DIY Hockey Materials - PVC Pipe

A lot of the DIY plans I'll show on here will be made of 3/4" PVC pipe.  It's cheap, easy to work with, and versatile.

Something I recently discovered was that there are more than one kind of 3/4" PVC pipe.  The top pipe in the picture is Schedule 40, and the wall is quite a bit thicker than the pipe on the bottom.  The bottom pipe is also more flexible than the schedule 40.  That might not be a good thing, since it may be less durable over time.

On the bright side, both types will fit into PVC 3/4" fittings, so in that way they're interchangeable.



Speaking of fittings, I'm using 3/4" slip fittings, rather than threaded.  There's an adhesive you can use for PVC, but so far everything I've built has worked fine by simply press fitting things together.

Here are the three joints I use:  A "T", a 90 degree elbow, and a 45 degree elbow.  When you buy these at the hardware store, make sure you get the slip-fit versions, and that everything is for 3/4".  You don't want the threaded type, and there are some out there where one end is 3/4" and the other is 1/2" or 1".



I bought a "contractor" pack of 10 T's, and another 10-pack of 90 degree elbows.  I won't need nearly as many 45's, so I bought a few of those individually.  In all, I bought 30' of 3/4" PVC (3-10 foot sections), 10 T's, 10 90 degree elbows, and 4 45 degree elbows, and the total cost was around $20.00.  You can bring the price way down by just buying what you need for each project, instead of stocking up on the raw materials like I did.

Use a tape measure to determine where you need your cuts, and a pen or pencil to mark the pipe.  I use a sharpie.

The tool shown below is a ratcheting PVC pipe cutter.  It's faster and more convenient than a hacksaw (discussed here) and miter box (discussed here), but a good one is quite expensive, and I've found that the precision leaves something to be desired.  It can be difficult to make a straight cut with these, most of my cuts end up being at some sort of angle.  The angles are small enough that it doesn't affect assembly, but it still irks the perfectionist in me.

I took this with to the hardware store.  When I got to the car with the 10 foot lengths of pipe, I cut them in half.  Makes it much easier to transport.



So that's my introduction to PVC for the DIY Hockey training aids.  The nice thing is, almost everything I'm going to show you can be made with materials other than PVC, so if you've got scrap wood in the garage, you might be able to make it work just as well.

Tools: Miter Box

For the DIY projects on this blog, a simple miter box is going to be an essential tool.  Fortunately, a miter box good enough to do the job is very inexpensive.

Basically a miter box keeps the saw blade in the proper position to make a cut.  The saw below is making a 45 degree cut, but for our purposes we'll be making 90 degree cuts (straight across). 

The way you use the box is to place the item to be cut (PVC pipe or hockey stick) into the channel against one side, then hold it tight there while you make the cut with the saw.

Tools: Hacksaw

You're going to need a hacksaw eventually.  A lot of DIY projects here will involve cutting PVC pipe, which is easy to do with a hacksaw.  When you buy a new stick, you'll have to cut it to your preferred length - with a hacksaw.

You might already have one, or have a power miter saw which will do the same job.  That's great if you do, but if you don't, get a decent quality hacksaw.  It should cost around $15.00, and will last a lifetime.  Blades are pretty cheap too.

Oh, and get this kind:

There's another kind that looks like this:

This kind works for a lot of things, but the top one will make things much easier down the road.  You'll see.

An 18 TPI (teeth per inch) blade works well for what we'll need to cut.  You can go higher - more TPI - but I wouldn't go less than that or the edges of the cut will be torn up.  Speaking of the edges, to clean and smooth them a piece of medium grit sandpaper does the job.  A pack of a few sheets is inexpensive and will last a long time.

Why "DIY Hockey"?

I started learning hockey as an absolute beginner.  Everyone does, but at 57 years old, being an "absolute beginner" seems a bit more daunting.  Maybe it's because I know just how far I have to progress just to get from hopeless to just plain lousy.

This blog is here to track my progress and collect stuff I've found all over the internet into one useful  place.  Except for personal experiences and opinions, everything here is from other, better, more experienced hockey people.   For beginners of any age, maybe you'll find some answers here, or at least get pointed to other places to get answers.

The "DIY" part is about making progress on your own.  I'm not worried about the skating part, for that you need ice time.  But I can practice stick handling at home, I can work on skills and do drills to improve my balance and agility.  I can focus on certain things to get stronger in ways that will help my game improve, without needing to be on skates.  You can too.

As far as practicing at home, I don't consider that work, although I am working at my game.  This stuff is fun, and the better you are at it, the more fun it is.

Finally, if you've looked online at the training aids that are out there, well, they're expensive.  I'm sure they're worth it, but I'm also sure that more than a few can be improvised at home for a lot less money.  So the "DIY" will also mean putting together my own training aids that will work as well as the ones online.