House Cleaning in Ross's Orchidarium

[Ross]

Actually If I were to do it again (well maybe I might ) I would do it with Stainless Steel angles at edges and glass sides. Only thing is, I can't figure how to do the doors. The size I have requires doors both sides.

[plumeriastix]

Ross - first off I hope I'm not driving you nuts, I can be a pest these days, LOL ... sorry, not enough to keep me busy on my good days

My display case is made from some kind of metal. Two sides and the top are glass, the other 2 sides and the bottom are mirrored. The front is a glass door that swings outward and is the full width of the case. The only possible problem I can see with it is the frame has been tweaked a little in all of it's moves and the door no longer lines up quite right. The front is 24" wide, by 24" deep by about 33" high. I actually thought it was bigger than that to be honest. It's in my master bedroom and my TV lives on it, would look much nicer with orchids in it rather than porcelain horses, LOL!!

I just asked my room mate and he said maybe you could use a piano hinge on yours as he said that is what mine has? If you need pics let me know, I'll clean it up first so it is presentable, LOL

[Ross]

Originally Posted by plumeriastix

If you need pics let me know, I'll clean it up first so it is presentable, LOL

Actually that would help, yes.

[Becca]

Sorry to jump in, but have you thought of sliding doors such as what I have? The only problem is that mine doesn't completely seal, but now that I have a MistKing system that isn't really a big deal to me.

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[plumeriastix]

Hi Ross,

I tried and tried to get a good pic but because the frame is black it was impossible. Thanks to you I now have a clean display case though (it's been a long time coming, thank you!)

Roomie was right, they are called piano hinges. Here is a link to some I found when I googled it...

Piano Hinge, Steel Hinge, Continuous Hinge, Cold Rolled Steel Continuous Piano Hinge, Offset Hinges, Offset Hinge, Aluminum Continuous Piano Hinge, Stainless Steel Continuous Piano Hinge — Monroe PMP -

Mine are mounted to the door glass frame and the left side of the frame with what looks like flat head screws. Hope this helps and sorry I wasn't able to get a decent picture.

Best wishes,
Jerri

[Ross]

Originally Posted by plumeriastix

I was just wondering if anyone had ever tried to create one of these out of a glass display case?

Don't know, but it would work well especially if one were to seal all the seam with silicone. It would be very, very heavy, but as you say, might be pretty cheap. I didn't use glass because I needed several holes for various things and don't know how to drill glass (although it could be done.)

[CodiMN]

Hi Ross!
When we put together my little orchidarium (still in progress) we used acrylic hinges. I hope you can see them here in the pics.
To keep the doors from swinging open, we epoxy glued some 5 pound magnets on each side of the doors (top and bottom, in and out). Cheap, but it works!
Now if it'll only warm up so I can take it apart and pull off all the protective plastic on the acrylic... and finish installing all my fans, etc etc etc.
You really worked hard on your orchidarium! Looks clean and happy!

[Ross]

Carolyn, I think I have the same hinges (or very similar). I have positive latches like on some window screens.

These are the hinges. There are 5 spaced along the height of each door.

The latches are from 5-ply 1/4" aircraft plywood. The original acrilic latch broke off after the doors warped. There are two of these on each door at the open-side corners. The bolts are 1/4" nylon left over from my model airplane days (wing bolts.) Helps to have a fully equiped wood shop and lots of stuff left over from earlier hobbies.

[CodiMN]

Model airplanes you say? My dad is working on one right now! Too cool! Looks like it's going to turn out a little larger than we anticipated, quite the project!
Yeah, looks like we were both using a lot of the same techniques while doing the hinges, etc! I like how small your hinges are...mine are like 12 inches each, crazy long.
I really like how you did you drip grid too. Where did you get the plastic for the grid and the base? I would like to know, it would make my life easier! Mine is just wood right now, with humidity trays. Would be helpful to not have to worry so much about the wood...:

[Ross]

I used what is called egg-crate at Home Depot. It's plastic that goes under florescent lighting in kitchens. You can probably find it in the back somewhere - just ask. The grids are approx 3/8" or so. I just cut with band saw, but you could use hand saw too.