Ok so some more updates, didn’t get nothing done this past weekend, had family come over to watch the super bowl on my big screen, lol. They used me! J/K. Ok so got some more work done today, yay:) I built the basking and sleeping branches today and was able to start drilling the slate rock. Here’s the pics......
This first pic is the main basking branch with a sleeping branch attached to it.
Top view, you can see one of the slate tiles to be used as a base in the back ground....
This next pic will be the short horizontal branch that will be attached to the same base as the basking branch.
This is the two pieces setup as they will look in the tank.
I cut the long branch into three pieces to be used as the support branches for the basking and sleeping branches. This is the third branch that will be on the other side of the tank, attached to its own slate rock. This branch will stick out of the water on one end.
I used the coated all weather screws to attach the branches together and will use these same screws to attach the bases. They are the same screws I used to build the first basking branch Toku currently uses. I wet the wood to help keep it from cracking. It seemed to work good except in one spot.....
Here is the screws, I will post a better pic of the screws since the flash whited this pic out....
So now on to the drilling of the slate rock. I never done this before but it seem pretty straight forward and is turning out pretty good for a first. I first cleaned the slate with a rinse of the hose and used a wet towel to wipe it. I got a drill bit made for drilling slate. As you will notice in the requested pic, I wet the slate to allow lubrication. This first pic shows the measurements I made from the support branches to the slate for drilling.......
Next I wet the slate for drilling and did my first hole:)
And finally I got my first set of holes drilled, yay! A success!
Here you can see I made the holes about an inch apart....
I will post pics of the branches in the tank, hopefully I can finish drilling the forth hole and attach the branches and put the first pieces in the tank tonight:) Stay tuned, more to follow.....Keep on, keepin on! Turtle Turtle