Hi Shawn,

: Is the PVC cement you used the same stuff sold for gluing rigid, white PVC
: pipe? I tried it with varying success--any tips for amount of adhesive,
: time, etc?

Yes. The active chemicals are Tetrahydofuran and cyclohexanone. The tetrahydrofuran is the solvent the the cyclohexanone is a flexible gap filling compound. I had access to straight tetrahydrofuran and found no noticable difference between the quality of a joint. The pvc cement was easier to work with because the cyclohexanone acted like a lubricant and allowed me to work the joint after initial contact. Where as the straight tetrahydrofuran turned the pvc to rubber like consistancy and the joint was difficult to move the initial contact of the surfaces.The key to a good joint was keeping pressure on the joint for about an hour. I waited 24 hours before I would apply any sort of force to the joint. For the tube I held the material in place (ie. overlapped) and then used a syringe to inject the solvent between the two mating surfaces and then clamped.

Sorry that this got a little long winded. Good questions though. I'll have to add some of this to my webpage.

Thanks!