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In lugnet.technic, Ross Crawford wrote:
> In lugnet.events.brickfest, Mark Bellis wrote:
> >
> > BTW what are flex tubes made of? Is it polypropylene (like rubber band
> > holders), polystyrene or ABS? I'm trying to find a way to get hold of a large
> > quantity of it but I need to know which type of plastic to look for!
>
> Hi Mark, not sure what LEGO flex tubes are made of, but I've had good results
> with 1/8" polystyrene model makers tubing which comes in 24" lengths in most
> hobby shops. It's white, so you can paint it to the colour you want.
>
> It's slightly less bendy than LEGO tubing, but not much, and the internal and
> external diameters match almost exactly.
>
> ROSCO
I've seen the white "Plastruct" tubing at model railway shows and in hobby
shops, but it costs 35p for about 12", which is too short and too expensive
(considering my 5.5p/piece average Lego price, including railway stuff), even
when bought in packs of 10. I was hoping to be able to get up to 10 metres of
black or grey tubing in one piece, and buy 10 pieces, with a possibility of
orange tubing for use with the railway too.
I intended to use lengths of 32L across 32x32 baseplate modules for pneumatic
actuation of rail points, just connecting the modules with a short hose. For
that application the pump might be a long way from the cylinder (since remote
operation beyond my reach is the goal), so it's important to get rid of the
balloon effect as much as possible.
I wondered where BIC or other biro manufacturers get their tubing? That must be
the most common use of tubing of that diameter. I've successfully tested used
biro tubes with pneumatics, but it's a shame to have to use the pen and clean
the tube first! Pens usually go missing before they're finished too!
I had a look online at tubing of 1/8" OD and 1/16" ID but couldn't decide what
type of plastic was right. I'm thinking polypropylene as it's the same stuff as
Lego rubber band holders and is stiffer than polyethylene. You seem to be
suggesting that polystyrene is stiffer still. I'd still like to retain the same
bendability as flex tube in order to use it round gentle corners where I can,
keeping rubber hoses only for moving corners.
I'm not keen on painting Lego or any similar item used with it. I chose to
continue with the Lego railway in order to avoid glue, paint and sprinkling
grass!!! I'll look further into polypropylene.
Mark
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Flex tube (was: Brickfest Pneumatic Master ...)
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| (...) I got a bag of 8x24" for around au$7, which seems a fair bit cheaper than your price, but that may be due to other factors. The brand I use is (URL) have a bulk price there, but I don't know where you can get that, the hobby store I buy mine (...) (19 years ago, 18-Aug-05, to lugnet.technic)
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