Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

Dspdrew's Formicarium 06 Research and Design (Updated 11-26-2023)

formicarium container out world enclosure how-to diy design nest dspdrew tutorial

  • Please log in to reply
177 replies to this topic

#41 Offline nurbs - Posted June 18 2017 - 3:33 AM

nurbs

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,630 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles

That looks great!


Instagram:
nurbsants
 
YouTube
 
California Ants for Sale

 

Unidentified Myrmecocystus

https://www.formicul...ls-near-desert/

 

Undescribed "Modoc"

https://www.formicul...mp-ca-5-4-2017/

 

Camponotus or Colobopsis yogi:

https://www.formicul...a-ca-1-28-2018/

 
Camponotus us-ca02
https://www.formicul...onotus-us-ca02/

 

Unidentified Formica

https://www.formicul...l-ca-6-27-2020/

 
Pencil Case and Test Tube Formicariums
https://www.formicul...m-and-outworld/
 
Bloodworm Soup
https://www.formicul...bloodworm-soup/


#42 Offline SoySauce - Posted June 18 2017 - 4:43 AM

SoySauce

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 300 posts
  • LocationSanta Monica, CA
Wow! Put me down for 30 of them! :)
  • RapaNui likes this

#43 Offline Kevin - Posted June 18 2017 - 5:54 AM

Kevin

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 833 posts
  • LocationSouth Jersey

So, that's what you needed the discs for. What's the white circle with the nipple in the middle for?


Edited by Kevin, June 18 2017 - 6:01 AM.

Hit "Like This" if it helped.


#44 Offline dspdrew - Posted June 18 2017 - 9:49 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Wow! Put me down for 30 of them! :)

 

Haha I bet you're probably serious too, right?

 

 

So, that's what you needed the discs for. What's the white circle with the nipple in the middle for?

 

I take it you haven't read any of this thread before. It's a tile used for hydration.


  • T.C. likes this

#45 Offline Kevin - Posted June 18 2017 - 10:24 AM

Kevin

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 833 posts
  • LocationSouth Jersey

So, that's what you needed the discs for. What's the white circle with the nipple in the middle for?

 
I take it you haven't read any of this thread before. It's a tile used for hydration.

 
No, this piece: 
 
med_gallery_2_255_506412.jpg

Hit "Like This" if it helped.


#46 Offline dspdrew - Posted June 18 2017 - 10:37 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Oh that's the silicone mold.



#47 Offline Kevin - Posted June 18 2017 - 11:28 AM

Kevin

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 833 posts
  • LocationSouth Jersey

Oh that's the silicone mold.

 

Pretty neat idea, must make it much easier to produce.


Hit "Like This" if it helped.


#48 Offline FormicForeman - Posted August 22 2017 - 11:17 AM

FormicForeman

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 15 posts
How do you manage to cut such perfect time circles?

I got some bisque rules and can barely manage square cuts.

#49 Offline sgheaton - Posted August 22 2017 - 12:06 PM

sgheaton

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 933 posts
  • LocationMinnesota

A+ Drew.


"I'm the search bar! Type questions into me and I'll search within the forums for an answer!"


#50 Offline dspdrew - Posted August 23 2017 - 6:59 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

How do you manage to cut such perfect time circles?

I got some bisque rules and can barely manage square cuts.

 

Diamond hole saw bits.



#51 Offline soulsynapse - Posted September 25 2017 - 6:30 PM

soulsynapse

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 387 posts
  • LocationSoCal

Working on a newer version.
 
med_gallery_2_255_398777.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_721551.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_43833.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_23719.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_506412.jpg

 
 
Now this is a feat, are you adhereing sand to PLA? I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at
Come join 3,400 other ant keepers on the Antkeeping Discord

14,000 messages a day

Friendly and helpful :D

#52 Offline dspdrew - Posted September 25 2017 - 6:41 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

That was sand glued to PLA with spray adhesive for the purpose of creating a silicone mold with a sand texture.



#53 Offline Chicken_eater100 - Posted September 26 2017 - 12:17 PM

Chicken_eater100

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 127 posts
  • LocationKS, Leawood

Working on a newer version.
 
med_gallery_2_255_398777.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_721551.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_43833.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_23719.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_506412.jpg

is that gonna be your only model cause it looks rather ugly.

#54 Offline T.C. - Posted September 26 2017 - 1:14 PM

T.C.

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,059 posts
Nothing more unfinished than a unfinished product. You must of skipped a few posts? They turned out like this.


  • ctantkeeper likes this
“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#55 Offline Chicken_eater100 - Posted September 26 2017 - 2:17 PM

Chicken_eater100

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 127 posts
  • LocationKS, Leawood

Nothing more unfinished than a unfinished product. You must of skipped a few posts? They turned out like this.
http://www.formicult..._255_113106.jpg

I must've missed that, but I prefer those plastic boxes in page 1 and 2.

#56 Offline AntsCalifornia - Posted November 19 2017 - 3:23 PM

AntsCalifornia

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 247 posts

What containers did you use in this project(water tank and container holding founding chamber)? Also, when you are talking about the tile in the middle that soaks water, what type of tile is it?



#57 Offline dspdrew - Posted November 20 2017 - 12:38 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
I stopped making the latest design for a number of reasons, mainly that it is just too much work. In a way I kind of like the older one with the clear nest more anyway.
 
Here I made another large one like the one I posted pictures of a long time ago, except this one is the latest design.
 
In this one the nest is twice the size of the nest in the starter formicarium, and the foraging container is three times as large. Obviously, the water tank will last about three times as long too. You could probably get about six months of hydration from this.
 
med_gallery_2_255_693173.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_618521.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_288457.jpg
 
med_gallery_2_255_175806.jpg
 
 
I also stopped using the 3D printed tile frame around the tile. I found that saturating the tiles with water before pouring the resin around them keeps it from soaking in anymore than about .5 mm, just the right amount to hold them in.
 
med_gallery_2_281_415547.jpg

#58 Offline dspdrew - Posted November 20 2017 - 3:10 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
So I discovered something strange that has me a little worried. I put the tiles inside little silicone donuts to hold them at the right height while the resin hardens as you can see here.
 
med_gallery_2_255_223353.jpg
 
 
Well I had some stuck in those rubber holders for a couple of months, and when I set them in a tray of water to saturate them before pouring the resin, I found that they didn't seem to be absorbing the water at all.
 
med_gallery_2_255_304903.jpg
 
 
I even put a small drop of water on the top of one of them, and as you can see in the picture, it just beads up. The tile on the right was not inside one of the silicone holders, and is still absorbing water as expected.
 
med_gallery_2_255_157039.jpg
 
 
Well this baffled me at first, but the more I think about it, it's possible the tiles might have soaked up some of the release agent left behind on the silicone. That presumably would get in the tile, and keep water out, effectively making them hydrophobic. The only thing is number one, I really though I would have washed them after making them, but I really can't remember, and number two, how could that tiny of an amount of residue cause the entire tile to no longer absorb water at all. Whatever it is, I really need to know, because that can be a huge problem. This explains why a couple of my little starter formicariums I made a while back weren't absorbing water, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.
 
To try to get to the bottom of this, I setup a little experiment. I washed one of those silicone donuts really well, making sure to remove any residue it might have had on it. I took anther one that I suspect has residue still on it (if the tile didn't already soak it all up.. let's hope not). I put tiles in both of them and let them sit for almost a month.
 
Well, the results have only left me far more confused. As you can see in the picture, the one marked "D" is the dirty one, and the one marked "C" is the clean one.
 
med_gallery_2_255_199424.jpg
 
 
After sitting for five minutes, why on Earth would the dirty one be the one still absorbing water, and the clean one be the one beading up now? I can only assume I got the silicone donuts mixed up some how, but I was extra careful to make sure that didn't happen. Since I no longer have any of the dirty ones, I can't really do this again, so I guess I'll just do another experiment with a clean one only, and if the water still beads up, then something else is causing this.

#59 Offline dspdrew - Posted January 19 2018 - 9:48 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Well it's definitely true; the perfectly clean tiles are no longer absorbing water after simply sitting for a month, squeezed inside a silicone donut, so somehow, the silicone must be causing this. I have no idea how silicone would cause something like this, unless there is something about addition curing silicone that is allowing the leaching of some substance into the tile, making it hydrophobic. I am now conducting more tests that include cured silicone calking to see if there are any differences between the two.



#60 Offline Kevin - Posted January 20 2018 - 6:15 AM

Kevin

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 833 posts
  • LocationSouth Jersey

Drew,

 

This problem could be the tile you purchased and not correlated to silicone. I noticed that one of two tiles I purchased from Michaels did not absorb water at all and had a very very slight color difference from the ones that do.


Hit "Like This" if it helped.






Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: formicarium, container, out world, enclosure, how-to, diy, design, nest, dspdrew, tutorial

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users