Ideas on how to get some clear rigid plastic pipe (tube) locally.

[icemanxp300]

Inside diameter needs to be like 2 1/4" or bigger.

 

Basically I have this play wall I have been adding stuff to for my twin boys (just over a year now). I want to get some plastic pipe that they can drop some balls in and watch the balls roll.

 

I would love colored see through kind of like what a hamster would run through but all of that stuff has lines inside that would stop the balls from rolling.

 

I am thinking this is going to end up w/me having to order online. Just seeing if anyone has any ideas. I don't want vinyl tubing I want rigid tubing.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Rex Dart]

Only place I've seen that is Cost Plus, and it's filled with red licorice or gum balls.

 

This may or may not be a negative for you.

[BigO]

Sounds cool.

 

I guess you just have to find a plastics supply house in your area. There's all kinds of clear plastic tubing. I'd be tempted to go with polycarbonate as it will be more resistant to scratching than acrylic (or PVC?). It's also going to be tougher all the way around, but at the dimensions you're talking about, I doubt even 1 year old twins would be able to break acrylic if it's properly supported.

 

If a supply house won't sell to you directly, maybe there's a local plastics fabricator who can buy it and pass it through to you at a small markup.

 

Could you get away with just a wooden shelf with a lip or groove to keep the ball from falling off as it rolls down? Granted, that wouldn't look nearly as cool as a transparent tube, especially if there are lighting effects involved...

 

Too bad you can't get by with smaller. Home improvement stores carry 8 ft. lengths (thin wall) in the form of protective tubes for fluorescent bulbs.

 

Good luck. Post pictures when you're done.

[Rex Dart]

Too bad you can't get by with smaller. Home improvement stores carry 8 ft. lengths (thin wall) in the form of protective tubes for fluorescent bulbs.

 

Good luck. Post pictures when you're done.

First thing I thought of too, and dirt cheap. Too bad his ... balls... er...

[BigO]

First thing I thought of too, and dirt cheap. Too bad his ... balls... er...

Yeah...the exclusion of such a phrase took some careful sentence crafting with intentionally broken grammar.

[icemanxp300]

Sweet, I like the light tube idea but it is smaller than I was looking for ideally. I guess I could make this a closed system if needed. Just wanted to keep the balls on the bigger size...

 

You know there is no way I can properly address the need to not have smaller balls after rex darts comment.

 

Smaller balls would make a choking hazard for babies. I did see they have tennis ball holders but they are $25 for 4' I might as well just buy some colored acrylic tubes for that price.

 

I do like the light idea I may go with it.

 

The current wall has two steering wheels w/a bicycle bell in between and two wooden gears I made.

[icemanxp300]

They sell colored fluorescent light sleeves.

[BigO]

The fluorescent light covers are designed to surround a 1.5" diameter tube. I see the covers listed at 1.6" and I assume that's O.D. I'm not completely sure, but I think a ball on the order of 1.5" might be within the safe range for choking hazard.

 

Pretty sure a ping pong ball would go through those. Probably a golf ball would go through those tubes, but the kids could do more damage with a golf ball.

[edit]: looks like a ping pong ball is 1.58". They might not go through those tubes after all.

 

You saying steering wheel and wooden gears that you made caused me to have a mental image of an auger/screw conveyor inside a clear plastic tube, driven by a steering wheel that lifts the balls up and dumps them in the clear tube above to start rolling down. Maybe that's a Phase II project.

Edited October 7, 2014 by BigO

[option8]

try amazonsupply.com - there's all kinds of materials and strange parts there that you might otherwise never think of.

 

here's all their plastic tubing:

http://www.amazonsupply.com/plastic-tubing/s/16414401/ref=gw_c_hp_pt

 

here's 25' of flexible 2.5'' transparent plastic hose:

http://www.amazonsupply.com/dp/B0050IGZRO/ref=sp_dp_g2c_asin

[icemanxp300]

I just purchased the clear ones they are 1 5/8" ID. They fit perfectly inside 1 1/4" pvc 90's they line right up w/the cut edge inside near the bend. I decided to change my balls and was thinking of using big ball bearings, however my strategy has changed to a big marble.

 

I decided to just make this a closed system and only have one marble in it (I still need that giant marble lol). This very thin tubing has already made apparent its cheapness to say. I decided against anything too complicated involving gears or steering wheels as I did consider them but they seemed too time consuming.

 

I decided to take a 1" pvc coupling w/a plug in top and I had drilled a 3/8" hole in the coupling and pushed a wooden dowel inside. This was to have the ball roll on top of it and used the dowel to lift up the side of the tube. However when I started cutting the strip out of the tube wall for the dowel to move up the pipe the plastic curled in and if I wanted I could just pull the entire coupling assembly out of the cut area of the tube since the weak plastic has so much play.

 

Plus my boy already let me know if I want to do this I had better fasten every foot if this very weak pipe to the wall as he grabbed it and pulled it so hard he almost bent it in half before I stopped him. I'm thinking of just zip-tying it every foot or so. I am still having problems deciding how to allow them to bring the ball back up to the top of the tube.

 

Not only is getting the ball up to roll down an issue but also making the "ball raiser" go back down and or placing a stop at the bottom so in case the "ball raiser" is up the ball or marble can't roll underneath it when it comes back down. I'll make a diagram lol.

[icemanxp300]

Ok mine is going to have pitch but it was easier to draw it straight in paint. I am thing of putting a tee on the bottom as a means to push up the bottom somehow but my clearance is maybe a foot. The pipe going up is 2'. The boys only have like a 3' reach that's why I am using these dimensions. Unless I figure out a way for them to push the ball up w/out having to reach high.

 

 

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[icemanxp300]

I got it!!!!! MAGNETS!

 

The plastic is so thin magnets can go right through it. I just tested it. I have some very powerful magnets here.

[BigO]

That could work if you're going with the ball bearing. You scared me with that talk about something small and/or potentially heavy until I figured out it will be captive in the tubing.

I was thinking magnets, too when you mentioned ball bearings. I don't know how big of a ball you're planning to use, but consider how hard a larger ball bearing is going to hit that 90 at the bottom and try to tear the thing apart. Maybe two 45's on that bottom corner would cut down the destructive force a little bit?

The other thing I was thinking was "pinball plunger". With the right weight ball, and maybe slanting the up-ramp so it doesn't have to push the ball straight up...

The other, other thing I was thinking was "vacuum conveyance". If the ball is close enough to the diameter of the tubing, and light enough, you could suck the ball up the tube and, using a flap in a box at the top, direct the ball off to the horizontal run when the vacuum is released. Hey, I don't have to build it, I can make it as complicated as I want to.

Edited October 8, 2014 by BigO

[BigO]

There's a really heavy bodied glue called Goop that might hold that stuff together.

[icemanxp300]

My plan is to place magnets underneath a platform and then raise the platform w/marble on it up. However in order to do this I would need quite strong magnets and since I don't want my boys fingers getting pinched this means permanently attaching the magnets together as in the inside tube magnets and outside tube magnets. So another thing to think about.

[icemanxp300]

If I did do a big ball bearing it will do nothing falling on the thick pvc elbow. All elbows actually counter hold the piping plus it will all be supported within a few inches of the connection. The only drop is 20" anyhow.

 

 

I don't think I like the magnet idea anymore. It wouldn't make it through the pvc tee set-up. There has to a be a way lol.

Edited October 8, 2014 by icemanxp300

[icemanxp300]

Ok in order to make this easy. I have decided to change the positioning. I am going to go above everything I currently have on the wall. This means the bottom tube will be a good 3' in the air. The difference will only be a foot or so ( my wall I built is only 4' high ) but it will work. I will then have plenty of room underneath to go back to one of my original ideas. Which is a big 1 1/4" ish wooden dowel that will push up from the bottom. I will install a platform so it can't fall down on their feet. I however may choose pvc pipe if it's lighter.

 

The only problem I foresee might be when the ball gets to the top, if there is a space between my platform and 90. I'll address that if needed. I might not have to worry about it if I choose a smaller dowel so it can angle in, I could place a wedge in the pipe to get desired position. At least this will solve the problem of the ball rolling down under the platform. Plus I no longer have to secure the pipe so much as it will be too high to grab.

Edited October 8, 2014 by icemanxp300

[icemanxp300]

I like it.

 

Took me forever to find a big marble.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_2q8y9eHB4&feature=youtu.be

 

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