tube size =/= pipe size
1. Are these dimensions of clear poly tubes the same as their counterpart white SCH40 PVC tubes that you can buy from Lowe's?
2. Slug, the tube you used here is the thin-wall version, correct? And it'd be similar to SCH 40 1 1/2" thin-wall PVC?
I've almost completed a homemade and would like to make a second version with clear PVC. But I need to know if they are the same thing, and also which of these dimensions is actually the 1" thin-wall we normally get from a hardware store? Are those the same products as the ones in the first link?
No. Pipe does not come in sizes that match the actual dimensions. The only one that has measurements that actually come close to the size designation are 3" and 4" sizes of pipe. YOU ARE NOT going to be able to substitute any of the parts of the plunger or plunger tube with plumbing parts.
The plunger tube has 1/16" thickness walls. It's not similar to the dimensions of any pipe product. SCH40 1-1/4" pipe is close and is going to have an OD of 1.66" and an ID of 1.364" but the dimensions are far enough off that it's unusable.
Transparent PVC is nothing like polycarbonate in terms of material properties, mechanical properties, or cost effectiveness. I wouldn't recommend using transparent PVC at all because it's just so ridiculously expensive (it's TWICE the cost of polycarbonate per cubic inch).
There are NO PARTS of the +bow that you can reliably obtain in the quantities you need from chain hardware stores. I sourced everything from Mcmaster because I did not want to have to run around to local stores looking for things and I didn't want to have to deal with the fact that my Home Depot doesn't stock the same parts as your Home Depot.
Edited by CaptainSlug, 16 February 2008 - 03:23 AM.
The little critters of nature, they don't know that they're ugly. That's very funny, a fly marrying a bumble bee. I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me. Why didn't you believe me?