dknahoolewa Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I would like to build a falling snow flake similar to Holdman's but not sure what to use to support the snow flakes. I only have a one story house...so attaching it to the house is out of the question.Has anyone built a free standing structure like this? How and what did you use to make it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I am looking at doing just the same thing myself and have been thinking of using pvc conduit for a frame for them.I am going to heat up the pipe so that I can bend it into an S shape and then just screw the snowflakes to it.I will probably use 2 - 10 foot pieces and then I will put a sleeve into the ground so that the pipe will just drop into the sleeve and be free standing. I did my candy cane pinwheels like that and they have worked fine.You could also use a couple of pieces of 1x3 wood furring strips standing together and cross pieces to make the S shape as well. Then you would just need some way to make it stand up if you can't attach it to anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 How do you heat the PVC and bend it? Never tried that. I thought about using PVC just didn't know how to make it curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 heavy walled pvc you can heat with a few differnt tools, heat gun works well just warm it and flex it, when it cools it will be strong again.*edit*to a degree, dont expect to make it into a pretzle and be able to hold any weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 christmas pretzle was my next Idea...Would a plumbing torch do the trick or would it melt it? one of the few tools i don't have yet is a heat gun or mig welder.What size PVC are we talking 1/2", 3/4", 1" or larger. gentle S shape is what i was planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 If your going to heat up PVC pipe to bend it. It needs to be a heat source just a bit hotter than a hair dryer, yet not as hot and pin point as a plumbers torch. Even with a heat gun, you need to keep it in motion to evenly heat the whole area that will be bent. Might have to start at one end and do a traveling warm up.Some also get sand and heat it up in the oven then carefully pour it in the pipe and then give it some time to warm up the pipe and then bend the whole thing. Leave it lay around till all cools and then remove the sand. And no, I would not have a suggestion to what temperature to heat the sand to. Good luck with your project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Heat slow and low, remember when heated PVC throws off some nasty chemicals as well so think mask and ventilation. As for how you need to decide your curves, then try to setup a rig to make it bend as you apply heat. If its a genlte slope add weights to the areas you want the bend around and heat the center that is the pivot point of the pvc till the weighted areas reach thier goal, remove heat and let cool. A torch is a no no on PVC you will either die from fumes or thin out the material giving you a weak brittle mess.As for the Christmas Pretzle, thats my idea for next year, I better not see many of them out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KStatefan Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 hotbend.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H1 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 KStatefan wrote: hotbend.comHot bend looks kind of $$$ pricey $$$Someone on this or one of the other forums presented this tool, looks better and can heat a longer section of pipehttp://www.pvcbendit.com/home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 dknahoolewa wrote:How do you heat the PVC and bend it? Never tried that. I thought about using PVC just didn't know how to make it curve.I use a hot air gun to heat it but I have used a torch a few times to do it as well.The trick is to take your time when heating it and work slowly. It may seem like the pipe is hot but it will not be warmed all the way through and is more likely to kink when you bend it. So you have to make sure that it is warmed through.If you use a torch to do this be aware that first off the pipe can catch fire easily as it heats up. Just blow it out and keep going. It will leave a black soot and burned surface but that can be scraped off and painted if looks are important.MOSTLY though are the fumes that PVC gives off as it burns. They are deadly so you MUST work with plenty of ventilation and fresh air. I suggest using a hot air gun instead of a torch just because of this.And keep your heat source moving at all times over the pipe! Even a hot air gun can burn PVC if you let it sit on one spot.I use saw horses and lay the pipe on top of them so that I can have my heat gun mounted below them fastended between them. I don't have to handle the gun, just the pipe. Then I can lay the pipe over the gun and constantly turn the pipe and move it back and forth to get it evenly heated through and for the lenght that I need to bend. You have to experiment with the distance of the gun to the pipe a bit as well due to different sizes of pipe will take different times to heat through but "generally" about 4 to 8 inches away from a standard heat gun will get pretty good results.The size of the pipe is determined by how long a piece of pipe and how many snowflakes (ie the weight of them) you are going to use. The larger the pipe, the more stable it will be. I will probably use something like 1-1/2" or 2" pipe for mine as I will have a dozen snowflakes at least on it and it will be 15 feet long or so and free standing in a sleeve. If you can attach the top and bottom of the pipe to something (like a house, tree, or structure) then you can use a lot smaller pipe like 3/4" or so. It will all depend on how you support the thing.Forming the pipe can be a challenge for the first time as it will want to kink rather than make a nice neat bend. I try to test the pipe for softness while heating it by gently applying pressure to see how it "feels". As it warms up you will feel the pipe starting to "let go" and bend. That is why you take your time and heat slowly and evenly.You can get better bends if you have some form of a jig set up to bend the pipe around. It is pretty simple to make some type of form and work the heated pipe around it to get the radius of bend that you want as well as a form will let you place the heated pipe in it and let is sit and cool in the form so that it will stay in the shape you want.You can try to make the S bend all at once but it will be tough unless you have a jig set up. It will try to wobble and the S will not be flat without a jig. Something as simple as a couple of large metal trash cans to bend around for a radius should probably work for this I would think with heavy objects to place against the pipe to keep it formed while it cools. Done on a concrete floor it should work just fine.Hope that helps.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 thank guys...i'll have to wait till march when it warms up to get started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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