Thread: Keeping PVC pipes Straight

Tweet

Hi,

As many of you know i have three crucified Buckys that i put up in my display. My Crosses are made from a 2x4 and a 10' PVC pole wrappend in cheesel cloth and painted black (takes away from the shininess of PVC).

Anyways i had my skeletons up for about 3 weeks and by the time i took them down my PVC poles had a considerable amount of bend to them. Is there a way i can harden them up so that they do not bend?

Thanks,

Nick

put some rebar through them

10ft of rebar is pretty heavy and expensive. Any other ideas?

PVC pipe is not designed to support its own weight, much less with additional weight draped off of it. When used properly you are expected to use pipe clamps every 2-3 feet.

You could perhaps try pre-stressing them by getting a length of wire, running it through the tube and then tensioning the wire to give the tube a bend in an upward direction, then, when you add your drapes it will become hollow.....

however..... when it comes to 'cheap' why not just use wood?

I guess I dont fully understand the use of pvc along with a 2 x 4 as I dont think I have seen pictures of this. But why not just all 2 x4? Seems like a fairly inexpensive route to go.

The reason i chose to use the PVC was because its hollow inside. Now what i do is i take a Fence Post and hammer it into the ground. Once its in the ground about a foot i slide the PVC over the top.This hides the fence post and allows for me to turn the crosses and have the skeletons facing different ways.

I put my PVC posts in the same way by sliding it over a fence post..

For something that tall, I'd look at metal conduit, or chain link fence rail. Maybe you can find a size that will fit over the fence post and still be small enough for your PVC to slide over it...

You could build a base like this: IMG_2834 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!. I just used 1x2's. With the 10 feet I would probably go 2 x 4 for the extra weight and run them out at least 4 feet each way. I will admit that your way with the fence post sounds like a better way of concealing things, but if you want it sturdy and easy to move around I would say go with 2 x 4's.



Alternatively you could run rope from different sides of the cross to help anchor it down. Obviously that brings you back to the concealing issue. I think the rebar suggestion is going to be the win win on all sides of this. Could even try to go with 5 or 6 feet of rebar. Maybe just having strength half way up would do the trick.

depending on the DIA.of the pvc I have three thoughts one is get some closet rod (fat wooden dowel) and put that inside the pvc that will help with the bend.second idea is sand ,plane,cut or what ever the corners off a 2x2 so the square 2x2 is now more like an octagon shape then put that inside the PVC.Third on would be drill a hole up inside a 2x4 and pound a lenght of PVC into it or use hose clamps and mount the pvc to some 2x4.

i Was thinking about using Conduit since its cheap, light, and easy to work with.