Porcupine Balls

[lrhorer]

I picked up a set of three of the Porcupine Balls from Cabelas for a couple of stars I will be making next year, but I can't find any suitable pipes for a reasonable price.  I've looked around for PEX tubing, but I can't find any rigid PEX.  The closest thing I have been able to find is clear schedule 40 PVC from pvcfittingsonline.com.  First of all, for this application, translucent pipe is a much better solution than transparent, and secondly, it's still $8 for a 60 inch tube.  That's over $400 for a pair of stars.  I can get PEX from Home Depot for just over $0.50 / ft, but 1/2" PEX has too small an ID, and 3/4" PEX has too large an OD.  Where can I get something that will work for a reasonable price?

[loveroflife96]

Think I remember reading somewhere that someone used PVC for the inner and had lights, then sandwiched it with PEX tubing?  Or I coulda been dreaming too....cause I can't find it.  But a thought maybe...

[Steve Gase]

I used pex from home depot (lowes works too)
I then used my table saw to create a 3" cut.
The cut allows the pex to slip into the porcupine easily.

[plaberge]

Check out this thread - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login which is where I first came across this idea. I also used 3/4" translucency PEX from Home Depot with a saw cut at the end. Drill a 3/8" hole at the end of the saw cut so you can easily pull out the wires.