PVC, polyvinyl chloride, is a thermoplastic. It softens with heat and rigidifies when it cools again. While soft, it can be bent and even stretched into molds. Cold, it can be sawed, filed, drilled, scraped, or whittled with a knife.
PVC material can be found at most hardware stores in the form of plumbing pipe. I find it to be inexpensive, especially when I consider all the things that can be done with it -- musical instruments, repairs, tools and toys to name a few.
It is resistant to sunlight damage, has a degree of flexibility, is fairly strong, and is electrically non-conductive.
This is a very valuable material for use in inventions; one that very few people seem to be have experience with.
The picture below shows some of the shapes it is possible to make with PVC.
PVC material can be found at most hardware stores in the form of plumbing pipe. I find it to be inexpensive, especially when I consider all the things that can be done with it -- musical instruments, repairs, tools and toys to name a few.
It is resistant to sunlight damage, has a degree of flexibility, is fairly strong, and is electrically non-conductive.
This is a very valuable material for use in inventions; one that very few people seem to be have experience with.
The picture below shows some of the shapes it is possible to make with PVC.
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Signing UpStep 1: Safety while heating PVC
We love plastics for what they do for us, but plastic manufacture and decay tend to pollute the environment and negatively affect our health.
Vinyl Chloride, one of the components of PVC, is carcinogenic. When it is locked up in the polymer, however, it is much safer to be around. In my years of experience working with PVC, I have not noticed any adverse effects on my health from being around it.
Always work in areas with good ventilation. If you do get caught in a cloud of smoke, hold your breath and move to clean air.
When heating PVC with a gas stove or propane torch, try not to let it burn. Smoke from burning PVC is bad. With experience one burns it less and less. Don't panic the first time you do burn some. It scorches, but doesn't immediately burst into flame. Move the material away from the flame and try again. Don't breathe the smoke. Smoke avoidance comes naturally for most people.
While heating PVC over a gas flame, keep the plastic an appropriate distance from the flame to avoid scorching the surface before the inside can warm up. It takes time for heat to travel to the center of the material being heated.
Keep the plastic moving, and keep an eye on the state of the plastic. When heated, the PVC material is flexible, like leather. Beyond this stage, you risk scorching it.
A word from James, the plastic engineer -- "Just a word of warning, PVC can handle some high heats but if it catches fire, you wont be able to put it out, it does not need oxygen to burn so don't do this inside".
I do work inside, but my house is made of cement and has good ventilation. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOOD VENTILATION. PLAY WITH FIRE -- CAREFULLY.
Vinyl Chloride, one of the components of PVC, is carcinogenic. When it is locked up in the polymer, however, it is much safer to be around. In my years of experience working with PVC, I have not noticed any adverse effects on my health from being around it.
Always work in areas with good ventilation. If you do get caught in a cloud of smoke, hold your breath and move to clean air.
When heating PVC with a gas stove or propane torch, try not to let it burn. Smoke from burning PVC is bad. With experience one burns it less and less. Don't panic the first time you do burn some. It scorches, but doesn't immediately burst into flame. Move the material away from the flame and try again. Don't breathe the smoke. Smoke avoidance comes naturally for most people.
While heating PVC over a gas flame, keep the plastic an appropriate distance from the flame to avoid scorching the surface before the inside can warm up. It takes time for heat to travel to the center of the material being heated.
Keep the plastic moving, and keep an eye on the state of the plastic. When heated, the PVC material is flexible, like leather. Beyond this stage, you risk scorching it.
A word from James, the plastic engineer -- "Just a word of warning, PVC can handle some high heats but if it catches fire, you wont be able to put it out, it does not need oxygen to burn so don't do this inside".
I do work inside, but my house is made of cement and has good ventilation. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOOD VENTILATION. PLAY WITH FIRE -- CAREFULLY.
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In the opening photo with the black background, see the domed shapes above the knife to see the kind of stretch you can get from it. You can make male and female molds out of wood, or other materials. Heat up some PVC and squish it between the mold halves to stretch the material to the shape you want.
What is the curved horn for? A musical instrument? If so, you can get useful straight conical horns by using x-ray film. (Free for the asking sometimes at hospitals.) Once you clean the image off with a metal scouring pad and water, and let it dry -- silicone rubber sticks it together very well.
It was fairly heavy, in part because of the wood. Not very easy to row. About the best thing about it was that it only needed a few inches of water.
A fine experiment, but not worth repeating.
This was a fun experiment, well worth doing, but maybe not worth repeating.
It was OK to play around with in flat, quiet water, but waves and wind made it hard to make any progress. It would probably be better to just buy a kayak.
I heat formed the front of the pipes like boat prows to cut the water better. I sealed them with epoxy. Then, the pipes were stuffed with Styrofoam as insurance if any leaked and filled with water. The back ends were then plugged with heat-formed PVC plugs I made and sealed with epoxy. PVC cement sticks pipe together well only if there is a good socket joint. Butt joints are weak, because the cement doesn't stick that well. I felt that epoxy stuck better, and filled gaps.
I made other boat designs, including one kind of like a log-shaped boat cluster of pipes that you sat on like a horse. Nice idea, but didn't work all that well. The flat raft configuration worked better. Any pipes that are out of the water are not supporting weight, just adding to it. A raft is a raft, not really a boat, and is not as maneuverable as a boat.
I did another pontoon boat idea that came apart in fairly mild sea conditions. The kind-hearted, and who knows maybe drunk, boat captain who came to rescue me could have chopped off my feet with his propeller if he came any closer -- another risk of boating.
This row raft with a seat idea was good for very shallow and calm water, but in other situations it was not very good.