Offset Corner Elbow for 1" PVC Pipe

This corner elbow has a flat surface which allows PVC Pipe structures to sit flat on the ground.

Inspired by TonyYoungblood's 1/2" elbow, I created my version for larger diameter pipe and designed it to be tighter-fitting and use thinner glue.

The tighter allowances mean that supports will generally be necessary, however.

NOTE The corner is offset: The vertical member is not located at the axis defined by the other two.

I believe this produces a stable and pleasing form, but keep this in mind if you are creating PVC structure that has cross-braces in the same plane as the vertical members.

I may create an offset "T" in the future, but none of my structures have required this.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Creality

Printer:

Rafts:

No

Supports:

Resolution:

.2mm

Infill:

Notes:

Print with the flat side down.

I manually added supports to keep the tubes round.

The strength of a piece like this comes from the skin, not the infill. The infill just needs to be sufficient to prevent the walls from collapsing under load. And to minimize the bridge gaps that need to be covered in top layers.

The lighting rig installation in the photos was printed at 20% infill with 2 perimeters and 2 top layers. 3 bottom layers actually provide most of the strength.

Post-Printing

I used manual supports to keep the "tubes" round.

Post-processing was simply pulling those supports out and scraping away the pimples left by the supports.

Using a deburring tool to chamfer the inside edges will make it easier to fit onto the PVC pipes.

If I revisit this, I will add the chamfers to the model.

The corners used in the lighting rig don't even use glue. They were tight enough to hold the whole structure rigidly without it.

Custom Section

Why another PVC elbow?

I have a couple wire shelving units.

I already created some great hooks and hangers for the one in my work area.

The other shelving unit is home to my plants during the winter. This year, I wanted to start more plants from seed and that was going to require way more light than we get in Minnesota.

I decided to build a PVC pipe frame to hold the plant light because 1" ID pipe fits perfectly over the ends of the 1" OD tubes used in these sorts of shelves.

Most of the existing Thingiverse models were for 1/2" and 3/4" tubes. It seemed like a trivial project to design my own, but I of course over-engineered it.

If you find this useful, or print it and have issues, please comment and let me know.

Category: DIY