PVC and Pipe Engineer by Mr. Jordan Bunker

PVC and Pipe Engineer

by Mr. Jordan Bunker

Build a bunkbed in the morning and a water blaster in the afternoon, with PVC and Pipe Engineer, even advanced projects are easy with the right know-how!

PVC and iron pipes used to be hidden deep inside the crawlspaces in your house, serving purely utilitarian needs. But not anymore! DIY with PVC and iron piping has caught on with homeowners and earned a place in every room of the house (and the backyard too)!

The 18 projects in PVC and Pipe Engineer range from wine racks to bedframes, showerheads to bike trailers. Best of all, they can all be made with parts you'll find at your local hardware store. You'll be surprised at how easily even advanced projects go together once you learn the basics of cutting and joining iron pipe and PVC.

Whether you're building a super-powered water blaster, a minimalist modern chandelier, or even a simple candle holder, the illustrated how-to steps in PVC and Pipe Engineer will show even first-time DIY-ers how to build projects they're proud of.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

PVC + Pipe Engineer, due out 01 Dec 2017 from author Jordan Bunker and Rockport publishers is a trendy DIY book set up in a photo-tutorial format with 17 projects ranging from small and portable to large garden and furniture projects. Many of them are super practical (hanging bike rack, bike trailer, wall shelf) and a few are strictly decorative (candle holders, a 'bamboo' Japanese style dripping fountain, etc). I like that there are quite a few added practical bells and whistles for the projects in the book, for example, the hanging bike rack has storage for bike gloves and helmet designed into the project for added functionality.

The book starts with a table of contents and a good introduction of tools and materials along with photos. The introduction also includes practical advice for avoiding some of the limitations and undesirable aspects of some of the materials (for example how to avoid rust when using iron pipe and pipe fittings).

The projects chapters are separated into 4 basic categories: Gadgets, Lighting, Furniture and Outdoors. Each of the projects include a supplies list, tools list, and a photo tutorial. The photographs are well done and easy to follow.

We all know that there's a very fine line for design and fashion between cutting edge awesome and 'WTF'? I really believe that many of these designs (a strong majority) are well on the 'that is so cool!' side of the line. There's also a fair bit of zaniness (foam 'nerf' launcher, super powered squirt gun, etc) which is always fun. I'm spending the weekend with my daughter making a canopy bed out of pipe, and it looks awesome and is very solid.

Several of the projects remind me a lot of the philosophy and design of the Bauhaus movement, and besides being practical and do-able for the average DIYer, have some serious design chops. I can absolutely see the following table candelabra (included in the book), in a trendy design studio being sold for a gazillion dollars. Belongs in a repurposed industrial residential loft in Manhattan, yes?



Nicely designed, stable, well made projects with well photographed and illustrated tutorials.
144 pages, softbound, due out 1 Dec, 2017.

Four stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.

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  • 19 November, 2017: Reviewed