Acrylic Emerald Cage Construction (an idiots guide!)

I am by no means a master fabricator, so anyone with basic carpentry skills, common sense and the necessary tools should be able to construct these cages. This will be a step by step guide that I have developed for myself for building our adult and breeder cages. I’m sure anyone with more experience and/or better tools will be able to find short cuts that make construction even easier. My moto is anything that makes it easier is good and that is why I cheat and have the major material cuts done by my acrylic supplier. Heck they only charge $10.00 to cut the sheet up and the saw they use can accurately cut the 48” x 96” sheets to my specifications. You are more than welcome to download this information should you find it useful.
Let’s begin with a list of the necessary tools:

Table Saw with minimum 80 tooth blade (I have a 10”)
Scroll Saw with acrylic cutting blades*
Hand Drill ( I have several battery operated ones)
Power Miter Saw with finishing blade (70-80 tooth)
Circular Saw with finishing blade (70-80 tooth)
Tee Square (I use one made for drywall)
Small Triangular Square
#2 Pillips Screw Driver
Acrylic Drill bits in 1/8”, 3/16”, ¼”, 5/16” and 3/8” *
Spring Clamps of various sizes
Framing Clamps (4)
Extension Clamps (2 minimum)
11/32’s combo wrench and/or socket and ratchet
#29 drill bit
8/32 gun tap with handle
2” angle (saw guide and “glue up” support) I use a 4 foot long piece of steel angle.
Deburring tools
Large Shot Glass (empty) Ha! I know what your thinking and that’s not what it’s for.

*These items are usually available from the acrylic supplier or you can order them from Craftics.

The Materials
I use Acrylite™, clear acrylic, which I purchase from Piedmont Plastics. They are local to me and have better prices than any of the other suppliers in my area. We use ¼” (nominal) for our adult cages and 3/8” (nominal) for the breeder cages. The actual thickness of the of the ¼” material is .220” and the 3/8” material is .354”. The dimesions given for each of the cage pieces has taken this into account. However, if you decided to use your own dimensional specs, make sure you adjust for the actual material thickness.
When I order the material, I give the “rough cut” dimensions and number of pieces needed. My supplier will choose the actual sheet dimension to cut from and charge me accordingly. I always ask for the “drop”, some of which will be used for substrate tray sides and I paid for it so it’s mine. Generally speaking though, I am buying 48” x 96” sheets. The cost of the material is about $92.00 for the ¼” and $150.00 for the 3/8”. If you want a “bullet proof” cage, literally, you can buy Lexan™ but the price of a sheet of the ¼” thickness was $128.00 the last time I checked and the 3/8” thickness was around $250.00. Just keep in mind that plastic prices fluctuate with the market.
When I order ¼” material for 1 adult cage, I have them cut the sheet into 8 - 24” squares (approximate). There will be no “drop” from the sheet.
When I order 3/8” material for 1 breeder cage, I have them cut 4 pieces at 33 ½” x 24” and 2 pieces at 24” x 20”. I use the “drop” for substrate tray sides. You will also need to have 2 pieces of ¼” for the substrate trays.

The “Catch 22”
When I built the first breeder cage, I had several 24” squares left from building the adult cages. I originally used one of the 24” squares to cut side pieces for the substrate trays in the adult cages. I found that one square plus what was cut off the cage “fronts” would yield enough substrate tray side pieces for 2 adult cages, leaving an extra 24” square. Then I started accumulating enough “drop” from the breeder cages to make sides for all the substrate trays, saving me from using any of the 24” squares from the adult cages for substrate tray sides. So, for every 2 adult cages I built, a whole 24” square was left. Initially, you will have to cut the “left over”, 24” square piece for tray sides.

The Measurements
For a single adult cage (1/4” nominal) you will need to cut pieces to the following dimensions:
Top and Bottom – 22” x 22”
Front – 22” x 19 ¾ ”
Back – 22” x 23 9/16”
Sides(2) – 21 9/16” x 23 9/16”

Marking Your Cuts
The most important part of building these cages is making sure your pieces are cut properly. The adage “measure twice and cut once” can’t be stressed enough! I even go a few more “measures”. Using the tee-square, mark all of your pieces for the correct dimensions on the “clean side” of each. If you are cutting with a circular-saw allow for the distance from the side of the saw to the blade. On my saw this is 1-1/2”.

Subtract this measurement from the “over-all” dimensions of your finished pieces. This will allow you to lay the “saw-guide” on these marks and end up with correctly cut, finished pieces.

Mark all of the pieces as to what part and show the finished dimensions. The “blade cut” line shown in the above picture is for demonstartion only. I would normally just make the mark for the “saw-guide”.

Once all pieces have been marked with “saw-guide” lines, you can begin cutting.

Cutting
You will need to set the pieces on a support at a comfortable working height to make your cuts. I have a couple of portable work tables from Sears. They are perfect for building cages of this size and the height can be easily adjusted. You must be able to clamp the pieces to the support while cutting. Clamp the piece to the table leaving the edge being cut hanging over the support with enough clearance to allow the blade to pass cleanly past while lending some support to the saw. Usually an inch past the “saw-guide” mark is enough to do both. With the tables I have, I can use the same clamps to hold the “saw-guide” and the piece simultaneously.
Line the “saw-guide” up with the guide line and clamp at both ends.

When you are ready to cut, pull the blade guard back and lay the saw againts the “saw-guide” with the blade well back from the piece to begin the cut.

Use only minimal pressure against the guide while making your cut. Let the saw do the work and move at a steady pace using both hands on the saw. I was holding the saw and taking the picture with my other hand. The reason you only see one hand! Lingering too long could cause the acrylic to melt from the heat generated. This isn’t so critical when using the circular saw, but will be when cutting out the door and screen opening with the scroll (jig) saw. Always wear saftey glasses! Here you can see how the guide line allowed the cut edge to be at the correct dimension:

Once you have all the pieces cut to size, you can set aside the back and bottom as nothing further needs to be done to them until you are ready to start assembling the cage. The sides, front and top will need to be marked for drilling vent holes, cutting openings and/or drilling holes for your perch supports.

The Top
The top will have an opening for ventilation and a CHE dome. If you intend to use a radient heat panel, you could just drill vent holes instead. The opening will have an aluminum screen cover that will be glued in place. I also glue acrylic pieces over the screen to cover the frayed edges and lend support to the dome.

Since the top is a square, you can choose any edge as the “back edge”. Make sure to label the back edge on the piece. Using the tee-square, make marks at 2” and 11” from the back edge. From the side, using the tee-square, draw a line at each mark across the piece. Make a mark at 6-1/2” from each side. From the back edge, draw a line at each mark with the tee-square. You have now “framed out” the area to be cut out for the opening.

Using the 5/16” acrylic drill bit, drill holes in each corner of the area to be cut out. These holes will give you a starting point for the scroll-saw blade.

You must use scroll-saw blades specifically designed to cut acrylic. They come two in a package and are color coded green and gold. The green blade is for material thicker than 1/8”. If you are thinking, hum, why not use 1/8” material? Been there, done that. You are wasting your time and money as 1/8” acrylic is much too thin and flexible for cages.

Buy several packages of blades in case you break one. The gold blade is totally useless. If you try using it, you’ll just get mad as the saw cut fills back in with melted acrylic. Dum dee dum. Ok, now that you’ve tried the gold blade, hopefully on a piece of scrap, install the green blade in your saw .
To cut out the opening, you will have to clamp the piece to a support with the line to be cut hanging over the edge for blade clearence. I actually use both of my tables for this, leaving the line to be cut between them and clamping the piece to both tables. After each cut is made, unclamp and turn the piece to line up the next cut and reclamp, until you have completed the cut out. You may need to go back and trim off any excess from your lines.

The Front
Cutting out the door is going to be the hardest part of building these cages. Unlike cutting the screen opening in the top, where the cut out piece was scrap, you are going to use the cut out piece as the actual door. Care must be taken to avoid mistakes. You might even want to buy a 24” x 24” piece or two of ¼” plywood to practice on.

Using the tee-square, make a mark 3” in from all four sides. Draw lines at each mark to frame out the door.

Using a shot glass or similar radius, mark the curves in each corner of the door.

Now you will have to drill a couple holes, very close together on the side of the door where the hinges will be located. Drill these holes, using the 1/8” acrylic bit, directly on the line in a location where the hinge will cover them. This way they won’t be seen.

You must get them really close as you will use the drill bit like an end mill to
join the two holes. To do this you put the drill bit in one of the holes and while running the drill push or pull the bit towards the other hole. It should easily break through to the other hole, leaving a slot for the scroll-saw blade.

As with the cut out on the top, you need to secure the front on a support to make your cuts. You must have a scrolling feature on the saw to allow you to make the curved cuts.

Take your time cutting out the door! Remember you can clean up the edges after the cut with a file and vibrating sander. The gap left after the door is cut will add to the ventilation, so the holes that you will be cutting in the side pieces can be kept to a minimum.

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