Rack Design & Construction

Biofilm On A String | Biofilm Pipeline | CD Pipeline

CD Pipeline

This design used compact discs instead of plexiglass discs. Like our other designs, the collection rack is simple and inexpensive to build. Roger Lindblom, one of our partners in the VIRTUE Project, developed this technique of using CDs.

What You Need:

20 CDs
Inner PVC pipe - 12.3 mm diameter, 1500 mm length
Upper outer tube made of PVC pipe - 16 mm diameter, 240 mm length
9 spacers between discs made of PVC pipe - 16 mm diameter, 100 mm length
Lower outer tube made of PVC pipe - 16 mm diameter, 250 mm length
Stainless steel lockpin
Stainless steel wire
Weight to hold the rack in place
Rope

How To Assemble

The long inner PVC pipe is use as the backbone of the rack under the spacers. Drill a hole a few millimeters in from each end. The holes are for the stainless steel lockpin and wire, which keep all the materials in place.
Drill a hole a few millimeters from the end of the upper and lower outer pipes.
Slide the lower outer pipe onto the inner pipe and secure the weight to the end using the stainless steel wire.
Slide a spacer down the pipe.
Slide 2 CDs down the pipe.
Repeat the last two steps until all discs have been used.
Slide the upper outer pipe and attach using the lockpin.

The completed assembly should look something like what is depicted above. Note that the length of the inner and outer pipes can vary. Length depends on the number of CDs you will be using in your experiment. It also depends on how far apart you want to separate the CDs.

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