Well, like the topic states, I need clear plastic tubing that is about 8mm or so thick, maybe a bit thicker. Note: I DON'T intend to spend crazy money buying acrylic tubing from a specialty manufacturer. I'm looking for outside-the-box ideas, such as other cheap products that can be found in any store that would have plastic tubing. I intend to use 3 or 4 of the tubes, each about 3" to 4" long at most.

Any ideas?

only thing i can think of is aquarium stuff, alot of stuff in aquaruims use clear plastic pipe.

You mean the plastic itself 8mm thick (like some PVC), or the tube diameter 8mm (like a big drinking straw)?

I'm thinking more along the lines of inflexible solid plastic tubing, but solid hollow tubing might be do-able. Not to be confused with hoses, I'm not talking hoses.

Yea check out your local hardware/plumbing store thats all I can think of...

That's stuff I'd do eventually anyway. I was thinking more along the lines of specific products or items that use clear solid plastic rods rather than general "look for it yourself" advice.

Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyFresh You mean the plastic itself 8mm thick (like some PVC), or the tube diameter 8mm (like a big drinking straw)?

About the size of a drinking straw or a bit larger, solid plastic. Ideally, anyway. Minimum 8mm diameter, up to 10 or 11mm thick would be max.

The two hobby stores near me both carry clear acrylic rod up to 1/4" diameter (I think it's a little thinner than what you're looking for though). They both specialize more in R/C cars and modelling. You might call some in your area.

Tap Plastics comes to mind...I know there are a bunch of plastic retailers in the GTA, but I'm not too sure about the QC area...

How's this for outside the box?

Multi-layer cakes often use "cake dowels" to keep the layers from sliding off one another (or to keep the pillars anchored). Sometimes they use wood, sometimes solid clear plastic. A bakery, cake shop, or wedding store near you may have some; the trick is finding the right size. I've seen anywhere from 3/4" (19mm) down to 6mm (fourth item down on the page).

You can also use the rod from miniblinds, though that might be a hexagon shape, rather than cylindrical

Alot of bathroom accessories use clear rod. You could check out some mini blinds as well, alot have a clear rod as the closer/opener wand thingy.

[Edit] Whatever PJ

EDIT: whoops, i was posting when you specified solid plastic. try these links:
http://www.totalplastics.com/commerc...?paramId=63819
http://www.slatersplastikard.com/Pla...lastic_rod.htm
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/prod...53412107029686

OOOOOOOOOO

My Mom has a martini set that has a glass rod to stir the martini in the jug...I'm sure that would work well, if glass is a suitable medium...

Jinx: Fools seldom differ

Ahh, pimp_joose, FunkyFresh, and jinx© are on the right track! I'm not into buying it from a specialty plastics manufacturer, the prices are outrageous and you probably have to buy in large quantities (at least that was the case with a few that I researched...fuhgeddaboudit!).

That's the exact kind of ideas I was looking for...it's just as good, and probably 1/4 the price. I'll have to check into those things. Keep the ideas coming!

Quote: Originally Posted by pimp_joose OOOOOOOOOO My Mom has a martini set that has a glass rod to stir the martini in the jug...I'm sure that would work well, if glass is a suitable medium...

Can't be glass, has to be plastic, as I'm planning to drill inside it, lengthwise. Glass would surely shatter.

I'm not suggesting you go with a plastics manufaturer! But -- entirely hypothetically, of course -- if you were to consider one, USPlastic.com only requires a minimum order of $5.00.

They have hollow acrylic tubing in 5/16" (7.94mm) diameter at $0.14 per foot (minimum 6 ft at $0.84). I couldn't calculate shipping to Canada without creating an account, but it looks like they'd ship 6 feet of that stuff to Maine for $5 (dunno how much it'd be to nudge it across the border). Shouldn't be hard to spend another $4 there on DVD & CD cases, Polycarbonate sheets, heatshrink tubing, or parts storage cases.



For ~$10 shipped, you get way more than you need (assuming they'd ship to Canada for a reasonable rate). I know, I know; it's a plastics manufacturer. But if nothing else, maybe it'd be useful for someone reading along (and you get a free bump for your thread! )...

I've done a few things with clear acrylic tubing, and I have one caution to add especially if you're planning to drill: If you do use tubing from a plastics manufacturer, look closely at the specs. Most are extruded, not cast and just like the sheet acrylic will be harder to machine. The tubes are also not as optically clear as a cast product (very fine extrusion lines along the length). All my stuff came out OK, but drilling cast acrylic takes a lot more patience.