What cannot you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe may be seen along most streets right here and appears to be one in all Thailand's most considerable un-pure assets. A wide variety of different connectors can be found and apart from carrying water it is usually used as an affordable construction material that can be used to make every part from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and store signs. Of course on the internet you may also discover another very cool and artistic things made from (non-blue) PVC pipe including: Halloween costumes like Ben Hallert's Matrix APU and Aliens Exo-skeleton Power Loader, another energy loader costume, single and multi-guitar Guitar Hero stands, a laptop computer stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below you can find, in chronological order, some of my own (mostly unique) creations made from PVC water pipe including: - a Marshmallow Shooter, Plumbing, Soccer Goals, - a Cricket Wicket, - a Basketball Hoop, Bookshelf Supports, - a Water Pipe Tron Controller, Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, - a Wiimote Holder, - a DIY Wii Zapper, - a Workbench, Real-Tron Controllers - a Music Stand Puzzle Bobble Coffee Grinder Controllers, - a Netbook Treadmill Hook, CD/DVD Holders, Official Zap Zone Defender - a Nightstand/shelves, - Push Up Bar/Handles, Fake Legs, - a Hilbert Cube, - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, - a Tank-recreation (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and - a Trident.
This was the project that started my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter whereas I was in Australia but the fittings had been prohibitively costly (see the picture right). Fortunately they're very affordable here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and 6 x elbows. Cricket (not to be confused with Brockian Ultra-Cricket) is Australia's nationwide sport performed with a bat, a ball, and two wickets. 6 x T-pieces, and 12 x 45-degree elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation measurement piece of plywood that we discovered lying around and we used green duct tape for the markings. Although the ring isn't strong enough to dangle off, the side helps make it sturdy sufficient for normal play. In addition they give it a very Star Trek really feel and I think the ring appears not in contrast to the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is probably the most straight ahead use for PVC pipe on this web page. 2 x 25mm to 18mm (1" to 1/2") reducers, 2 x custom motorbike hand-grips, four x push-buttons, and a mercury swap that are related to a pc by way of a hacked USB joystick.
You can find more particulars about how I made the controller on this venture web page and that i've also extended the identical idea to play GL-Tron using actual motorbikes. A university student who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, Zap Zone Defender said "That's Ok but I prefer to play driving video games". It got me thinking and over the following week I spent my evenings constructing a PVC racing car controller - primarily a wheel-much less, PVC go-kart body connected to the computer via a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai university students who saw the first automotive needed to know the way it all labored and 6 of them came around one Saturday and we spent the whole day hacking joysticks and constructing a second automobile. By connecting them both to a laptop and a knowledge projector we were in a position to play split-display screen Daytona USA. You will discover more details concerning the design and development of the cars on this mission web page. The white workplace desk I used for the digital pinball machine wasn't excessive sufficient to be performed comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and Zap Zone Defender 2 x elbows - partially to aid air move but mostly to carry my display screen up because the spring in the hinge has damaged. As simple as this stand seems to be, the "L"-shaped upright part is definitely a part of an air-conditioner mount for Zap Zone Defender a data projector that I made for one of many digital pinball table installations. The T-piece isn't glued and Zap Zone Defender Setup so in a small method (a really, very small means) I prefer to think that if the air-conditioning mount have been ever needed again then the components may re-mix in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or Power Rangers MegaZord-like manner. After all if that occurred my laptop display screen would fall down. I don't own a Nintendo Wii however I did manage to get my hands on a Wiimote in order that I might check out some of Johnny Chung Lee's cool initiatives. This is a Wiimote mount I built using a size of 35mm (1 and 1/4") pipe, some 18mm (1/2") pipe, 3 x T-items, and Zap Zone Defender Setup four x elbows.
The 35mm pipe has been minimize so that it fits nicely into the ridges down the facet of the Wiimote which holds it securely. That is screwed onto a T-Piece which has additionally had its top minimize off. The joint between the 2 topmost elbows is not glued so the angle of the top part can be adjusted. These sections are simply cable-tied onto the front of the motorbike handlebars and the gamers squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to show left or right. A mercury swap can also be mounted on the best handlebar so the accelerator can be used to offer enhance inside the sport and up to 4 bikes can be connected to the computer by way of a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright during play and a half-round of bamboo is wedged beneath the again tires to cease them from rocking. This can be a music stand made from three different sizes of pipe.