What cannot you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe could be seen along most streets here and appears to be one in all Thailand's most ample un-natural assets. A wide variety of different connectors can be found and other than carrying water additionally it is used as a cheap development materials that can be used to make every thing from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and store signs. In fact on the web you can even discover another very cool and inventive issues made from (non-blue) PVC pipe including: Halloween costumes like Ben Hallert's Matrix APU and Aliens Exo-skeleton Power Loader, one other energy loader costume, single and multi-guitar Guitar Hero stands, a laptop computer stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below you will find, in chronological order, some of my own (largely original) creations made from PVC water pipe including: Zappify mosquito zapper - a Marshmallow Shooter, Plumbing, Soccer Goals, - a Cricket Wicket, - a Basketball Hoop, Bookshelf Supports, - a Water Pipe Tron Controller, Zappify Bug Zapper Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, - a Wiimote Holder, - a DIY Wii Zappify Bug Zapper, - 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, - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, - a Tank-sport (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and - a Trident.
This was the venture that began my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter whereas I was in Australia but the fittings were prohibitively costly (see the picture right). Fortunately they're very affordable right here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and 6 x elbows. Cricket (to not 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-diploma elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation dimension piece of plywood that we found lying round and we used inexperienced duct tape bug zapper for patio the markings. Although the ring is not robust sufficient to dangle off, the facet helps make it sturdy enough bug zapper for patio normal play. They also give it a really Star Trek feel and I feel the ring looks not not like the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is perhaps essentially the most straight ahead use for PVC pipe on this 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 connected to a computer via a hacked USB joystick.
Yow will discover more details about how I made the controller on this undertaking web page and i've also prolonged the identical idea to play GL-Tron utilizing real motorbikes. A college student who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, mentioned "That's Ok however I prefer to play driving games". It got me thinking and over the following week I spent my evenings constructing a PVC racing automobile controller - basically a wheel-much less, PVC go-kart frame connected to the pc by way of a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai university students who saw the primary automotive needed to understand how it all labored and six of them came around one Saturday and we spent the whole day hacking joysticks and constructing a second car. By connecting them both to a laptop and a data projector we were able to play cut up-display Daytona USA. You can find extra particulars in regards to the design and building of the vehicles on this mission page. The white workplace desk I used for the virtual pinball machine wasn't high sufficient to be played comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and a couple of x elbows - partially to assist air movement but mostly to carry my display screen up because the spring in the hinge has broken. As straightforward as this stand looks, the "L"-formed upright section is actually a part of an air-conditioner mount for an information projector that I made for one of the virtual pinball table installations. The T-piece isn't glued and so in a small way (a really, very small manner) I prefer to suppose that if the air-conditioning mount have been ever needed again then the parts may re-mix in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or Power Rangers MegaZord-like method. After all if that occurred my laptop computer screen would fall down. I do not own a Nintendo Wii however I did handle to get my palms on a Wiimote in order that I may try out a few of Johnny Chung Lee's cool projects. This is a Wiimote mount I constructed using a size 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 cut in order that it matches properly into the ridges down the side of the Wiimote which holds it securely. This is screwed onto a T-Piece which has additionally had its prime lower off. The joint between the two topmost elbows will not be glued so the angle of the highest part could be adjusted. These sections are merely cable-tied onto the front of the motorbike handlebars and the players squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to turn left or proper. A mercury change can be mounted on the right handlebar so the accelerator can be used to offer enhance within the game and as much as 4 bikes could be related to the pc through a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright during play and a half-round of bamboo is wedged underneath the again tires to stop them from rocking. This is a music stand made from three completely different sizes of pipe.