PVC Benchwork

[Anonymous]

I have begun experimenting with using PVC pipe as the supports/benchwork for my mutlilevel shelf layout. Any similar experiences? Good? Bad? Ugly?

[GerFust]

Mark - I've been thinking about using that for a movable "cassette" that hold extra trains for my next layout. The challenges I see are 1) strength and 2) vibrations. PVC is very prone to bend, and a shelf layout needs rigid support, unless you want a PVC column blocking the view of the layout at the front edge.

I think the idea of using PVC mostly has merit as support for movable layouts where the weight can be transferred down through the material and not across it's surface. The advantages are that PVC is light weight, cheap, and can build frameworks that are quick/easy to assemble and disassemble.

[Anonymous]

Why are you using PVC? What are its advantages as you see it? What size of PVC are you using - diameter and thickness?

[Anonymous]

There are tools designed to cut PVC which are clean and easy to use. One is like a large pair of cutting pliers, and one has a cutting wheel like a standard pipe cutter. There is no mess.

PVC is inert and not subject to humidity changes. Glues easily. Mistakes can be repaired readily. It is also fairly cheap, available all over, and there are an assortment of parts. Kind of like building with tinker toys. Styrene sheets can be glued directly to the supports to form backdrops and fascia.

We are testing 1.5 inch Schedule 40 pipe to form a three level layout. Metal pipe clips hold the uprights to the wall. Elbows, caps, and tees make up the rest of the parts.
Hope the above helps.

[douginut]

once successfully used the same stuff to construct a trade show booth/display.
It worked out very well.
The tubing for framework was good any attempts to use sheet goods glued didnt work too well.
Doug