jakemyster44
Member
- Messages
- 588
- Location
- Perrysburg, Ohio
I'v decided to built my own incubator. Rather than use an old mini fridge, I'v decided to built the incubator body out of melamine coated wood, blueboard foam, and plywood. I'm not a fan of how the mini fridges often have bulky shelves in the door, and have no veiwing window. Making my own incubator body will give me lots of freedom to set measurements and such. I have access to all kinds of power tools, so I know I can pull it off. I'll start by giving the general rundown of my plan.
First I will construct a box (with an open front for the future door) out of melamine coated wood. This is resistant to humidity. After screwing and glueing it together, I am going to seal all the edges with silicone. Then I will cut peices of blueboard foam, and line the outside of the box with them, this should help with insulation. Next, I will again cut peices to line the outside of the box, only this time they will be out of some plywood. The purpose of the plywood is just to protect the foam, and make the incubator look a little nicer. The wood should also help a bit with insulation.
Now that I have the main body built, I will build the door. The door will be made out of some strips of wood, an inch thick, cut to size so that they frame the incubator body perfectly. I will then run two grooves around the inside of the frame, so I can insert two sheets of plexi gass. The reason that I plan to make the door "double pained" is that the air trapped inbetween the two sheets of plexiglass will provide some decent insulation for the door. I plan to line the incubator body around the front edges with adhesive foam strips, to create a good seal with the door. The door will be attached with hinges, and have some sort of lock or latch to keep the door shut tightly.
For heating, I plan to use flexwatt along the back side. I will install wire shelves inside the incubator, leaving a 3" gap on the bottom and top, alonfg with a few inches on either side for air flow. The flexwatt will be hooked up to a Helix thermostat.
I have some questions though, regarding the wire shelves. Where can I get them, and will I need to cut them to length? Also, how does my plan sound? I welcome all advise and criticism. Thanks for reading!
-Jake
First I will construct a box (with an open front for the future door) out of melamine coated wood. This is resistant to humidity. After screwing and glueing it together, I am going to seal all the edges with silicone. Then I will cut peices of blueboard foam, and line the outside of the box with them, this should help with insulation. Next, I will again cut peices to line the outside of the box, only this time they will be out of some plywood. The purpose of the plywood is just to protect the foam, and make the incubator look a little nicer. The wood should also help a bit with insulation.
Now that I have the main body built, I will build the door. The door will be made out of some strips of wood, an inch thick, cut to size so that they frame the incubator body perfectly. I will then run two grooves around the inside of the frame, so I can insert two sheets of plexi gass. The reason that I plan to make the door "double pained" is that the air trapped inbetween the two sheets of plexiglass will provide some decent insulation for the door. I plan to line the incubator body around the front edges with adhesive foam strips, to create a good seal with the door. The door will be attached with hinges, and have some sort of lock or latch to keep the door shut tightly.
For heating, I plan to use flexwatt along the back side. I will install wire shelves inside the incubator, leaving a 3" gap on the bottom and top, alonfg with a few inches on either side for air flow. The flexwatt will be hooked up to a Helix thermostat.
I have some questions though, regarding the wire shelves. Where can I get them, and will I need to cut them to length? Also, how does my plan sound? I welcome all advise and criticism. Thanks for reading!
-Jake
