A quick tutorial on making cheap collapsible props: build them on PVC pipes with screw-apart connect

A quick tutorial on making cheap collapsible props: build them on PVC pipes with screw-apart connectors.

1. Acquire PVC piping (approx. $3-7 depending on size), PVC cement (approx. $5) and appropriate connectors (approx. $2-3 each). There is a male and female side. These ones attach externally but sometimes you can find ones that attach internally on a shank.
   
2. Lay out pipes on workbench, elevated so you have better access to them.
   
3. Screw connectors together. I like to glue connectors on while they are screwed together because it helps me control the rotation. If you have nothing on the pipe it may not matter, but if for example, you have a blade at each end of the pipe, and you glue the connectors on separately, then you may end up with a blade on one end rotated differently from the blade at the other end. 
   
4. Score up surface of PVC pipe (and inside connectors) with a craft knife or rough sandpaper. This creates scratches that the glue can bite into.
   
5. Time for PVC cement. This stuff is noxious so please wear a respirator. If you don’t have one, get one. (If you can’t or won’t, work outside with good ventilation. for the love of god.) Apply PVC cement around the circumference of the pipe and to the inside of the connector. Squish together.
   
6. Let glue set.
   
7. Repeat on other side.
   

Wait until fully cured, and then disassemble/assemble to your heart’s content.

I used these for a commissioned kit for a Yoko Ritona rifle so that it could collapse for travel/storage: