Mounting on vertical bars

[chris686]

I've got this cage:

Prevue Pet Flight Cage - Cages & Stands - Bird - PetSmart

Space-wise, it's great for the price. I had my young green cheek in there, and I've moved her to a larger cage, but now I'm using this cage for my two finches.

I'm having a hard time getting everything mounted how I want, and it would be so much easier if I could mount stuff front to back, but the majority of bars are vertical, which leaves very little flexibility for mounting.

I was able to work around it with my conure, but it's much more bothersome with the finches.

Are there any suggestions or ideas on how I could mount on the front and back of the cage where there are no horizontal bars for support? Surely some others have been faced with this dilemma.

 

[weco]

It depends on what you are trying to mount, but yes, there is mounting hardware for most anything you'd like to mount.....posting pics of what you're trying to mount, is much better if you want decent suggestions.....

 

[henpecked]

I assume you want to mount perches . The easiest way is to cut to length.Don't worry with cutting slots and sliding on to cage bars. Instead drill a hole in each end of the perch and use a screw with a finish washer to hold it into place.

 

[weco]

.....and use a screw with a finish washer to hold it into place.

Hmmm, 'finish washer'.....do those come with coniffling pins for quick removal HP?

I've used 'fender washers.' but guess I'll need to get some 'finish washers' for the workbench.....

 

[henpecked]

Finish washer are sort of volcano shaped, the beveled head of the screw fits "inside" for a finished look.I like them because they seem to clamp better to the cage bars than the fender washers. That and they look neater, most are SS. Come to think about it, they are used mostly in marine application and may not be common to inland areas. Maybe check at Ace hardware.I'll be glad to send you a couple if you haven't seen them before.

PS no sweat weco, i'm used to enlightening engineers,LOL

 

[JDlugosz]

Trim Washers, Washers, Fasteners - McFeely's - Wood & Deck Screws
you can see the shape from this page.

You put the finish washer on the outside? A screw would drop in and look finished in the usual way for that part, but a lag screw coming out of the cage and topped with a wingnut doesn't seem to fit with that idea.

So what is the full hardware situation you describe?

 

[henpecked]

Yes i put the finish washer and screw on the outside. They also make a furniture clamp bolt ( i think that's right) It has wood screw threads on one end and standard bolt threads on the other end. You thread the wood screw end into the wood and use a nut or wing nut on the standard threaded end. I cost more ,especially in SS. The simplest/cheapest is the SS screw with the finish washer IMO. I sell tons of parrot perches and tha'ts how i do it unless someone wants something special. The only time i use lag bolts is on heavy macaw perches .

 

[weco]

PS no sweat weco, i'm used to enlightening engineers,LOL

Thanks JD, but had HP said 'trim washer' or 'cup washer,' I probably wouldn't have had to dust off so many cobwebs, then to, I don't normally shop for my hardware at the local chandlers HP, so, thank you for a refreshed enlightenment HP.....

 

[JDlugosz]

That's what I was thinking of: wood-screw on one end, machine screw on the other. Optionally a thin unthreaded hexagon in between the two threaded lengths.

Most of what I've seen have this kind of double-ended screw — I searched around 'till I found them; they are not listed under screws at all but under bolts. I remembered that part, anyway.

Hanger bolts have wood-screw threads at one end, and machine threads at the other. Screw one end into wood, and the exposed end provides a machine threaded stud. Bolts 2" and longer have an unthreaded center to make installation easier
​

Anyway, most of what I've seen have a hanger bolt attached, with two large fender washers and a wingnut. One washer goes inside, one outside, clamping two adjacent wires when tightened.

So how does the finish washer work instead? Certainly a flat-head screw in the (external) finish washer would look better and not snag things like the wingnut, and I would not mind using a screwdriver. But that sounds like the perch or whatever has a threaded insert.

I'm in urgent need of some nice perches and stuff for my new baby. Shoot me a PM with your store info, if I read correctly that you make and sell such stuff.

The trouble in general with a long perch that is anchored on two ends is to get the length exactly right, or the angles of the ends (with perpendicular hardware), or both, just right. I might just have to cut and mount the big perch(s) on the spot. That also makes it harder to re-arrange stuff.

 

[chris686]

Well, I'm just thinking of anything in general, but yes, perches are what I had in mind.


In the spots I'd like to place a natural perch, which I make my own, there are no horizontal bars to stop the perch from potentially falling down. The natural perches tend to be much heavier, so there needs to be additional support other than the mounting hardware.

I did have a bit of an idea, though. In the case of the finches, they don't chew so much, so I could run a wire across the back of the cage somehow, supported by the horizontal bars on the side. I'm not sure how or what I'm going to use at this point, but that's all I've got right now.

 

[JDlugosz]

Just make sure the clamping mechanism grabs the two wires uniformly and securly and it can't slide down. If pain fender washers isn't good enough even if you carefully ensure both wires are grabbed uniformly and evenly, get something else in between there like rough teeth or padding. A nylon washer that's compressed against the wires which bite into it, perhaps.