Hamster Central - View Single Post - 120cm Linnmon cage build

Shannonmcn · 04-12-2019, 04:18 AM

Hi friends!

I'm in the middle of a thing that I thought would be a great and easy-peasy idea but... well. Maybe isn't. So for the benefit of posterity and because I am bored in work, I present a review of the Linnmon cage build!

As I'm sure many of you know, VanillaHamHam has a lovely video showing how she built the Linnmon cage. It does look super easy, it's very cheap, its a 100x60cm cage, it looks beautiful, I am very into it.

I notice that IKEA also so a 120cm Linnmon table. They are £15/each rather than £6 but I justify it to myself (somehow) so a plan starts to form. Using these tables adds £27 on immediately but maybe I need that extra 20cm? I love a spreadsheet so it all goes in there including hardware etc and some perspex I think will work well instead of glass (because I can't find an equivalent for the Hemnes glass table top). Budget sitting at about £100 which I decide is still reasonable if you consider that the Eco Habitat Large is £170 on zooplus. I also draw this up in CAD in work, reminder that I am supposed to be an engineer, this is funny considering how many mistakes I make during this.

Tables get purchased, when I see them in real life I balk a little bit because they are giant but I tell myself I might regret not having that extra length someday. Go to buy timber and the spreadsheet size is not there. So that ends up more expensive, +£4. I realise at this point that the mesh sheet I was planning to buy is only 900cm long so it's too short. I buy a roll of it instead. +£3.50. The timber has been cut in half by the nice man in B&Q so it could fit in the car and we have four 120cm pieces. They actually need to be 126.8cm to cover the length of the cage. Hmm. So no nice picture frame lid, it is uglier with right angle joints but it will still work so it's fine.

Timber gets cut by my my partner and his dad with a handy circular saw, he glues the lid together which looks lovely and smooth, everything fits, I am pleased as punch. At this point I make the mistake of saying despite some issues it is all going rather smoothly.

The perspex I wanted wasn't in stock in Homebase in either of the two stores close to me. A similar one is in B&Q but when I see it in person it is wobbly as heck so I go for the 4mm rather than the 2mm, +£9. Total cost of petrol adds up here too since it was pillar to post on a Sunday evening trying to get this sorted. When I get home I drop a pot of wood sealant (£5) which is now nicely protecting the pavement outside my house. I realise the 120cm perspex is 6.8cm too short (does this sound familiar) as it has to reach the side panels. I wonder how I have the brain power to dress myself in the morning, nobody is happy at this point.

Back to B&Q to get longer L-brackets (+£4.88 ). I can use the off-cuts from one of the panels to create a bearing surface for the perspex, I can glue them to the sides. (I haven't actually done this yet so this may still not work). I buy a hack-saw to cut these +£4.50.

Everything gets painted!

I scrape the bottomof the sealant pot to get one thin coat on these new wheels!

And finally, last night, we get the blooming thing together. It is too big to be carried up the stairs so it has be be assembled in my room with Jin going mental at all the ruckus. I have to lose my bedside table and rearrange the room as my plan for how to arrange the cages turns out to be garbage when I try it in real life. We put the wrong side panel on first but get that fixed. We realise that the off-cuts we are attaching to help hold the perspex are slightly too long but not too-long enough to cut with the hack-saw so my partner is stealing some sandpaper from work.

Sealing it with the aquarium sealant is delayed by a day so Jin probably won't get into it before Sunday. She rips her water bottle from the wall in protest and now has to use a bowl.

So this is pretty much a disaster, nobody do this stupid thing, just make the 100cm version

Its so big tho

Tonight we stick the extra bits on, seal it, get the perspex in, get the lid hinged in place. What else can possibly go wrong???

04-12-2019, 04:18 AM
Shannonmcn PM Fluffy for custom title Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 3,192	120cm Linnmon cage build - A Narrative Review Hi friends! I'm in the middle of a thing that I thought would be a great and easy-peasy idea but... well. Maybe isn't. So for the benefit of posterity and because I am bored in work, I present a review of the Linnmon cage build! As I'm sure many of you know, VanillaHamHam has a lovely video showing how she built the Linnmon cage. It does look super easy, it's very cheap, its a 100x60cm cage, it looks beautiful, I am very into it. I notice that IKEA also so a 120cm Linnmon table. They are £15/each rather than £6 but I justify it to myself (somehow) so a plan starts to form. Using these tables adds £27 on immediately but maybe I need that extra 20cm? I love a spreadsheet so it all goes in there including hardware etc and some perspex I think will work well instead of glass (because I can't find an equivalent for the Hemnes glass table top). Budget sitting at about £100 which I decide is still reasonable if you consider that the Eco Habitat Large is £170 on zooplus. I also draw this up in CAD in work, reminder that I am supposed to be an engineer, this is funny considering how many mistakes I make during this. Tables get purchased, when I see them in real life I balk a little bit because they are giant but I tell myself I might regret not having that extra length someday. Go to buy timber and the spreadsheet size is not there. So that ends up more expensive, +£4. I realise at this point that the mesh sheet I was planning to buy is only 900cm long so it's too short. I buy a roll of it instead. +£3.50. The timber has been cut in half by the nice man in B&Q so it could fit in the car and we have four 120cm pieces. They actually need to be 126.8cm to cover the length of the cage. Hmm. So no nice picture frame lid, it is uglier with right angle joints but it will still work so it's fine. Timber gets cut by my my partner and his dad with a handy circular saw, he glues the lid together which looks lovely and smooth, everything fits, I am pleased as punch. At this point I make the mistake of saying despite some issues it is all going rather smoothly. The perspex I wanted wasn't in stock in Homebase in either of the two stores close to me. A similar one is in B&Q but when I see it in person it is wobbly as heck so I go for the 4mm rather than the 2mm, +£9. Total cost of petrol adds up here too since it was pillar to post on a Sunday evening trying to get this sorted. When I get home I drop a pot of wood sealant (£5) which is now nicely protecting the pavement outside my house. I realise the 120cm perspex is 6.8cm too short (does this sound familiar) as it has to reach the side panels. I wonder how I have the brain power to dress myself in the morning, nobody is happy at this point. Back to B&Q to get longer L-brackets (+£4.88 ). I can use the off-cuts from one of the panels to create a bearing surface for the perspex, I can glue them to the sides. (I haven't actually done this yet so this may still not work). I buy a hack-saw to cut these +£4.50. Everything gets painted! I scrape the bottomof the sealant pot to get one thin coat on these new wheels! And finally, last night, we get the blooming thing together. It is too big to be carried up the stairs so it has be be assembled in my room with Jin going mental at all the ruckus. I have to lose my bedside table and rearrange the room as my plan for how to arrange the cages turns out to be garbage when I try it in real life. We put the wrong side panel on first but get that fixed. We realise that the off-cuts we are attaching to help hold the perspex are slightly too long but not too-long enough to cut with the hack-saw so my partner is stealing some sandpaper from work. Sealing it with the aquarium sealant is delayed by a day so Jin probably won't get into it before Sunday. She rips her water bottle from the wall in protest and now has to use a bowl. So this is pretty much a disaster, nobody do this stupid thing, just make the 100cm version Its so big tho Tonight we stick the extra bits on, seal it, get the perspex in, get the lid hinged in place. What else can possibly go wrong???