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Building A Run (Photo Diary) - Updated

snaisby

Warren Scout
When I found Otto as a stray way back in August 2009, my friends and I built a 6 x 3ft arc run for him out of the back of an old wardrobe and mesh (sounds awful but actually worked really well!). He and Bluebell still use that run when I come home for the holidays, but it got crushed by the ridiculous amount of snow this winter and never really recovered. So this week my Dad and I have been building them a new grass run from the bits of an old trellis seat in the garden :) hooray for more recycling lol! It's progressed loads so I thought i'd show pics so far, and show how its been built in case it helps anyone thinking of making a run :wave:

Started off with the green rectangular trellis thing in the centre-left of this pic:
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Unscrewed all the bits and ended up with lots of long pieces of wood. Cut some of them in half to make the short sides. Mitre cut all the ends (45 degree angle) to make the panels more sturdy. Here's the 'work area' (patio :lol:) with the bits laid out:
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My cat supervising:
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Cleaned off the years of algae, screwed and glued the wood into 4 frames for the sides:
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Rabbits observing the proceedings from old run + guinea pig run (have to add that on or can't get in to catch them!)
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Next, cannibalised the old run for wire mesh:
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Rabbits still waiting patiently in their much reduced run area
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"Hurry up human!" (Excuse his shocking moult line!)
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Panels finally meshed and bolted together. Measures just shy of 8 x 4ft, 2ft high :D
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Add bunnies to test:
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Weeeee!
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And this is where its up to now with temp roof, the big sheet of plastic will be cut into panels tomorrow to make the proper roof, I plan to have them inset into the top so i can just lift them off.
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Will update when it is all finishd :D hope that someone made it to the end of this epic post lol!
 
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Amazing! It looks fab, you lost me at mitre and 45 degree angles though :oops::oops::lol: when we move i'm going to extend Joejoe&jessies run, but think i might have to buy it though as my DIY skills aren't up to much and nor are my OH's (his toolkit consists of superglue :lol::lol:) I;m really impressed with yours, bet the buns love it :wave:
 
Heh thanks guys :) it's finished now, update very shortly.

paulinejoe said:
you lost me at mitre and 45 degree angles :oops::oops::lol: when we move i'm going to extend Joejoe&jessies run, but think i might have to buy it though as my DIY skills aren't up to much and nor are my OH's

lol a mitre joint is a joint where the ends are cut at 45 degrees so they fit together like this:

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ah go on, have a go at extending the run yourselves :D if i can do DIY anyone can honest, i'm a 24 yr old girl! you just need to borrow the right tools! :wave:
 
The run is finished :D roof done, pics:

Recycling another bit of the trellis seat:
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Knocked it all apart with a hammer (i stood on a rusty nail at this point :( ow) and cleaned it up
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Took a loooong bit of the old conservatory roof plastic
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Cut it up with a jigsaw (fun :D)
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Used the thin bits of wood to make a 'lip' around the edge of the run, then inset the plastic panels into it
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Hinged the middle of the roof and added rope handles for opening it and for dragging it around the lawn - et voila!
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Excuse my family in the background lol!
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Apparently it meets Otto's comfort standards :lol:
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Really pleased with how its turned out, it has already been rained on and stayed lovely and waterproof!
 
Love it....:D
I KNOW exactly what you mean about having a go yourself :D:thumb: Especially if you're starting out from scratch with little or no learning in this sort of craft. I love the little comments you've put like with the jig saw....'cos that's exactly where I'm coming from when I go on about my home made contraptions :lol:,hopefully encouraging those who can to have ago....top class :D

ps:- bought my first jigsaw a couple of months ago but am scared of it,:evil:, it has no 'neutral' -which I didn't realise at the time, and scared the :censored: out of me when I accidentally touched the 'go' trigger! now I have a mantra when I use it to unplug immediately!
 
Love it....:D
I KNOW exactly what you mean about having a go yourself :D:thumb: Especially if you're starting out from scratch with little or no learning in this sort of craft. I love the little comments you've put like with the jig saw....'cos that's exactly where I'm coming from when I go on about my home made contraptions :lol:,hopefully encouraging those who can to have ago....top class :D

ps:- bought my first jigsaw a couple of months ago but am scared of it,:evil:, it has no 'neutral' -which I didn't realise at the time, and scared the :censored: out of me when I accidentally touched the 'go' trigger! now I have a mantra when I use it to unplug immediately!

Hehe it's so much fun isn't it! Although a little scary at times, when i was using the electric mitre saw i was thinking how easy it would be to slice off a thumb :shock:the sense of satisfaction when you have made something is fab, it doesn't need to be shiny and perfect, it's still a great achievement!
 
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