks for the effort you went to. 

The cabinet will look awesome. I nearly got something similar for my Mac but the depth was only 400 and I want one 500-600 deep and preferably close to 1m wide. I like the idea of doing the rock background first and then screwing it inplace, I'm still deciding how I want mine to look when it's finished.


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## justin91 (Nov 26, 2012)

Smileysnake: that's pretty cheap. You definitely have to post a picture of the completed project. 

Zanks: Yeah definitely give it a go. I did woodwork and metal work through school so I have a little bit of knowledge but I'm nowhere near as good as others on here. Can only give it a go.. 

Gruni: Yeah definitely better screwing it on incase you don't like the look of it.


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## smileysnake (Nov 27, 2012)

hey justin i think i am going to leave it the way it is i dont want greenery in there as it is a desert scene so i only need to finish the cave underneath then glass then i am done what would you suggest i put in there to add to as gruni said they are not real deep so not much floor space to work with but cos smiley the bredli will be going in there he doesnt spend too long on the ground anyway....there is a hide up high with a flat top for a basking platform its on the left great camoflage job lol and his water bowl bottom left so i think i got it all covered.....


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## justin91 (Nov 27, 2012)

smileysnake said:


> hey justin i think i am going to leave it the way it is i dont want greenery in there as it is a desert scene so i only need to finish the cave underneath then glass then i am done what would you suggest i put in there to add to as gruni said they are not real deep so not much floor space to work with but cos smiley the bredli will be going in there he doesnt spend too long on the ground anyway....there is a hide up high with a flat top for a basking platform its on the left great camoflage job lol and his water bowl bottom left so i think i got it all covered.....



Yeah definitely no greenary. In my opinion I think you have it pretty much covered. You've definitely given me some ideas on what to do with my enclosure. Hopefully start my enclosure this weekend


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## justin91 (Jan 6, 2013)

Been ages since I have replied in this thread but I can say my enclosure is underway. It pretty much sat there as is in the garage for several weeks but now, it has vents in the bottom enclosure. One up high and one down low opposite sides to hopefully create a bit of a wind tunnel kinda thing. I removed one shelf to expand on the bottom enclosure. I'm going to be turning the shelf in the door into a hot box kinda thing. It will have its heat cord in there. I'll insert a small vent into the hot tub just so it doesn't over heat. I'm putting a tile basking spot (concealing the hole in the floor that is the access to the hot tub) at the back of the wall. I have nearly finished my fake rock wall, pretty stoked with how it turned out. I just need do some touch ups when its fitted into it as there are a few gaps....

Tell us what ya think, any suggestions and negative comments would both be appreciated... 

Also, not sure as to why the rock wall when I painted it turned yellow as the paint was brown.. 

Also not sure on what kind of background I'll do for the top enclosure. So never making a fake rock wall again lol.


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## J-A-X (Jan 8, 2013)

why arent you going to do another rock wall ? - i think you've done a great job on it, and you say your pretty stoked with the way it turned out, just go back over the yellow spots (lightly) with a slightly darker brown, rocks are all one colour anyway, and by the time you get the added furniture in there it will only be noticeable to you.


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## justin91 (Jan 8, 2013)

JaxRtfm said:


> why arent you going to do another rock wall ? - i think you've done a great job on it, and you say your pretty stoked with the way it turned out, just go back over the yellow spots (lightly) with a slightly darker brown, rocks are all one colour anyway, and by the time you get the added furniture there it will only be noticeable to you.



The more and more I think about it after reading your post the more it makes sense to do another rock wall. That's a good idea actually considering if I do another wall ill need more paint anyway. Do you think the hot box idea would be good? If I got the temps right it make a pretty good hide


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## J-A-X (Jan 8, 2013)

Always been a fan of 'hot hides'  if you are going to do one so low, just do one 'side' of the cupboard (behind one door not both) heat rises and if you do both sides you'll have trouble with a cool spot . Does that make sense ?


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## justin91 (Jan 8, 2013)

JaxRtfm said:


> Always been a fan of 'hot hides'  if you are going to do one so low, just do one 'side' of the cupboard (behind one door not both) heat rises and if you do both sides you'll have trouble with a cool spot . Does that make sense ?


Yeah that makes sense. Was exactly what I was going to do. Great minds think alike lol.


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## justin91 (Feb 9, 2013)

Ok so, bit stuck on something, as a few posts above I was going to do a "heat box" idea, where the cupboards underneath was going to house a heat source, ie; heat map/cord, probably a mat as I already have one. But, I'm not quiet sure how to do it as your meant to have them under the enclosure. I can't exactly put it under my enclosure so what would be the best way of doing it?

Also, here is a pic of my enclosure so far. Run down: Top enclosure is desert theme which will house a bearded dragon, the bottom is going to house my spotted python in a jungle theme enclosure. The bottom enclosure has a hole at the back so my spotted can slither down in winter into his hot box. I have 4 vents. one located at the bottom right corner and top left corner (create a wind flow kinda idea) I still need to put a vent in my hot box just to let excess heat out. Probably put a decent sized one in there. The rockwalls aren't finished yet. Still need to do one more coat of render on the top one and paint some detail into it and then seal it. The bottom rockwall was my first one and its not very good but it'll do for now just need to paint it some more and then seal it. I still have to screw them in and use some expanding foam around the gaps.

Also not sure why the paint went yellow on the bottom rockwall. Very odd.

Also I'm painting the enclosure black.


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## Gruni (Feb 9, 2013)

Why not do it like with the heat cord and build a frame and sit a tile like a slate tile above the heat mat and that way you achieve what you want. Have a look at the heat tile build I did in my cabinet thread.


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## justin91 (Feb 9, 2013)

Gruni said:


> Why not do it like with the heat cord and build a frame and sit a tile like a slate tile above the heat mat and that way you achieve what you want. Have a look at the heat tile build I did in my cabinet thread.



Oh yeah thats a good idea, I was originally going to do one like yours except I thought, I already have a mat so no need to buy a cord, your enclosures coming along good.


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## Gruni (Feb 9, 2013)

Thanks. I'm hoping that by the time Skittles sheds next week it will be basically ready for her to move into. 

Yours is looking great so far too, a heat cord is pretty cheap and you can get a decent thermostat for simple regulation of a heat tile 24/7 for under $30. Even with a heat mat I would run a thermo in that situation.


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## justin91 (Feb 9, 2013)

Gruni said:


> Thanks. I'm hoping that by the time Skittles sheds next week it will be basically ready for her to move into.
> 
> Yours is looking great so far too, a heat cord is pretty cheap and you can get a decent thermostat for simple regulation of a heat tile 24/7 for under $30. Even with a heat mat I would run a thermo in that situation.



Wow $30 is pretty cheap. I don't really know much about thermostats but what kind (if you know) would you reckon I'd need for a bulb to make a basking spot for my bearded? A dimming one? I got a on/off Thermostat for my heatmat but I think it be different for a heat lamp as I wouldn't want the bulb turning on and off constantly..

I might look into getting a heat cord. Where did you get yours from? PM me if its not a sponsor. Also what kind of glass did you get? 5mm toughened?


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## Gruni (Feb 10, 2013)

Have a look in my thread, both of the thermos are pictured and I bought them on ebay. I have never used them so I can't give you much advice. The cheap white one is what I am using on the heatcord as it will be running 24/7 where as the more expensive one is what I am using on the halogen as it has a day/night function and I only want the halogen to work during dayight hours.

I'll have to search a bit as I have a blank on where I got the heatcord although it may coincidentally be one of the sponsors on here...


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## justin91 (Mar 9, 2013)

Been a while since I posted or done anything on my enclosure. But I've finally put all my vents in (except one which I need to feed a cable through when I get round to it), lighting for bottom enclosure and finally finished painting the damn thing. I started making a cave today for the top enclosure (cave/hide). I'm pretty impressed with it. Did a coat of render and it turned out really good. Another two coats and some detailing and it'll be done. Only things I really have to do now is find a better log, wait for rest of my plants to arrive (some vines for the jungle theme enclosure) buy and install a UVB light into the top enclosure and install my basking globe into the top one. Hopefully get my glass on Monday. I don't know much about tracks though. Are they expensive? I'm thinking of going 3/4mm glass (doesn't need to be toughended, only housing a spotted and bearded). I think I'll be done after that. Knowing me I'll probably miss/forget something.

Oh and I also got a sherrifs badge/star (also waiting on it to arrive) to half dig into the sand in my desert theme enclosure. Give it that bit more detail. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

I know I right this in every post of my enclosure but the background down the bottom isn't actually yellow. Always comes up in photos no matter what kind of lighting it is


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## J-A-X (Mar 9, 2013)

Glass track will set you back ~$20 from bunnings. The track takes 5mm glass so thinner glass will rattle a bit and if its a hatchie spotted there's a chance it could get itself stuck in the gap.


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## justin91 (Mar 9, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> Glass track will set you back ~$20 from bunnings. The track takes 5mm glass so thinner glass will rattle a bit and if its a hatchie spotted there's a chance it could get itself stuck in the gap.



Will they cut it for me or will I have to cut it myself? I'll go down to bunnings tomorrow check it out, hopefully they have some black tracking.


His about 8 months old and would be about 1.5cm wide in his widest part (not really to sure cause his in shed and hasn't come out of his cave for a few days so thats off the top of my head).


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## J-A-X (Mar 9, 2013)

Brown or white are your only two options from bunnings. It comes in a plastic pack containing top and bottom track. 
I've seen white on black enclosures and it quite striking !
2 choices of length, either 1800mm or 1200mm. My local store has to order in the 1200 and it only works out 60c cheaper.

It's easily cut with a hand saw.

Measure both openings, chances are you'll get both out of 1 1800mm pack


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## justin91 (Mar 9, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> Brown or white are your only two options from bunnings. It comes in a plastic pack containing top and bottom track.
> I've seen white on black enclosures and it quite striking !
> 2 choices of length, either 1800mm or 1200mm. My local store has to order in the 1200 and it only works out 60c cheaper.
> 
> ...



Has anybody told you how awesome you are? You've helped me out so much jax, really appreciate it. 

I'll try the white and see how it goes. I'll have to get two 1800mm as I need 4 x 800mm.


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## J-A-X (Mar 9, 2013)

Naw shucks ! You'll have me blushing if you keep that up  

I'm glad I've managed to help you in some way, but remember one thing . You are the one who has put on the time and effort to complete it


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## justin91 (Mar 10, 2013)

Ok so today I went out a bought the tracks for my glass. Got the white ones and they look pretty cool with the black enclosure. Also screwed in a log today to make it more secure. Can't wait for my vines to arrive then I'm off again to the cheap shop to get some more fake plants.


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