Building a Flow Loop with Clear Rigid Plastic Tubing and NPT Threads We were recently contacted by a Ph.D. student working on a multi-phase flow problem. The application called for a clear rigid tubing flow loop that would maintain a circular shape under pressure with...
Circular Bend
A Spanish museum contacted us to see if we could fix a work of art. The actual artwork is an elaborate set of collars that connect small-diameter tubing bent on a tight-radius circle. They sent us a sample of an acrylic tube. Acrylic is famous for cracking, crazing,...
Whenever I hear of a "circle within a circle" I think of the bizarre description of deity in Ezekiel Chapter 1 (well, in his case it's a wheel within a wheel). In our case, it's a prototype. And it was a challenge. We were to produce an air-tight, water-tight...
Mandy McGarrigle, an emerging young fashion designer, requested a clear plastic hoop as an accessory in a fashion show. She needed a 1" OD tube with a thin wall bent upon a 12.625" center radius. We are used to providing prototypes and we went to work on her bend....
In July we received a print to bend tubing for a trade-show coffee roaster display. We had two weeks to meet a deadline. We elected to make the bends out of a 3" OD butyrate tubing with a .125 wall. The bend radii were as tight as 8" CLR. Dry ice worked as the...
Recently we had a request to make circular and helical small diameter bends for a lighting project. We designed special heaters for the project and made our prototypes with clear, transparent CAB (butyrate). The trick is proper annealing. We not only heat our bends to...
The Knock Knock children's museum in Baton Rouge is set to open this August. We are delighted to have participated in one of the principle attractions, the pneumatic tube carrier exhibit. Designed by Zaphod Beeblebrox, the helix consists of a a spiral of 60 degree...
The year was 1975. While a student at Bucknell I had a little business on the side. It was called "Last Rush" and the slogan was "Use the right tool for the job." I made hundreds of "tubular items" and sold them to head shops and to people via mail order. I would...
We are privileged to participate in a helical bend for a children's museum in Baton Rouge. More later as this develops. The helix (hexagonal) has a 96" radius and composed of (CAB) cellulose acetate tubing (4.125"ID). Model 1 and support circle.Ideas on...