# New Orchid Cabinet



## silence882 (Sep 22, 2019)

Hi All.

I'm an indoor grower and humidity has been ridiculously low in past winters, so I built a new orchid cabinet. The collection is now completely enclosed in acrylic panels, so hopefully it'll stay above 50% over the next several months.






--Stephen


----------



## mrhappyrotter (Sep 22, 2019)

It looks great. There's just one problem ... not enough plants!

Can you give us an idea of what's involved in the construction in terms of cost, time, materials, and tools used?


----------



## Paphluvr (Sep 22, 2019)

Nicely done! It looks like you gave this a good amount of thought as to what you needed before starting construction. Looks like they'll have a happy home. Do you have to remove them in order to water or can you just water them in place with the excess dripping into the trays?


----------



## silence882 (Sep 22, 2019)

Paphluvr said:


> Nicely done! It looks like you gave this a good amount of thought as to what you needed before starting construction. Looks like they'll have a happy home. Do you have to remove them in order to water or can you just water them in place with the excess dripping into the trays?


The top tray drains into the bottom tray where I've got a small fountain pump. When the bottom tray fills up I run a fountain hose out the back door and pump it out. It takes several weeks for the bottom tray to fill up and about 10 minutes for the pump to do its work. Also, the drain on the top tray is at a level to leave about 2" of water to help with the humidity in the top section.



mrhappyrotter said:


> It looks great. There's just one problem ... not enough plants!
> 
> Can you give us an idea of what's involved in the construction in terms of cost, time, materials, and tools used?



I still have my seedling aquarium, so more plants will be making their way into the cabinet...
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/aquarium-house-for-my-flasklings.47115/

Here's a materials list for the cabinet (prices are for 1):
7 - 8' 2x4s ($3)
3 - 10' 2x4s ($3)
4 - 6' 1x4 clear pine ($7)
1 - 4x8 1/2" plywood ($23)
1 - 4x8 1/4" plywood ($16)
2 - 4x8 1/8" acrylic sheet ($129)
30 - 90 degree strong ties ($1.50)
3 - 2 pack cabinet hinges ($3)
2 - cabinet handles ($3)
2 - aquarium fans ($29)
2 - flood trays ($44)
1 - grid for trays ($16)
1 - timer ($14)
1 - fountain pump ($25)
2 - 4' 4-bulb T8 light fixtures ($40)
8 - bulbs ($4)
1 - wire grommet ($9)
4 - extension cords ($10)
1 - hose fitting ($7)
Misc hardware: screws, hooks, chain (~$30)

So a total of about $800 (don't tell my wife) worth of materials, but I already had some of the stuff from my previous setup (e.g. lights, bulbs, hose fitting, 1 tray, etc). I could have shaved off some of the cost by making the sides out of 1/4" plywood instead of acrylic. But this is currently in the dining room, so it has to look nice.

The power tools I used were a drill, impact driver, circular saw, compound miter saw, table saw, jig saw, router (with table), and biscuit joiner. If you're good with a circular saw, you can do without the compound miter saw and table saw (but they make it much easier). I only used the router to cut a 3/16" notch in the door pieces for the acrylic to float in. If you redesign the doors or cut the notch with the table saw, you can do without the router. I only used the biscuit joiner on the doors because I didn't want to use any screws or other hardware that would be visible when completed (i.e. they're held together with only biscuits and glue).

It took me about 3 weekends to complete. If I had to make another one, I could probably do it in half the time since this was definitely a learning experience.

If my wife and I decide to keep it as a permanent piece of furniture, I'll probably do the sides in the same style as I did the door - with acrylic panels floating in clear pine frames. Then we'll have to decide on a paint or stain (and by we I mean her because I really don't have an eye for color).

--Stephen


----------



## tomkalina (Sep 22, 2019)

Very nice, Stephen. It looks like a perfect modern version of the Edwardian Case.


----------



## troy (Sep 22, 2019)

It looks classy!! Very similar to chameleon vivarium. The only problem I see is having a multi floral in spike in there


----------



## abax (Sep 22, 2019)

Nice job! Where on earth did you find that length 2 x 4s at that
price??? Is it treated lumber? Wood costs an arm and a leg here.


----------



## silence882 (Sep 22, 2019)

tomkalina said:


> Very nice, Stephen. It looks like a perfect modern version of the Edwardian Case.


Thanks! That's what I'm going for since it's not uncommon for the humidity in my house to drop below 20% in the winter.



troy said:


> It looks classy!! Very similar to chameleon vivarium. The only problem I see is having a multi floral in spike in there


I only have 2 Paph multiflorals (roth and sand) since they're such big plants compared to how much space I have. The roth should be fine, but the sand will have to come out once it spikes. Luckily that happens in the summer here. Another which will have to come out is my Phrag. humboldtii, but luckily that blooms in late spring. The rest of my collection should be fine to bloom in the cabinet. I have some Phrags which will put out long spikes, but I'm just going to train them horizontally rather than vertically.



abax said:


> Nice job! Where on earth did you find that length 2 x 4s at that
> price??? Is it treated lumber? Wood costs an arm and a leg here.


Framing lumber is dirt cheap here in Maryland. A kiln dried #2 8' 2x4 is $2.57 at my local Lowe's. I didn't use treated wood since I don't like bringing the treated stuff inside. It was the price of the acrylic sheets that shocked me.


----------



## TrueNorth (Sep 23, 2019)

very professional looking.


----------



## NYEric (Sep 24, 2019)

Stephen, you need more plans!


----------



## silence882 (Sep 24, 2019)

NYEric said:


> Stephen, you need more plans!


Oh I have plenty of plans. Plans that would blow your mind if you even got a hint of them.


----------

