PVC Innovation Features
How To: Make a Self-Watering Greenhouse
I've been hell-bent on complete self sufficiency for a long time now. There was a point where I was living in a self-sustaining community in the mountains in Colorado, and we had a very large greenhouse there. Dragging the hose around to water plants was a real pain, and that stuck in the back of my mind even after I left the place. It would have been much easier to integrate watering into the frame at construction time than doing that hose dance every day.
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: 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: Do-It-Yourself Foam Dart Guns - Really Nice
This guy is serious about home made dart guns. He's got some cool ones on here.
Build Outdoor Monster Props: Tutorial
It's a little late for Halloween, but I'm thinking about making a creepy lawn ornament for the Holidays. Nothing says Christmas cheer like something a little weird.
News: Monster Tubulum How-To - From Start to Finish
This video shows how the maker of that Monster Tubulum actually put it together. Between this, the FAQ on his blog, and a whole lot of intelligence, you'll have all the information and insight you need to put together your own super awesome PVC instruments.
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: 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: PVC Pipe Camp Chairs For Kids
These are cool!
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: I Hope This Doesn't Catch On...
A DIY car laptop mount that uses the cup holder... You think texting and driving is bad, wait until it's true multitasking and driving. Ouch.
News: Speedy PVC Pipe Sculptures
1000 words, or this:
News: PVC Skein Winder
This goes through to a how-to on how to make a skein winder. For the uninitiated, a skein is the default unit of thread, and it's that windy log that yarn comes in as well. With this snappy tool, you can wind your own skeins as well. If you combine that with the newspaper into yarn concept, you can make your own yarn and wind your own skeins when you're done.
News: 10 Things You Can Make for your Kids with PVC Pipe
10 self-explanatory project ideas you can expand on to bring your kids fun for less!
News: Baby Chicken Play Pen!
With some PVC Pipe and little mesh, you too can have backyard chickens!
News: Organic Structures, PVC and Powder Printing, and Architecture
I've had a few short chances to see 3d printing in action, namely at the World Maker Faire in New York this year, and I have to say, the technology is very interesting.
The Tabletop Demonstrator: A PVC Filmmaking Contraption
This video shows how to make a camera setup for filming what you're doing on a table. It's a great video even if you don't intend to make one, but if you're trying to teach someone how to do something, this is an awesome setup. Either way, it's entertaining to watch. The creator, Paco Warabi, says:
News: Costume Making Taken to the Extreme
This link drops into a middle page, but this guy has step by step photos of the whole process.
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: Bird Art for the Garden
Today, I'm on an art kick, and sadly (happily) I'm finding things that are cooler than the things I make. I love seeing waste turned into art!
News: PVC Pipe Trellis for Gourds
This is a vine trellis made using bent PVC Pipe.
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: Triple Helix Table
Here's a nice example of some snappy furniture that I've made with PVC.
News: Thrifty and Chic - PVC Pipe Mirror Frames
This is very similar to the PVC picture frame, but it's interesting enough to post it as well. I like circley [sic] patterns, and this little idea fits into that beautifully. This one also contains a better how-to than the picture frame article, so if you liked that concept but found her instructions a little hard to follow, this one is right up your alley.
News: Captive Tinkerer vs. PVC Pipes
These guys always make cool things, and when you give them a stack of PVC pipe, it is no exception. There's a rough how-to here that shows concepts without walking you through the actual projects they made. Very cool stuff.
News: DIY Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines take less horizontal space to operate, and they don't have to face any certain direction to work. Larger turbines are absolutely beautiful.
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.
Theo Jansen: The Art of Creating Creatures (with PVC)
Theo Jansen is really cool. If you dig around in the corkboard here, you can find another video about him. He makes amazing kinetic sculptures from PVC pipe, and has a wonderful artistic point of view. I just discovered this old TEDTalks podcast via Taylor Browning's site. Fantastic stuff, check it out:
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: Animusic Pipe Dream
This is amazing. The machine may not exist now, but someone needs to do this.
News: The Eight Element Table
This is a sort of supplement to the Four-Element Table, with the additional four legs added for stability. The pipes are squished flat at the ends and riveted on, allowing this table to bear a much heavier load without compromising style.
News: Super Powered Water Blaster
I really like home made squirt guns, and some of these people go completely nuts in their designs. Here's another.
News: Great Discussion on Finishing PVC
This forum has a discussion about painting PVC that has some opinions from very accomplished people, including Volpin Props. They go over primers, adhesion promoters, sanding and more, and if you see these people's work, they are the go-to guys for informed ideas on this subject.
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: Six-Foot Coat Rack
HA HA HA! Get it? Six feet! And six feet! HA HA HA HA HA!
News: Theo Jansen Again...
I know, I know, you've probably seen entries about Theo Jansen's Strandbeests here before, but this goes straight to his url and has the smoothest video I've seen of them yet.
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.