What can't you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe may be seen alongside most streets right here and seems to be considered one of Thailand's most abundant un-pure sources. All kinds of various connectors are available and aside from carrying water it is usually used as an affordable development material that can be used to make all the pieces from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and shop indicators. In fact on the web you too can discover some other very cool and creative issues 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, mosquito killer a laptop computer stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below you can see, in chronological order, some of my own (largely authentic) creations made from PVC water pipe together with: - 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 bug zapper for backyard, - a Workbench, Real-Tron Controllers - a Music Stand Puzzle Bobble Coffee Grinder Controllers, - a Netbook Treadmill Hook, CD/DVD Holders, - a Nightstand/shelves, - Push Up Bar/Handles, Fake Legs, - a Hilbert Cube, mosquito killer - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, - a Tank-game (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and - a Trident.
This was the venture that started my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter while I used to be in Australia however the fittings were prohibitively costly (see the picture proper). Fortunately they are very reasonably priced right here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and 6 x elbows. Cricket (to not be confused with Brockian Ultra-Cricket) is Australia's national sport performed with a bat, outdoor indoor bug zapper insect zapper a ball, and two wickets. 6 x T-pieces, and 12 x 45-diploma elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation size piece of plywood that we found lying around and we used green duct tape for the markings. Although the ring isn't sturdy enough to dangle off, the aspect helps make it robust sufficient for regular play. In addition they give it a very Star Trek feel and I think the ring appears to be like not in contrast to the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is probably the most straight forward use for PVC pipe on this page. 2 x 25mm to 18mm (1" to 1/2") reducers, Zappify Bug Zapper 2 x customized motorbike hand-grips, four x push-buttons, and a mercury swap which are related to a pc through a hacked USB joystick.
Yow will discover extra particulars about how I made the controller on this undertaking page and that i've additionally extended the identical thought to play GL-Tron utilizing actual motorbikes. A college pupil who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, mosquito killer stated "That's Ok however I like to play driving video games". It acquired me pondering and over the next week I spent my evenings building a PVC racing automotive controller - primarily a wheel-much less, PVC go-kart frame linked to the computer via a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai college students who saw the first automobile wanted to know the way all of it labored and six of them got here round one Saturday and we spent the whole day hacking joysticks and constructing a second automotive. By connecting them both to a laptop computer and mosquito killer a data projector we had been capable of play cut up-screen Daytona USA. You could find more details concerning the design and construction of the vehicles on this undertaking page. The white office desk I used for the virtual pinball machine wasn't high enough to be performed comfortably.
1 x T-piece, mosquito killer and a couple of x elbows - partially to assist air move however mostly to hold my screen up as a result of the spring within the hinge has damaged. As straightforward as this stand mosquito killer seems to be, the "L"-shaped upright part is definitely a part of an air-conditioner mount bug zapper for camping a knowledge projector that I made for one of the virtual pinball desk installations. The T-piece isn't glued and so in a small way (a very, very small means) I wish to think that if the air-conditioning mount were ever needed again then the components may re-mix in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or Power Rangers MegaZord-like method. In fact if that happened my laptop screen would fall down. I don't own a Nintendo Wii however I did manage to get my fingers on a Wiimote so that I might try out some of Johnny Chung Lee's cool initiatives. This can be a Wiimote mount I built utilizing a length of 35mm (1 and 1/4") pipe, some 18mm (1/2") pipe, three x T-items, and 4 x elbows.
The 35mm pipe has been minimize in order that it matches properly into the ridges down the aspect of the Wiimote which holds it securely. That is screwed onto a T-Piece which has additionally had its prime lower off. The joint between the 2 topmost elbows will not be glued so the angle of the highest part might be adjusted. These sections are merely cable-tied onto the front of the motorbike handlebars and the gamers squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to turn left or right. A mercury swap can be mounted on the fitting handlebar so the accelerator can be utilized to supply boost within the sport and up to four bikes might be related to the computer by way of a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright during play and a half-spherical of bamboo is wedged beneath the back tires to stop them from rocking. This can be a music stand made from three completely different sizes of pipe.