Collapseable melamine cage?

[equus_peduus]

I have historically moved relatively frequently (every 1-2 years), and I expect to move when my current lease is up in about 9 months (I'm getting a deal on rent now, and the lease says it'll go to market rate when renewed... which is a lot more expensive ). My current cage is a wonderful melamine cage built by Heidi... but it's heavy and a pain in the butt to move.

While I am generally capable of assembling things if given the parts and the tools, I am not so good at the planning (at least, not without trying it seventeen times first, usually in the most inefficient ways possible, with parts not quite fitting together because I forgot to take something into account). Thus, I am hoping that someone will be able to help me design a cage that incorporates what I love about this cage, and be take-apart-able for increased ease of moving.

Things I like:
- It's on wheels.
- It's got melamine walls.
- It's in two sections: the top is large, has multiple shelves, places for hammock and toys to hang, place for Flying Saucer, and has the shelves arranged such that I can split it into two cages if necessary using the metal pan. The top is a separate unit from the bottom, which was designed to be a maternity cage type of thing, but I generally use it for storage.
- The size (can't find measuring tape right this second... but about 2x3x4 feet sitting on top of 2x3x2 feet) - but bigger wouldn't be bad if it's move-able
- There's a door at the bottom of the big section for the pullout pan

Things I don't like: It's heavy and very awkward to move, especially when there is no elevator.

I have looked at Kindra's plans (spoiledchins.net - I did buy the plans at one point), the ChinBin plans (and have seen a modification of it in person - HUGE), etc... But all the melamine cages and cage plans I've seen seem to assume that once assembled, it'll never be moved any significant distance.

I will take pictures of my current cage at some point (probably after next cage cleaning), but basically... does anyone have any ideas for building a melamine cage that either isn't hugely bulky and heavy, or is take-apartable because it'd be easier (in terms of heaviness and space) to carry one wall at a time up and down stairs, rather than the whole darn thing at once?

If some amazingly cool building-capable person were to actually design plans that work, that'd be even better, and best, of course, would be someone who lives near me who wanted to build it, (yes, I'm willing to pay for these services); otherwise I'll steal my dad's tools at some point I have several months to figure this out, but would like to have it ready to go for the next move (i.e., might leave this cage behind if I can do the new cage in time for the move).

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I have melamine cages built from spoiled chins plans and I agree with you that not having them collapse is a pain in the rear. The only thing I can think of is you would have to utilize hinges in the design of the walls and make the top a flip top...I worry about the stability of the cage though if it wasn't properly screwed together. What if you just took out the screws and then screwed it all back together once you moved? May not work too many times though since it would strip the holes...:thinking:

 

[greychins]

Well I dunno if this is really helpful, but I just am not sure how feasible that would be. While you may be able to construct a cage that you could easily take apart and move... I think once you unscrewed all the pieces and screwed them back together a few times, you'd have issues with stability.

I have a melamine cage about the size of a QC townhome, and it took a TON of screws to put together. I'm just not sure a big melamine cage (which would also be collapsible and everything else you described), would really be all that moveable. I mean, maybe it's just me, but when I think of a collapsible cage, I think of like a QC, which folds down flat, and only like 6 zip ties have to be cut (and shelves taken out and such) for it to fold down. On the other hand, I'm sure I used at least 50 screws for my cage, so while you could probably build one that would break down, I guess I don't see it being very practical. Seems like you'd spend so much time breaking it down and putting it back together (with all that potentially weakening the stability in the process) that it wouldnt be worth it - you could just as easily build a new cage every time... Hope this made some sense...

And the bigger cages are heavy, I bet mine weighs at least 100-150 pounds. I just figure that when I move, I'll let the movers carry it out - they gotta get out all the big furniture anyway

 

[equus_peduus]

I guess I'm thinking about like my bed (which I will take pictures of later because I'm at work...). It's a nice sturdy twin bed most of the time, but it collapses into a pile of boards for transportation. The whole bed would suck to move, but it's easy to carry a few boards at a time. It's got these nifty thingybobs that hold it together - no unscrewing necessary - it uses the weight of piece A to hold piece B in place. I was hoping for a solution that doesn't involve unscrewing things, because as you say, after you've done that a couple times, you'll have to make all new holes. I'll try to take pics of my bed in the next day or two to give an idea of what I'm talking about...

 

[greychins]

Oooh that sounds nifty, I imagine if you could find a way to build a cage like that, then yes it would be feasible. I'd love to see pictures of that to see how it all works and fits together...

 

[shouts]

The reason the melamine cages are heavy is because they use melamine covered particle board - very heavy. Build a wooden frame of 1 x 2's, use 1/4 inch melamine panels and you have a lightweight cage that one person could carry easily.

Many have asked me for complete instructions, so I'm working on an ebook, but anyone who's built one of those spoiledchins monsters could easily figure this out for themselves.