DIY driftwood made from PVC

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Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 6, 2009
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I recently saw a nice looking cave made from PVC that was bent with a torch and details put on it with a drimmel tool and painted. I decided I am going to try this.
I will be starting with a cheap torch and instead of using a drimmel tool I will be using a cheap wood burning kit that I already have on hand. I will be using black PVC so I can try and avoid painting it.
If this works it will be replacing those ugly PVC overflows that a lot of MFK'ers use and will be a cheap way to get nice looking caves and driftwood that is so expensive.
I already have everything I need to start this experiment but the PVC I am using is not pressure rated and it is porous making it float which is no big deal because this is just an experiment at this point.
I will post pics later due to the fact that my wife gave me a big hunny do list that I have to complete before I can start my project.


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Feeder Fish
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Oct 6, 2009
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So far I am not very happy with the results. I was told that schedule 80 pipe works better than schedule 40 but I opted to go with schedule 40 because it was the only thing I can find in black. ImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1348698957.703472.jpg
ImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1348698998.650222.jpg
And the start of the detail
ImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1348699053.459232.jpgImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1348699105.838220.jpg


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F1 VET

THE serrasalmus rhom
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Nov 3, 2011
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You got the right idea, just need better bends. Maybe try elbows instead, so it looks fluid, shiny paint is also going to highlight the turd like shape.




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Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 6, 2009
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F1 VET said:
You got the right idea, just need better bends. Maybe try elbows instead, so it looks fluid, shiny paint is also going to highlight the turd like shape.




Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
Click to expand...
I tried with a small piece of schedule 80 before doing this piece and the bends were more flowing like an elbow. I am not sure if it bent better because it was schedule 80 or if it was because it was a smaller pipe.

Either way I am going to finish this one first to get used to doing the finish work before I tackle another piece. I plan on trying a couple of different methods to see what looks the best.


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Feeder Fish
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Oct 6, 2009
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I tried a couple of different techniques for the finish work and so far the one that I started with seemed to work the best.
I also noticed that the schedule 80 pipe bends in a way that looks a lot more natural but the schedule 40 pipe is a lot easier to do the finish work on because of it being softer.


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