Adjustable joints for PVC pipe mannequins

myminifactory

You know what's frustrating about building PVC mannequins? Posed arms and legs can be a real hassle. You're basically stuck with pre-made elbows at 45 and 90 degrees, or expensive custom tees, or fiddling around with heat-forming the PVC. I've had enough of that nonsense, and I'm tired of being limited to a few permanent positions if you glue everything together. My solution was to design adjustable PVC joints that can be set to more customized angles. These two prototypes are just the beginning, but I'm confident they'll work just fine. If you give them a try, please let me know how they perform and if there's room for improvement - after all, there's always something that can be tweaked. Important details to keep in mind: these joints haven't been tested with every material yet, so use PLA or nylon if possible for added strength. They're designed for schedule 40 PVC pipes in 3/4" or 1", which are widely available. Each joint has a hole for a 1/4" bolt; I recommend using a 1 3/4" long bolt with at least one washer and a wing nut to make adjustments easier. There's also a 1/4" hole in each pipe length, allowing you to secure the PVC with screws. Each file contains two pieces - enough to build one adjustable joint.