Quote:
Originally Posted by Anianna
GpsFrontier, just thinking out loud here since this isn't something I have actually tried, but I know some crafters who build molds with plywood and nails and then heat pvc with a heat gun, bending it into the shape of the mold. Perhaps you could use 2x4s to press a round pipe to square it. It would probably take a lot of pressure and I would think the corners would be somewhat rounded. I'm not sure if that would suit your needs, but it might be something to try.
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Thanks for the thoughts Anianna, that is a possibility although it would be quite an involved process to do right, and costly I'm sure. The design is for 20, 10 foot long tubes. I would need to build a press that would shape it, then find a way to heat the whole tube at the same time to the right temp, in order to re-mold it without melting it. I would also need to do some trial and error to fine tune it I'm sure. Then comes the hard part. I also need 40 end caps for the tubing. As well as about 20 couplers to connect more than one piece of tubing to another, in order for easy disconnecting for cleaning and maintenance, depending on if I can get the end caps to very tight, not just water tight but resist yanking and pulling (yet removable).
P.S. Just to give you an idea what I am planing I attached a couple of pictures of a small scale setup of the design. I designed the small scale system to hold 4, 5-6 foot square tubes (holds 64 plants). I plan the large scale project to have 20, 10-12 foot long tubes (depending on the length of the tubes I can get), that system should hold a minimum of 640 plants (likely about 700). The vinyl fence post tubing would run me about $1000 to do ($650+tax for just tubing, then I need end caps and couplers). But to keep on budget, I need the cost to under $500 total.