Metal grow cabinet build for 1st grow

I've been hanging around RIU for a while now and learning alot from the great people on here and i've been in planning stages for a while now slowly building up my supplies until i was ready and educating myself in the mean time.

Well i've got all the ingredients now its time to get to work
(might be a slow process since i work two jobs and have a lil one to care for)

I started with a sandusky metal cabinet measuring 72" x 18" x 36"

Problem was those shelves were welded in there and didn't want to come out!
Thought i'd have to rent a plasma cutter but tried cheap fix first
dremmel tool with metal cutting disc, not made for big jobs think i burnt thru 4 or 5 disc so far.

Got a lot done this weekend. if anyone has any suggestions along the way i'm open to them. i'm a newb. but i've got my grow bible, my light, my seeds, my soil, and my girl who needs the medicine so i'm motivated.

Wearing my Attitude Seedbank Shirt and listening to John Doe Radio while i'm working


Shelves all out
and i removed too many
got too ahead of myself.
Anyone who is planning to use a similar sandusky cabinet don't remove the middle shelf like i did... that is what the door lock latches onto
Rookie mistake #1

I left the top shelf to use it to support my little fan and for something to hang my light from. Also the cabinet need the inner support of the shelf from to be stable so i cut out the center. A good sized hole since i'm hanging my carbon scrubber above this shelf i wanted good airflow thru it.




marked and cut this "U" Shaped hole close to the bottom of the cabinet. I made it sized so that the replacement carbon filters for my little house febreze/hamilton beach odor filter will cover the hole They block light well and i believe they will be porous enough to let air move and being active carbon should help stop smell leaking out bottom of my cabinet. I left the flap to direct the airflow down so that it will work around the plants and not just straight up to the scrubber and out.

Do you guys think its needed or should i remove it to give myself more space for plants in cab? i will have a clip fan to move air around the cab and promote stronger stems so can i do without this flap to direct airflow?

i'll post a pics of all my supplies and hit you up with the overall plan soon out o time for now

Interesting. I looked at some metal cabinets a while back and was wondering whether a Dremel would cut through it. I read one thread where the guy used a plasma cutter (he actually bought it...then re-sold it later I guess), but I had no intention of messing with one of those at this point in time.

I'm sub'd and will be watching your progress...this could end up being a really cool grow cab.

Not sure if that flap will be needed there...I guess it depends on where your exhaust fan will be located. I would think that if it's located more toward the FRONT of the cab, the air would have to move through the plant area to get out....whereas if it's more toward the BACK, you might run the risk of air moving straight up and out of the cab without really circulating through the canopy. If I were you, I'd leave it on until you get everything set up and running...put as many plants as you can in there, and see how it operates. No sense removing it now when it might not hurt (other than taking up a little space along the back wall)...and may very well help. You could probly even push it in a little more later on if you need the space. Either way, taking it off later would probly be easier than putting it back on if you think you'll need it in the future.

How many plants do you plan on growing in there?

Is the back of that cabinet welded on pretty securely...or could it be removed easily? I was thinking that combining two together (back to front, with one back panel and one door removed) would make a nice solid 36" x 36" cab (for maybe a 600w hps). Might be a little expensive, though. As I recall, those metal cabinets aren't cheap...unless maybe I could find a couple used ones from an office furniture liquidation outlet or someplace similar. Did you buy it new or used?

I lucked out big time $45 on craigslist for the cab and they are built pretty well removing the back would be a pain in the ass! i just got the cheap little two speed dremel with the quick change bit top (it holds the disc better for high friction like cutting metal) Its not ideal and lil sloppy but gets the job done.

I cut a hole in the top left corner for venting out the scrubber. need it all in back for stealth reasons. want the cab to look normal at first glance from front

I'm planning to grow 2 to 4 plants at a time, just enough to supply my lady with her meds

PrezDickie said:

I'm planning to grow 2 to 4 plants at a time, just enough to supply my lady with her meds

Click to expand...

Gotcha. Should be the perfect size...and a stealthy, sweet looking cab when it's done.

I have an old Dremel in my garage. Haven't fired it up in years, but now you got me thinking about using it for another project. I have an old 150w hps hood...removed the ballast and need to cut off the ballast housing part of it to fit it in a smaller cab. Tried with a hacksaw for a few days, but only got partway through it. I think I'll pick up a fresh pack of those cutting discs next time at Home Depot....should cut thru that heavy gage steel pretty well.

PrezDickie said:

I'm planning to grow 2 to 4 plants at a time, just enough to supply my lady with her meds

Click to expand...

Sounds like you've got the right idea spacewise- I'm curios what your plans are for lighting- you mentioned having one- HID?

I did a smaller similar grow dresser, which used a series of CFL lights midway down to assist in canopy penetration as the plant got bushy. You might consider trying to add CFL lighting just because it's an easy cheap way to bushy up the plants a bit.

Following this- although the dresser from above is no longer with us, I miss those space constrained DIY days, where anything for an extra vertical inch counted (although your cabinet looks to have plenty)

I have a similar metal cabinet, and found that once the fan was running (I used a 5") ,the whole thing vibrated and rattled like crazy, making it way too loud for stealth.
My advice would be to line the inside with sticky-backed sound deadening rubber matting like they use in cars. (Dynamat is one of the better known brands)
It cost a fair bit of money to line the whole thing, but was definitely worth it!
Hope this helps!

I lined my cabnit with insulation with mylar on one side 2 for one sound and mylar

I've got a 180W Blackstar high output Led, and a small all red "grow spot" led (which i will add during flowing for that extra red spectrum bloom boost) for my above plant lights and i've got two fixtures to add Cfl side lights (5600k for veg and swapped to 2700k for flower) I'll get pics of that once i get em set up



I'm planning to germ with paper towel method on plate on heating mat but once that tap root shows i was thinking into jiffy pellets so they can build some roots and grow before the hit my soil

I've got Fox Farms Ocean Forest and a organic mix from my local grow shop i hear ffof can be a little "hot" for seedlings i haven't checked my bag to see what the ph is yet but i thought i'd mix the ffof with the local organic that doesn't have any nutes in it about 50/50 with just a dash of perlite mixed in

What do you guys think?

maybe i'll run an experiment and do a side by side 1 pot with pure ffof and 1 with the mix? i've got four 5gal Smart Pots and i'm going to start by germing 4 seeds fully expecting one or two not to make it. Since i'm a newb after all

when I transplant I use FFOF and just around the plug I use some seed starter to soften the blow of the rich dirt
FFOF is some good shit

rasvial said:

Sounds like you've got the right idea spacewise- I'm curios what your plans are for lighting- you mentioned having one- HID?

I did a smaller similar grow dresser, which used a series of CFL lights midway down to assist in canopy penetration as the plant got bushy. You might consider trying to add CFL lighting just because it's an easy cheap way to bushy up the plants a bit.

Following this- although the dresser from above is no longer with us, I miss those space constrained DIY days, where anything for an extra vertical inch counted (although your cabinet looks to have plenty)

Click to expand...

yea i'm thinking my actually grow hight inside the cab should be good, will be mostly indica strains after all, that the meds that help the lil woman, although i've got some more sativa heavy freebies that i might have to try at some point. i can always lst the plants

And i am planning CFL side lights probably two, one in each lower corner of the cab i'm thinking 200w equivalent bulbs to really help out the lower branch buds

becarful the cfls can burn your leaves if they grow into it and do make heat as well but you should be good with that fan

Green Dave said:

I lined my cabnit with insulation with mylar on one side 2 for one sound and mylar

Click to expand...

Where did you get that insulation with mylar???

I've got some mylar to line cab but i am worried about noise

Green Dave said:

becarful the cfls can burn your leaves if they grow into it and do make heat as well but you should be good with that fan

Click to expand...

Thanks dave, i think my lights will be below the plants so they'd have to grow down to get into the cfl's but with my led above not making heat and my space being a little on the cool side i'm hoping those cfl's will warm the cab to just the right temp

Lowes or Home Depot foam with mylar on one side
Cut to size and use aluminum tape on the seems

FillerBunny said:

I have a similar metal cabinet, and found that once the fan was running (I used a 5") ,the whole thing vibrated and rattled like crazy, making it way too loud for stealth.
My advice would be to line the inside with sticky-backed sound deadening rubber matting like they use in cars. (Dynamat is one of the better known brands)
It cost a fair bit of money to line the whole thing, but was definitely worth it!
Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

i'm planning to hang my odor scrubber to help control noise and vibration but i was thinking of puttin the entire cabinet on a rubber shock absorbing mat, Think that would help without having to line the whole cab with sound board?

Green Dave said:

Lowes or Home Depot foam with mylar on one side
Cut to size and use aluminum tape on the seems

Click to expand...

Didn't see anything like that at my local shop but i didn't know it was around i'll check into it! Thanks! +Rep!

Well after reading over the post I was excited to see someone else using metal cabinets as I am really enjoying mine. First thought I had is that if you need to make cuts in the future you can also use a metal grinder, throws alot more metal but gets the job done in a fraction of the time.
I don't have the noise problems that ppl keep refering to but I think this has alot to do between cabinets thicknesses and the way the fans are mounted as well as the maker of the fan itself. I"m using a 6" Vortex with insulated ducting. The only noise I get from the fan is the airflow that comes out of the end of the duct, which your going to have if you are moving large amounts of air

As for the foam insulated board any lumber yard should carry it but you would probally have to ask for it as it would be out in the yard. Although I think if you mount the fan rigidly and don't let it touch the outside of the cabinet directly. I put a piece of 1 in. foam cord that I cut a split into and slipped it around the exhaust hole and pushed the fan up agianst it then used aluminum tape to seal it up. I used the mounting bracket it came with, after pushing it into place, mounting it to the bottom of the shelf just like yours. Check out the link in my sig perhaps it will give you some ideas and if you have any questions at all. Feel free to ask.....