Summer Project

Occasionally, I get the mad notion that I can do a project. This spring I thought it would be a good experience for our children if we could get a pet. Geneen wasn't too keen on the idea, but some friends of ours had recently started raising rabbits. After talking with them, Geneen came around to the idea that a rabbit might not be that bad a pet.

Of course a rabbit needs a place to live, after looking online for a rabbit hutch to buy, I decided that I could design and make my own hutch. Thus the summer project began.


Google supports a software called sketchup. I had used this software before while designing a stepping stool for our bathroom, so I decided I'd use it to design my rabbit hutch. One Sunday afternoon, I sat down and came up with this design.

I sent it to my dad so that he could look over it, I also drew up a more detailed view, to kind of get a better idea of what the finished product might look like.

After talking with my dad about the design I tweaked it a bit, so that the slope wouldn't be so drastic.

When my parents came down to visit in May, I had my dad bring his compound miter saw with him. On the last day of their visit my dad and I made the first of my many trips to home depot, bought the lumber for the frame and built the frame for the hutch (the only thing I don't have a good picture of).

After the frame was built and stained, I slowly began acquiring and assembling the rest of the hutch. The first step I tackled was the wired parts of the hutch. I bought the wire at the IFA store. After I brought home the 9' role of wiring I set about measuring and cutting the pieces. The first piece I tackled was the bottom of the hutch. To cut the wire I used a regular pair of wire cutters. It took me about an hour to cut out the piece. On top of that, I oriented it wrong (after checking three times) while cutting out space for the 2x4s.

After nailing the piece onto the frame I took a picture and went to bed. The next day my hand hurt so bad. The muscles were bruised and tired. It had taken all the energy I had to cut through the wire, it was extremely difficult to do. Each cut took at least 1-2 minutes, and my hand felt it for weeks. After I recovered I went to Lowe's and bought this:

These wire cutters literally saved my life. These cut through the wire like butter. I hardly had to squeeze. This easily reaffirmed the principle of having the right tool for the job. I cut out the rest of the pieces in about 20 minutes.

The next step was framing and putting in the door. Here modeled by my lovely assistant, Geneen.

Well after waiting for my next payday it was time to buy the plywood for the rest of the hutch. This is where it really starting coming together.

I have to note, the center board, used to divide the wire area from the nesting box, was designed to slide into groves on the sides and the bottom. I created the grooves by tacking down square dowels. I was a little nervous about it all fitting together, but it slid in perfectly.

Finally the last thing I needed to do was finish the roof. Luckily, when we visited my parents in July, I was able to get some tar paper, so I didn't have to buy an entire roll. After choosing our shingles, I bought a package and finished the roof, while Geneen's parents were in town.

 

The finishing touch was adding the food and water dishes. Finally we were ready for a rabbit.

Overall I was really happy about how the hutch turned out. I've received a number of compliments on it. This is the first project I've really tackled on my own (from design to completion) that I felt really good about during the whole process.Of course I found things I wish I'd done differently, but overall it's held up extremely well. And of course, when all is said and done, it's a house for a rabbit.