Subject:
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Re: Flex tube (was: Brickfest Pneumatic Master ...)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.technic
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Date:
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Thu, 18 Aug 2005 22:29:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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4126 times
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In lugnet.events.brickfest, Mark Bellis wrote:
> In lugnet.technic, Ross Crawford wrote:
> > 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 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
http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Shapes.htm#Round%20Tubing
They have a bulk price there, but I don't know where you can get that, the hobby
store I buy mine from only does the pre-packaged bags.
> 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.
It is comparable to the LEGO hose in bendability. Certainly it can handle gentle
curves easily. The slightly higher stiffness may actually be an advantage in
pneumatic applications, reducing any slight expansion of the tubing under
pressure.
> 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.
I am also pretty much a LEGO purist, but I didn't mind using and painting this
tubing. I was pretty happy with how it turned out:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/RoscoHead/construction/cc2800/cabin2.jpg
ROSCO
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