What? You're out of 3/4" PVC?!?!

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
DurocShark

DurocShark

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Messages
3,622
Location
Anaheim, CA
Lowes was out of 3/4" PVC. I wanted to play with PVC molds. Sigh.

I looked over and saw black plastic pipes. I have no idea what they're made of but it was a whole buck more for the 4ft length I bought so I thought I'd give it a shot. I grabbed a couple of PVC plugs as well.

I put in the threaded plug and sprayed inside with mold release. I then cast a test run. Didn't stick to the sides at all. I unscrewed the PVC plug and the resin was attached pretty hard to the PVC, but it didn't stick at all to the black plastic.

It came out great.

:cool:
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I like the idea of the PVC molds. The irrigation pipe works good too. Less waste, less time turning round. I have used it for the Alumilite test runs so far and no problems.
 
So, is this ABS rigid or flexible? Do PVC fitting work or does it use different fittings? Sounds like it would be advantageous to use if the resin doesn't stick.

John
 
jedgerton said:
So, is this ABS rigid or flexible? Do PVC fitting work or does it use different fittings? Sounds like it would be advantageous to use if the resin doesn't stick.

John
Click to expand...

Some pvc fittings work, some don't. Different wall thickness it seems. I used a pvc threaded plug and it worked fine.

What got me was how tightly the resin stuck to the pvc and not the abs even though I used mold release on the whole thing.
 
yeah that is wild, but with a bandsaw, it almost seems like it would be handy. Or if you could "tap" it off without damaging the blank.

For me though, half the fun is getting the blank to round, then stopping the lathe to take a quick peek at what was hiding inside. I have been lucky. All of my blanks look good on the outside, but they look AMAZING on the inside. It is cool to watch the patterns emerge as the blank gets closer and closer to final size. The waste issue of course is a different story. I am a pretty small time operation though, so it's not too big an issue yet.
 
DurocShark said:
Some pvc fittings work, some don't. Different wall thickness it seems. I used a pvc threaded plug and it worked fine.

What got me was how tightly the resin stuck to the pvc and not the abs even though I used mold release on the whole thing.
Click to expand...

Don,
I have used a large threaded rod as a "tap" to get the stuck casting out of the PVC before. I just turn it upside down and have the rod hit the garage floor jrring the casting loose. No cracks...either in the casting or garage floor.
 
Thanks.

The resin only stuck to the pvc plug I was using. With such a small surface area I was able to just snap it off. It was an interesting comparison with all things being equal. Same resin, same mixture, same casting, different plastics (pvc vs. abs).

I'll take some pics this weekend if I can't find my triple-square tool. If I can find that I'll be working on CV joints on my bus instead.
 
I didn't know they made 3/4 inch ABS. ABS is sewer line and I think the smallest is 1-1/2 inch. You might have some other type of pipe there. I only bring this up since I am sure others will be looking for it. I know that here electrical conduit is grey. I'm wondering if you wound up with something like that.
 
Daniel said:
I didn't know they made 3/4 inch ABS. ABS is sewer line and I think the smallest is 1-1/2 inch. You might have some other type of pipe there. I only bring this up since I am sure others will be looking for it. I know that here electrical conduit is grey. I'm wondering if you wound up with something like that.
Click to expand...
It's labeled sewer line.
 
I think it is the stuff they use for irrigation risers. It is a thicker wall than just the standard PVC. I was at HD last week and saw that they had cut pieces of PVC and threaded ends of the Irrigation pipe. If it was sewer pipe it wouldn't be that small of a diameter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom