Hi gang, just unlurking for a sec. here
 
To uphold the stereotype that we Dutch are misers and penny-pinchers...
 
PVC pipes cost money, and depending on the hardwarestore quite a bit.  When
you're in a position like I am (student therefore cashflow equals minus
infinity) these PVC things beckon but stay financially out of reach.  O.K.
sure, I could buy one or two but they would cost me as much (here) as 3 bags
of IAMS so...
 
So what then?  I was working on something completely diferent when it struck
me.  CARPET.  Carpet?  YES, carpet!!  Now where does carpet get into the
picture?  Well, In Europe (but I guess everywhere 'round the globe) the
larger rolls of carpet are wound round pipes of cardboard.  Some visiting of
local shops turned out that these cardboard pipes where discarded after a
job and generally seen as garbage.  These pipes are the same size as the PVC
ones!  More important, the carpet companies give them away for free since
they have no use for them.
 
To cut this short a bit, I've visited a number of shop and hauled pipes till
my back creaked from exhaustion.  Result is a pipa-grande for my fuzzbuts
and 'nuff money to keep them fed.  Since the size of these things varies a
bit they might or might not fit into the regular PVC muff's and connections
so a bit of trimming might be neccesary.
 
Happy ferreting,
 
Leendert Bakker and the five tube-screamers
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
[Posted in FML issue 2110]