Mysterious raids around the world

If anyone finds 80mm dia. white translucent tubes longer than 6' / 72" / 1.8m please let me know. After a bunch of research seems the two manufactures I have found do not make the tubes longer except by special order with a minimum $2,000 dollar order.
 
Bird said:
I talked to a manufacture of these tubes.
They are made of polystyrene.
Manufacture representative said a good way to connect the tubes end-to-end is a product called MEK.
Click to expand...

I got the same recommendation from the tube company I talked to. He did say that MEK is controlled and might be hard to get. I'll have to check on that.


Update:
Found this on welding Polystyrene:

- 1,2 Dichloroethane: Y
- Acetone: Y
- Cyclohexanone: Y
- Dichloromethane: Y
- MEK: Y
- Methyl benzene: Y
- Tetrahydrofuran: Y

westy27 said:
Bird , I just used a heat gun to test how easy it would melt and bend. It was very easy and only took
About 5-10 secs at 600 degress. Next test will be the sand compacted in it as I have also heard that is the best way. First of all I need to build a decent jig up for my arches.
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Did you have a chance to try the sand method yet?
 
I am a little late on this one.
Just phoned a Tint A Car, to pick up my first lot of 60" tubes.

Think I have found another project for the 3d printer.
End caps and Joiners.

Great find Bird.
 
Some members are looking at bending the tubes with air pressure as in this YouTube video clip.

DIY - Bending PVC Pipe with Air Pressure - HenryWitecki.com (Cataclyst) and Chris Powell

The only problem with this method is that the tube needs to be sealed at both ends prior to heating and injecting of the compressed air. In the film clip a rubber compession bung is being used, I have found a similar compression bung which appears would do a similar job. I havn't tried this but can see why it shouldn't work.

http://www.haron.com.au/mechanical_test_plugs.html

And there available from your local Bunnings store.


Steve
 
Made the first of my 2012 Columns/Fireworks/Roof Lights .. Think I am going to use as columns though , maybe 8 - 12 of them on the corners of my house. I found the easiest way to join the tubes was simply a good quality super glue and using an off cut split to wrap around and glue the join . Once they are lit up its hard to see it anyway..

Column Prototype

Column Prototype
 
Dang, but those things are BRIGHT! What pixels are you using?
Click to expand...

Im actually using these dumb modules from Ray Wu
http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209889132-423204013/promotion-5050-SMD-RGB-LED-module-DC12V-input-waterproof-20pcs-a-string.html
18 of them in pairs to make 27 channels . Going to run each one off
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/378111925-Easy-DMX-LED-controller-dmx-decoder-driver-wholesalers.html

Makes for a really cheap display item @ $13.14 ea plus controller @ $44.21
 
Went to Bunnings today to find the plugs to seal the tube... no luck with them but did find some 80mm downpipe blocking rubbers. These are a nice tight push into the the tubes.
Under $5 each (rip off really) i grabbed a couple to try out.


I thought let's just plug the end of a 20" tube and see if the heated air itself provided enough pressure.... Now there is good news and bad news.
The blocking plugs provided a nice air tight seal, evidenced by the bad news bit where once the tube was hot enough to bend the pressure actually caused the tube to expand outwards and still didn't allow me to bend it in a semicircle.
So tried a 50" tube... basically the same result. Seems like the walls are too thin to provide support for the air pressure when hot enough to bend.


What did seem quite possible is that it may be quite practical to form a long arch from joined tubes if you can get the long tube uniformly heated.


Phil
 
Have you tried hot water ?
I used hot water to bend small acrylic tube easily , not sure how it would go with such a large diameter though.
 
I just spent a couple of hours trying to bend these using various methods, sand, hot air etc.
It appears the walls arent thick enough to hold any sort of shape once you heat them enough to bend, with the sand the walls actually buckled outwards so unless someone has some sort hot roller set up where they can keep pressure on both the inside and outside of the walls while heating and bending then I reckon were stuck with straight pipes :-\
 
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