Custom cab build on a budget - progress so far... - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

Bra1nstorm · #1 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 04:49 AM

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to start my first grow in the next couple of weeks and have been building a new cab on a very tight budget, so far so good. The main structure is built and painted white inside (gonna try and post some pics below), it has two areas and measures approx 4ftW-2ftD-3ftH. Nearly all the wood is recycled from skips, the local college being a great supply of materials as they chuck away a crazy amount of decent wood, complete waste really but it suits me at the moment. The white paint was left over from decorating and i've got various other bits and pieces I can make use of.
I want to get set up as cheap as poss but understand some corners just cant be cut, lights being the obvious one at the moment. I might have a 400w hps light on its way to me but thats not certain plus I'm wondering if that is to big for the space it's going in. Can't seem to find any reasonable priced CFL's here in the UK, nothing over 20w in all the usual stores where as in the US they're like $10 for a 42w in most DIY stores, more like £45 from specialist shops here.
Anyway I'm hopefully gonna make a homemade carbon scrubber from one of the great tutorials once I've worked out exactly how the exhaust will flow, haven't made any holes yet, going for passive air intakes using 11/4 inch plastic waste pipe, just not sure on what exhaust fan will be needed, was thinking PC fans but if I use a 400w hps might need something with more guts?
Any advice/comments are much appreciated.
Here's the pics of things so far....
Cheers Bra1nstorm

Hatch · #2 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 05:03 AM

Ya Bro, If You Put A 400w. In There It Will Need To Be In A Cooltube Pushing & Pulling Air Through It, & It Might Still Be To Hot???

Maybe A 250w HPS, With Some CFL's For Side Lighting??,,That Might Be Easier To Keep Cool??

Bra1nstorm · #3 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 05:17 AM

Yea, thats what I thought, the 400w hps was a possible freebie which would be great but I thought heat would be hard to manage even with a cooltube.
I'll look out for a 250w and keep looking for some cheapish CFL's.
cherers

justanotherbozo · #4 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 09:06 AM

high man, good to see ya and good to see your pics. ...if you can still get that
400 as a freebie, get it, i promise you, once you grow and smoke your first
bud, you'll want to upgrade, lol.

a particular tip i wanted to give you is to suggest that you get your self a gallon
of elastomeric paint for the inside of your box.
i suggest it because it is easy to find, highly reflective and cheap to buy at $16.00 USD
per gallon, plus, it's rubberized so it's waterproof and it's even mildew resistant.
if you go to Lowes or Home Depot it's in the roofing dept. as it is made
to seal trailer roofs and such.

anyway, i've also included a few links that i think you'd find helpful, sadly
they are all at ICMag, a site not worth hanging at but it's so big there is
much useful info. ...pay particular attention to the last link as it is to a
page of the most useful builds and DIY's contained on the site, many
different cab designs and DIY's for all sorts of stuff.

Understanding air flow - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

DIY - Build a Carbon Scrubber For Dummies! - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

DIY pro style carbon filter - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

Marijuana Stealth Cabinet (NGB) - as seen on OG - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

Compact SOG with CFL's - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

ICMAG'S OFFICIAL ~DIY~ LINK-O-RAMA - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

justanotherbozo · #5 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 09:09 AM

...and here is a link to a good deal on CFL lights at Amazon.

Amazon.com: GE 26 Watt Energy Smart CFL - 6 Pack - 100 Watt ouput: Home Improvement

GreenGoblin · #6 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 10:37 AM

Looks great so far! I agree about it getting a bit hot in that box for a 400. Also, I would try to make that box as light tight as possible. I had a light leak on my flower chamber last grow and ended up with a few hermies as a result. The door is the tricky part.. but you can usually build a "lip" around the inside of the door frame to block the light a bit.

Bra1nstorm · #7 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 06:03 PM

Cheers all for your comments,
those links are well handy thanks bozo,

Been working on the doors today which is a quite a task to keep any light escaping, think I'm almost there after putting a lip inside the doors, cheers GG, just need some foam/sponge draft excluder stuff.

Latest pic below...

justanotherbozo · #8 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 07:30 PM

looks good man, and you're welcome for the links, those are only a few of
the hundreds i waded through when i first started out, lol.

and i figured, if you were anything like me, you'd want to know why and not
just how, lol.

anyway, here's a shot of the lip i put around the doors of my flower box.

OMINOUS_ICABOD · #9 (**permalink**) 08-07-2009, 03:03 AM

Very good post!! I am constructing my new cabinet to its funny cuz mine is nearly the same size!! Except i made mine tallwise,, and 1 chamber,,
4 1/2 ft tall,, 2 ft deep, and 3 ft wide,, lol small world,,, i am just in the painting stages now to after cutting intake an exaust holes,,

i got 2 6 in, fans im gna run im hopin there good enough,, ..
Im gna work more tomorrow and post sum pics if i can,, good stuff keep in touch an keep me updated,,

Bra1nstorm · #10 (**permalink**) 08-07-2009, 09:57 AM

Cheers Ominous, Be good to see some pics of yours, I wanted to go higher with mine but I'm limited for space at the mo, if all goes well with this grow I've got another space I could use if need be which is 6ft W, 2.5ft D & 4.5ft tall but I'll see how I get on with this one first.

I've been meaning to post an update but I haven't managed to find time to do much more work on the cab due to finances, my limited budget is going up all the time.

Gonna try and get on with it today as I've now got some AK48's from nirvana delivered this morning, very stealthy & quick, so looking forward to getting started.
current state of build in pic below

OMINOUS_ICABOD · #11 (**permalink**) 08-08-2009, 01:55 PM

awesome,,, i to am a carpenter so this is fun for me.. lol are u in us??
i spent sum time also adding lips around where the doors close to tryan light tight it i hope it works and prolly gna encolse around the fanholes with cardboard an tape to keeplight outfrom those spots.. hope it works out,, im gna tryan get sum pics this evening an post up.. peace..

OMINOUS_ICABOD · #12 (**permalink**) 09-04-2009, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bra1nstorm

Cheers Ominous, Be good to see some pics of yours, I wanted to go higher with mine but I'm limited for space at the mo, if all goes well with this grow I've got another space I could use if need be which is 6ft W, 2.5ft D & 4.5ft tall but I'll see how I get on with this one first.
I've been meaning to post an update but I haven't managed to find time to do much more work on the cab due to finances, my limited budget is going up all the time.

Gonna try and get on with it today as I've now got some AK48's from nirvana delivered this morning, very stealthy & quick, so looking forward to getting started.
current state of build in pic below

good stuff,, my cab is jusabout finished,, i started a post with pics but itgot lost due to site switch over,, but this week i start germin so ill gett pics an let u know ,, crazy ifi tipped my cab on its side it be urs,, but i jus got thr 1big bay,, anyway get at u soon,, keep us posted!!

Hatch · #13 (**permalink**) 09-04-2009, 04:36 AM

Looking Good, You Have Done A Great Job On Your Craftsmanship!!!! Alittle More Fine Tunning & You are Ready To Fill It Up!!EH!!!

Bra1nstorm · #14 (**permalink**) 09-06-2009, 04:02 AM

Cheers for looking in guys, I haven't posted anything for a while although I have been here reading others when I get chance. I've been pretty busy getting ready for 6 months Interferon treatment for Hep C, which I started on Tuesday. At least I'll have more time on my hands even if I do feel like crap.

So my cab has evolved quite a bit and it's actually got something in it

Four out of five seeds germed, three of which are doing fine and one seems to of struggled to keep up since day one. It just stopped for ages once its first set of true leaves were showing.
I'm going to start a journal now I've got more time, been taking pics throughout to document it.

I'm not really happy with my set up which is my own fault as I was a bit to keen to get started and hadn't tested things properly, been making modifications since and got an on going battle with high temps. The saying "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" comes to mind

Couple of more recent pics....
Cab extension which gained a good foot in height
& the girls at 17 days from germination....