Hot PVC Innovation Posts

News: Helical Stand

This one's freakin' snappy. I'll post a how-to for at least one of these once I have the time.

News: Dinosaur From PVC

This was designed and built by B. Rolph Kruse. He was the designer for all four of these projects, I just built the first three.

News: PVC 2 Person Bike

It's about the same thing as this except you can buy it and it's painted.

How To: Make a Self-Watering Greenhouse (In-Depth Tutorial)

I know it seems a little redundant to post this when I've already posted a video, but it is kind of hard to get more than a vague idea from the video alone. I hope this sheds a little more light on the subject. I'm sure it also seems like I'm beating this idea to death, but this one concept opens doors to further innovation. After I finish this article, I'm going to put another one up that shows a hinged, raised bed house and talk about some amazing things you can do from there.

News: Low-Cost DIY Hydroponics Systems

Not all of these involve PVC, but the majority do, and they all have their merits.

News: How to Make a Turkish-Style War Bow from PVC Pipe

This is a build-along for making a flattened PVC pipe bow. This style of bow made with PVC is more durable than the non-flattened kind, and looks more authentic. This bow, when finished, drew about 80# at 28".

News: The Amazing PVC Pipe Music of Kent Jenkins (aka Snubby J)

There's a ton of videos on the web of musicians playing homemade PVC instruments, but I just recently stumbled upon the impressive work of PVC pipe player Kent Jenkins, aka Snubby J. His most recent video features a duet with his faux-twin, playing "Wizards in Winter" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Turns out, he's been a PVC maestro for awhile now and even auditioned for his inspiration, the Blue Man Group, at the age of seventeen. Though he wasn't picked, they saw potential in him and aske...

American Speedster: The PVC Bike Car

I am completely fascinated with pedal transportation. Many of us have pedalable commutes that we end up driving just because we don't like bikes. There's a whole wave of do-it-yourself pedal vehicles, from the Hennepin Crawler down to vehicles like this one.

How To: Make a 4-Element Table with PVC Pipe

Now, I know what you're thinking... "I need an extra sexy coffee table that is like no other."

News: Super Cool Pedal Powered PVC Car

News: Breathing Life into PVC Pipes

Super cool DIY PVC skeleton from the Robot Group: "At this point it is not much more than a mannequin. With the recent acquisition of a lot of cool pneumatics, it should be possible to make a very interesting animated human..."

News: DIY Finderscopes For Telescopes - Very Cool

This is actually a forum page, but they're discussing making you own finder scopes and medium power telescopes. There's a lot of information here.

News: Time to Get the Bends, and I Don't Mean Diving Sickness

You're never going to see a project from me that involves straight pipe. You would have when I was a kid, but after too many years in the construction industry, I need to see a good finish. If the project doesn't look slick, I don't want to say I did it.

News: Baby Chicken Play Pen!

With some PVC Pipe and little mesh, you too can have backyard chickens!

MacGyver Would Be Proud: DIY Canoe from PVC Pipe, Duct Tape and Plastic

What would MacGyver do if he was stranded on a trash dump in the middle of the ocean? If he had the right supplies, chances are he'd come up with something very similar to this PVC and duct tape boat. C'mon, we all know MacGyver always has duct tape on him!

How To: Make Cool Sculptures with PVC Cut-Offs

PVC isn't something you want to send to the landfill. It's not going to do anything good for the ground when it's buried. It is also something you really, REALLY don't want to send to an incinerator. When burned, PVC releases some really nasty chemicals, including hydrochloric acid and dioxin.

News: PVC Pipe Pedal-Powered Porsche

Now how's that for alliteration? WOO! Anyway, this has already made the rounds, but if you haven't seen it yet, check this out. When you take a low-slung four wheel bike frame, a crap load of PVC pipe, miles of duct tape and about 1,000 hours, you, too can drive a Porsche without the high insurance payments.

News: PVC Pipe Picture Frame - Super Easy

This lady has a simple, easy to follow how-to for making cool PVC picture frames.

News: Serious Freakin' DIY Squirt Gun

OK, most of us remember the Super Soaker series of squirt guns. Probably all of us. What I didn't really know is that there are hardcore enthusiasts out there who have taken the whole thing to another level.

How To: Make a DIY PVC Spindle that Turns Newspaper Into Yarn

I have to admit that I am an environmentalist wacko. That may sound strange, considering my life is tied up in PVC, which is considered one of the most poisonous materials on earth... but it's true. I love this planet, and I want it to be inhabitable for as long as the sun is in this phase of its life.

News: The Cryptex - Combination Safe Made from PVC Pipe

This guy has figured out a really cool way to make a personal combination safe from PVC pipe. This is the ultimate stash box, and it can be scaled up or down to a variety of sizes.

News: The Toot-O-Phone - PVC Pocket Sax

This is the bastard love child of a clarinet and a saxophone. And it shows you how to make them.

News: Tom Price's PVC Cherry Blossom Forrest

Tom Price used nothing more than PVC pipes, nylon cable ties, and a large hot plate to melt together the blossoms.

News: DIY Rock Ledge for Shark Tank

This guy shows how he made a hidey hole for his sharks in a 300 gallon aquarium. Very cool.

News: Rick's Pipe Dream - Magnetic Motor/Generator

This is really cool. He goes pretty deep into the principles of magnetism before actually showing how his generator comes together and works. Great information.

News: PVC Pipe Bike Rack

Simple, yet snappy. This is another Rolph design put together by yours truly. Everyone needs a Rolph in their life.

News: PVC Pipe Easel - Self Explanatory

There's no how-to here, but I think anyone can figure this out. Great idea. I will probably make one for myself.

News: Amazing PVC Furniture - Art Meets Function

News: DIY Star Trek Mailbox Made with PVC

This is definitely the work of a Trekkie.

How To: Create a Manual Camera Lens with PVC Pipe

DIY Photography has an interesting tutorial on creating a focusing mechanism/lens for around $4. Combine two PVC pipes of different radiuses with a magnifying glass. Cool project.

News: Overhead Camera Boom Made with PVC Pipe

Overhead camera boom made with PVC pipe, from Dino at Hack a Week:

News: Robotic Unmanned Submarine

This is what happens when grad students start playing with PVC pipe. This stuff is really cool for prototype robotics applications. This article is a how-we-did-it as opposed to a how-to, but if you've got all of the crazy instrumentation and software that they do, you can start to play on levels that a lot of us (myself included) can't even imagine.

News: Eleven Super Cool Designs

Not all of these are PVC, but there is some serious design action going on here. This is not your average. A lot of the projects out there, mine included, have a childish, do it yourself-ish feel to them. These eleven designs are slick, beautiful and professional.

News: Make a Robot Witch Stirring a Hanging Cauldron

Halloween is getting close. I'll try not to be too gratuitous with this, but I love it. This article shows how to set up an animated framework that you can drape with your own costume to make a unique lawn ornament.

News: PVC Pipe Camp Chairs For Kids

These are cool!

News: Billboard Earthbag Project

This project is intended to reuse PVC that makes up the images on billboards and make them into houses for disaster and poverty stricken people. While the images are definitely cg mockups, the concept is awesome. I've personally been working on disaster relief shelters, but my concepts all involve using fresh PVC pipe. These guys have taken it a step further by taking vinyl sign material that is headed for landfills and recycling it into homes.

News: 7' Evaporative CPU Cooler

This is an excessive performance mod for a computer, but ecxessive is good in the computer world.