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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: oakley]
#913748
03/02/10 11:31 AM
03/02/10 11:31 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,305 Florida, USA
oakley
Glider Slave
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Glider Slave
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,305
Florida, USA
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Thoughts on your build: Get the crimper... it will save you loads of time Making the cage in one panel would be great... crimping the edges together is the toughest part, so the less of it that you have to do, the better. I wouldn't worry about the roof... make the roof level and then use any extra wire to make shelves inside their cage... you can see the shelves in mine... The gliders love having different "levels" and you can still incorporate branches and such into the cage.
Meghan ~__/> {{ }}
Suggies: Basil, Mausi, Bagheera/Baloo, & the Trio Dogs : Pretzel/Snickers Horse: Nugget RIP: Gato, Pepito, Pepper, and Mowgli Oakley's Glider Site
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#913767
03/02/10 12:42 PM
03/02/10 12:42 PM
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532 Kentucky
nancy1202
Glider Addict
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Glider Addict
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Posts: 2,532
Kentucky
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I was able to undo the rings holding the mesh roll together using a combination of a good screwdriver and pliers. Am thinking about crimping some of the bends in the wire rather than just cutting straight sides and ringing the panels together.
Only thing is I don't have a crimper -- best I could probably do is use my aluminum contractor's level. Any thoughts? Yep, I have thoughts! What is the crimper for? You can bend the wire by hand. Just lay it flat on the floor, lay your contractor's level or a 2x4 where you want the bend, and raise up the wire. It helps to have someone stand on the 2x4. Use the wire cutters to remove the rings. That will also be much easier than the screwdriver/pliers combo when removing rings during assembly if needed. I still like your original design with the sloped roof. The front, top, back could be bent from one length of wire, with the left and right cut to make the "half-hexagon" shape.
Last edited by nancy1202; 03/02/10 12:46 PM. Reason: got my front/back and left right confused!
~Nancy~ http://www.derbycitygliders.com
Jackson/Izzie, Lukas/Leilah, Mizuki/Elektra, Oliver/Ava, Ramon/Paloma, Charming/Snow Rest of the menagerie: dogs, cats, corn snake, bearded dragon
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: nancy1202]
#913800
03/02/10 01:45 PM
03/02/10 01:45 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
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I was thinking about the crimper to make sure I got a good solid bend across the correct wire -- but figured I could use the contractor level or a block of wood as a substitute, just probably wouldn't get as definite a crease.
The problem with my original design is that the slopes have a hypotenuse of 0.707 inches -- not exactly one section on the wire. I can do the bottom and back as one L-shaped piece, the front and floor as one L-shaped piece then the top as an inverted trapezoid. Or I could do the boxy shape as a rectangular spiral (floor to front to roof to back to bottom) with the gap between the floor and bottom for my trays.
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#913862
03/02/10 03:17 PM
03/02/10 03:17 PM
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532 Kentucky
nancy1202
Glider Addict
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Glider Addict
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532
Kentucky
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The hypotenuse is 8.48" with 6" sides and 45-degree angles, or .707 feet, not inches.
You get the bend on the correct wire by just aligning the edge of the level or 2x4 along the correct wire, and having someone stand on it so it doesn't move while you are bending the loose edge up. Large lengths of wire are very easy to bend - especially with the 16 gauge you ordered. Shorter lengths - not so easy.
~Nancy~ http://www.derbycitygliders.com
Jackson/Izzie, Lukas/Leilah, Mizuki/Elektra, Oliver/Ava, Ramon/Paloma, Charming/Snow Rest of the menagerie: dogs, cats, corn snake, bearded dragon
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: nancy1202]
#914052
03/02/10 08:53 PM
03/02/10 08:53 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
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Ooops, you're right, classic unit standardization error. I'm going to blame it on lack of sleep (was watching the guys puzzle out their new Stealth wheel until after 1 AM).
Well, 8.5" is certainly doable -- I can't measure or do the bend to within 0.02" -- and I can measure a cardboard template for the roof angles. I'll see if I have some spare boards around that will help me keep the creases uniform.
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#914493
03/03/10 10:31 PM
03/03/10 10:31 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
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Ugh, trying to crimp/crease the edges working with 21 feet of 4 foot mesh is a pain! I'm on the first crease to go for the angled roof and it's a mess dealing with the other wire. I'm thinking this will go alot faster if I do the bottom/rear and floor/front L-shaped sections and then mount the roof as a fifth piece (the sides being pieces 3 and 4).
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: oakley]
#915236
03/05/10 05:08 PM
03/05/10 05:08 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
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That's a nice cage Meghan. Moving this monstrousity is why I'm building it in the living room -- only half a flight of stairs and no harsh corners to go around if I decide to put it in the family room.
Sherri, this really isn't hard, I just want to do it right the first time. To be honest, I'm probably putting 5x too much thought into it -- and it would be 3x easier if I just cut the wire mesh into wall sections from the get-go like I'd planned.
Halfway through the cage build, I've got the bottom/back section bent and ringed to the sides. Was still thinking about trying to bend the roof/front floor so all of that was one piece but in the meantime I got a new set of pliers -- my old wire cutters are okay for cutting a few of the wires but it gets painful doing a whole length.
The rings really aren't bad to mount. My major concern right now are the cut ends of the wires. I suppose I can pick up a Dremel on my way home, have been thinking about getting one for a while anyway. My main object is to wipe the wire down and get the build done tonight so I can move them in this weekend and then get it set up with the girl who'll be checking on them while I'm on vacation.
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#916295
03/08/10 02:28 AM
03/08/10 02:28 AM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
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Thanks for all the help and advice nancy. I'm not real happy with the doors but the three I've cut so far will do for now. I moved the boys in today after securing the doors, putting in fresh eucalyptus and placing a bunch of willow branches inside.
They spent a couple hours running all over the cage and inspecting everything. With all that, they're napping in the glider kitchen! They've slept in one of their food dishes 2 out of the last 3 days so not sure what's going on other than some extreme pouch protectiveness.
I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#916368
03/08/10 10:25 AM
03/08/10 10:25 AM
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532 Kentucky
nancy1202
Glider Addict
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Glider Addict
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532
Kentucky
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You are very welcome! I'm more than happy to share what worked for me and what didn't to hopefully make someone else's project a bit easier! Your gliders are probably just overwhelmed by all of the space and the new environment. Try putting some of their "stinky" pouches and toys in the new cage to give them familiar scents. Looking forward to pics of the roof. I really like the design!
~Nancy~ http://www.derbycitygliders.com
Jackson/Izzie, Lukas/Leilah, Mizuki/Elektra, Oliver/Ava, Ramon/Paloma, Charming/Snow Rest of the menagerie: dogs, cats, corn snake, bearded dragon
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#916836
03/09/10 08:24 AM
03/09/10 08:24 AM
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sgroism
Unregistered
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sgroism
Unregistered
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i would love to know where you found the pvc coated wire mesh- i could not locate any so i just built a pvc frame and am putting the hardware cloth on now
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#916858
03/09/10 10:01 AM
03/09/10 10:01 AM
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sqrl
Unregistered
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sqrl
Unregistered
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That is a very nice cage, love the design
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: ]
#916876
03/09/10 10:55 AM
03/09/10 10:55 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,305 Florida, USA
oakley
Glider Slave
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Glider Slave
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,305
Florida, USA
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It looks great, you did a very nice job... I really like that you will have two drop trays... my huge cage only has one and it is a pain to take in and out!
Meghan ~__/> {{ }}
Suggies: Basil, Mausi, Bagheera/Baloo, & the Trio Dogs : Pretzel/Snickers Horse: Nugget RIP: Gato, Pepito, Pepper, and Mowgli Oakley's Glider Site
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: oakley]
#916997
03/09/10 02:37 PM
03/09/10 02:37 PM
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SugarRissa
Unregistered
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SugarRissa
Unregistered
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Dang, that's a nice cage!
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#917037
03/09/10 03:43 PM
03/09/10 03:43 PM
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532 Kentucky
nancy1202
Glider Addict
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Glider Addict
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,532
Kentucky
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You did a wonderful job! I love the roof. I see you added door liner to the doors themselves - was that to close the gaps? The outer edges of the doors should fit snug against the door opening without the door liner if bent slightly inward at the edges. Your spring latches may be harder to close with the extra width of the outer door liner. One suggestion I would make is to lower the roof one row to eliminate the gaps at the upper rear corners. The raw edges of the side panels would then be outside the roof instead of inside. Did that make sense? It's tricky working with angles with the rectangular holes in the mesh, as I discovered when making my 5-ft half-hex cage. I thought I'd never get the edges of my cage floor to line up with the walls, but still have corners to ring.
~Nancy~ http://www.derbycitygliders.com
Jackson/Izzie, Lukas/Leilah, Mizuki/Elektra, Oliver/Ava, Ramon/Paloma, Charming/Snow Rest of the menagerie: dogs, cats, corn snake, bearded dragon
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: nancy1202]
#917046
03/09/10 04:12 PM
03/09/10 04:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
OP
Glider Lover
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OP
Glider Lover
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Posts: 458
Colorado, USA
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Yes, I was using the liners to stiffen the doors. The problem I had was the 4-foot roll of mesh didn't flatten well so had a tendency to bulge. I'm going to address those later by getting some reinforcing wire to stiffen and flatten the edges. I'd love to have used the Klubertanz premade doors but their sizes didn't match with my plans.
The problem with the gaps in the upper rear corners was that while I planned to make a cardboard template, I cut freeform and made a few errors on those angle cuts. They should have been easy but I plead exhaustion at 1 AM when I was doing those pieces. The gaps are there because I erroneously cut a couple vertices I shouldn't have.
I have the fleece in there to block the exits for now but I actually plan on making those errors into bonuses by using them as mounting holes for some climbing branches or something similar. I made another error in that the rear roofline SHOULD extend 2 squares instead of 1 like the front roof to get a full inch. I set my first few rings wrong so instead of trying to pull them and redo (this was the LAST ringing of the night before I went to bed), I used the extra half-inch to give the rear roof a gentle curve inward.
Honestly, the biggest problems in execution were that I should have had the trays in place when I formed and ringed the bottom and floor to the sides. They are TIGHT now and a pain to extract. I can solve that easily by shaving the edges just a tad but I could have prevented it by having them in place as I was ringing.
The bottom warps a little without the trays. In retrospect, it would have been better to NOT bend the mesh but instead just use flat panels and maybe have a thicker wire mesh panel for the floor. I'm thinking about adding some of my leftover mesh on the sides for additional structural support at the bottom but the frame itself doesn't really need it. The front wobbles a little bit due to size but that will disappear when I put in the additional middle shelf and/or climbing branches. I just wanted to get them in the new cage so they'd have nearly a week in it before I go on vacation.
They were pretty excited at first, climbing around it but have seemed kind of unhappy the past couple days. They slept a lot yesterday and only ate about half their meal. I think it's just that I disturbed their routine; they have more room to play now but they had gotten used to the smaller cage so this is new -- but this is why I wanted to get them in the new cage for several days before I depart so I could monitor their stress first-hand.
In a way, I'd love to foster or adopt a couple more gliders to play in there. It almost seems a waste to only have two in there but I wanted to give my two plenty of room to play. I've even thought about how I could use polyethylene screen or hardware net to subdivide the cage into two homes while the gliders were getting accustomed to each other (post-quarantine of course).
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: Paani]
#917057
03/09/10 04:41 PM
03/09/10 04:41 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,305 Florida, USA
oakley
Glider Slave
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Glider Slave
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,305
Florida, USA
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I'm sure your gliders love their new cage, they just have to get acclimated to it! When you get to work on toys and branches, make sure to have lots of foraging toys... this way, your gliders will explore their whole cage every night searching for their treats!
Meghan ~__/> {{ }}
Suggies: Basil, Mausi, Bagheera/Baloo, & the Trio Dogs : Pretzel/Snickers Horse: Nugget RIP: Gato, Pepito, Pepper, and Mowgli Oakley's Glider Site
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Re: Cage plans?
[Re: oakley]
#917437
03/10/10 01:14 PM
03/10/10 01:14 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 458 Colorado, USA
Paani
OP
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Posts: 458
Colorado, USA
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Thanks, was worried yesterday because it seemed like they had spent the whole previous day in pouch and they looked depressed or stressed when I looked in on them. I really wanted to give them some tent time but it seems like I stress them out more in getting them to go to the tent -- one of the reasons for the cage's size is so they have as much room to jump around as they did in the tent even if I don't get to play too I was relieved when I woke up last night and checked on them at 4 AM. They were out of pouch and running around the cage albeit still shy of me. Judah was really getting into jumping/gliding the two feet from front to back and back to front. Anson even did that a couple times but he seems like my lazy boy -- rarely moves any faster or farther than he absolutely has to. Heard a crashing sound around 6 AM but then nothing -- knew from the sound that they'd knocked over one of the food dishes that wasn't secured to the cage side. Finally got up this morning and yep, the fruit dish was upside down on the floor of the cage and the boys were in pouch with a "What? I didn't do anything!" expression on their faces. I need to get in the backyard and cut some more willow for them to play with, they seem to enjoy the branches, and I like the idea of the egg baskets. Am waiting for a cage set that includes a nice foraging toy.
Nala, Ronald & Reuel (formerly Eladio & Petal) Judah Anson Lele Laki
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