#washdowncages

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Part 12: Paneling

  Pretty self-explanatory, 16ga 304 stainless tacked into place with a TIG.

Finished Cages

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 2: Bushings For Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 3: Frame Welding Begins

Washdown Cages Part 4: Door Frames

Washdown Cages Part 5: Prison Bars

Washdown Cages Part 6: Removable Side Panels

Washdown Cages Part 7: Flip Up Stops

Washdown Cages Part 8: Door Latches

Washdown Cages Part 9: FRP Floor

Washdown Cages Part 10: Catching Shit

Washdown Cages Part 11: Pan Drain

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Part 10: Catching Shit

  In this post, a large piece of stainless and a couple of end caps make the ultimate sacrifice and dedicate their lives to catching shit.

Finished Cages

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 2: Bushings For Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 3: Frame Welding Begins

Washdown Cages Part 4: Door Frames

Washdown Cages Part 5: Prison Bars

Washdown Cages Part 6: Removable Side Panels

Washdown Cages Part 7: Flip Up Stops

Washdown Cages Part 8: Door Latches

Washdown Cages Part 9: FRP Floor

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Part 6: Removable Side Panels

  To make working with the animals easier, I decided to make the side panels removable. They are laid out and welded with the same spacers that were used in the previous post on the door bars, but are bookended by 1/8″x1″ stainless flat bar. 

Finished Cages

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 2: Bushings For Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 3: Frame Welding Begins

Washdown Cages Part 4: Door Frames

Washdown Cages Part 5: Prison Bars

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Door Video

  Here is a short video showing the operation of the door latch and the swinging stops that allow the door to swing inward.

Finished Cages

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 2: Bushings For Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 3: Frame Welding Begins

Washdown Cages Part 4: Door Frames

Washdown Cages Part 5: Prison Bars

Washdown Cages Part 6: Removable Side Panels

Washdown Cages Part 7: Flip Up Stops

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Part 13: Food Bowl

  Since pigs are notoriously good at breaking things, I thought it would be helpful to make a custom food bowl to go with each pen.

   The bowls are held in place by a stud that is welded to the back. This allows the bowl to be securely fastened to the end panel with a wing nut from the outside.  As you can see in the bottom picture, the two doors fold in to make a smaller working pen for the animals. The food and water are located on either end of this area to help get the animal into position.

Finished Cages

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 2: Bushings For Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 3: Frame Welding Begins

Washdown Cages Part 4: Door Frames

Washdown Cages Part 5: Prison Bars

Washdown Cages Part 6: Removable Side Panels

Washdown Cages Part 7: Flip Up Stops

Washdown Cages Part 8: Door Latches

Washdown Cages Part 9: FRP Floor

Washdown Cages Part 10: Catching Shit

Washdown Cages Part 11: Pan Drain

Washdown Cages Part 12: Paneling

[themochinist]

Research Lab Pig Cages:

  Buckle up for quite a few posts from the making of the pig cages pictured above. Apparently, the available “non-custom” cages were too small for our needs and custom cages from that company were going to cost around 30,000$. So for around 6,000$, I came up with what you see above. 

  Everything is stainless steel, except for the floor and wheels, and they are washdown ready. 

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

  I decided to make the cages with an offset door on both sides that can be swing inward to make a smaller trap pen to the side. To do this I needed a stainless hinge that swung both ways, and since I could not find one, I had to make my own.

  The hinges consist of a stainless coupling nut shimmed into the end of what will become the side of my door frames. Both ends of the tube get a nut to receive a shoulder bolt that will go through the top and bottom of the cages door frame.

  After TIG welding the ends, I used a jig on my Bridgeport mill to flatten the landing for the shoulder bolts and make them all the exact same length. 

Finished Cages

[themochinist]

Washdown Cages Part 11: Pan Drain

  If the stainless fitting you want it way too expensive, make it yourself. These two right-angle 1/2″ NPT fitting were made from some leftover pipe and an NPT coupler that I split in half. A little bit of lathe work to touch up the split coupler and some TIG welds made a pretty sweet exit for some pretty foul stuff.

Finished Cages

Washdown Cages Part 1: Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 2: Bushings For Door Hinges

Washdown Cages Part 3: Frame Welding Begins

Washdown Cages Part 4: Door Frames

Washdown Cages Part 5: Prison Bars

Washdown Cages Part 6: Removable Side Panels

Washdown Cages Part 7: Flip Up Stops

Washdown Cages Part 8: Door Latches

Washdown Cages Part 9: FRP Floor

Washdown Cages Part 10: Catching Shit