First off I had no idea you could soften PVC pipe like this. Secondly the 16-18" STIHL scabbard that you can purchase does not fit my 028 WB AV well at all. It kept getting stuck and it just felt cheap so I returned it to Amazon. Bought some other piece of crap and it has not held up at all. I am going to do this on Monday.
Yup, works great...I usually don't heat it that hot though...I go more like 220* or so...it starts to smell things up a little when you go too hot...fair warning so you don't whiz off the Mrs. We have a dedicated oven for doing this stuff at work...I always use that and not the one at home.
Heat gun takes a looong time to get it all heated to the point it can be reshaped. You have to keep it moving pretty steady and rapidly or it will turn brown and black, can even burst into flames quite quickly. Been there done that! Trust me, the oven is a much better way. Send the wife shopping and get it done before she gets back
Rather nifty. Can you sprinkle some Mrs. Dash on it for good taste??? Perhaps a marinade??? Just dont burn it LOTF! All my stihls have OEM scabbards and fit well. Some have worn out from use and replaced them. I bought some cheapo ones and they would slide off. Very annoying. And dont call them scabbards! Right Dumf ??? Oh, he's not here anymore so no worries!
The old school stihl bar covers would get chewed up, especially if too small. I like the way the new scabbards fit. They don’t get hung up on teeth either. Easy on easy off. I’m going to buy some for my older Stihls that don’t have scabbards. Back in the day didnt some other brand saws have floppy rubber scabbards, or is that a pigment of my imagination?
You can...but that works much better on small pieces...and its SUPER easy to "burn" it in spots, so unless its a piece that looks don't matter on, or its gonna be painted, that's not the best method...
I had a big ole McCullough that had one. Never used it as saw was given to me. Had leather tie straps too. Ill see if i can find the pics.
Now when you get to 3” pipe and above a lot of PVC has a foam core. That’s a lot trickier to form with any success. I know because I recently did my first pvc pipe bending job. Plumbers left a very crucial tee junction crooked in my moms house. I could spend hours arguing with them or fix it myself. Used what I had on hand. A small pad block heater I had bought to warm the splitter pump on those cold days to ease starting. Wouldn’t wrap all the way around the 3” foam core pipe but it got the job done anyway. next future project is a solid pvc 18” pipe. Plan on slitting one side and folding it out to create a trough for the wood splitter. The rest can be cut to create a half pipe. Like a funnel split in half I guess.
You can also get pvc in solids sheets ect. all forms pretty easily. Some grades even soften up enough by boiling in water. Nice to bend pvc pipe and conduit to eliminate fittings and make for a classy installation.
Possibly a weed burner or large sheet of steel over a bed of coals. Basically just need to spread one end apart. But yeah I expect it to be a bugger learn as you go process LOL Wish I still had the old salamanders we used for work. Thinking attach one end to tree and another to a winch. Spread heat pull spread heat pull, check results, repeat.
You can take a 55 gallon drum and put the object inside up off the bottom. Put some charcoal under and around the barrel and cover with something, fiberglass, roof tin ect. and let it slowly heat up. It'll take a while as it's not the best heat conductor. Once soft do your thing and cool with water.
Not sure what might be worst for me ? Washing parts in the dishwasher or melting PVC in the oven? Either one of them probably wouldn’t end well for me. The Mrs. is very good with what I do but this might end that.
Yeah the releasing of chlorine gas in the PVC doesn't sound too appetizing upon further reflection. I think I might be able to use some collected rainwater, heat the water until it boils on the bbq grill, and then suspend the pvc pipe in the water so it doesn't touch the bottom.....Maybe that will work if I had at least 19" tall.....which i don't think I do.
