# PVC Spider



## Pumpkinskull (Aug 26, 2006)

PVC Jumping Spider (looks of a jumping spider, is not a moving prop)
















































































































































*Goals*
•	Cheap
want to make 3 spiders

•	On roof so
No theft
No extreme detail
More view past trees to street
Webs are on house, why spider in yard?

•	Hide pvc joints completely
this is null per me going with heatgun approach in end

•	Jumping Spider (per 6 year old nephew)

•	Contrasting colors of roof, so not black

•	Light weight (per other's experience of pvc Spider diys)

•	All weather because I live in Southern Oregon


*Supplies*
•	PVC 1" (legs, abdomen connector)
•	Pipe Insulation 2" (feet segment of legs)
•	Dryer Vent (Thicken legs)
•	Burlap (skin)
•	2x4 (3 4" pieces, 1 small sliver)
•	Zip Ties
•	Duct Tape
•	Paint
•	Misc (body)
Turkey Foil Pan
2 small, hard plastic, laundry bags
Orange Juice containers (eyes)
aluminum foil
paper plate supports
xmas LED lights


*Tools*
•	Heat Gun
•	Box Cutter
•	Scissors
pointy
stab through burlap for zipping​ heavy duty
general cutting of zip ties, plastic, other​•	Stapler



*General Notes*
•	Per sketches wanted a 4" thick leg spider with 8" segments (except for rear legs which have 1 segment that is 12")
•	Initially was going to only use pipe insulator for legs, but then spider would have been too small for my wants of a jumping spider look. With dryer vent was able to double the size
•	PVC joints would have cost, for 1 spider, almost as much as a heat gun and limited me in leg dispersal pattern (yeah, nerd talk). Plus would have to deal with securing the joints with either glue or screws. So scrapped joint idea and Amazoned in a Heat Gun.
•	Per weight fears, number one issue I have read with a pvc spider, I used duct tape and zip-ties for everything. In end only used 2 screws to secure wood spacer between eyes.
•	Because of duct taping the center of the legs together they can actually move a few inches up and down, side to side
•	A box of 8" tall, estimated height for body, put under legs during bending is a must
•	Cost was $10 for legs and $10 for body. Hardware and dollar store, respectively. This is so cheap because I had paint, zip ties, duct tape, dryer vent, burlap, scrap wood, and xmas lights already on hand. I didn't count the $25 heat gun because that will be used for other projects now
•	10 hours, roughly, for project from hands on material in garage to paint done. This includes trial and error on a couple things and working with a 5 year old (which is not always a slow down, actually).
•	I went too extreme with the leg bends, sweeping them far back instead of more straight out from body. In the end it worked out because it made the spider look like it's about to jump off my sloped roof. But it was not intended and turned out a Happy accidents.
•	The body is actually free floating on the spider legs, it is only held on by the paint. Probably regret this but I'm curious if it will last the season.
•	The face area is just excessive burlap draped and zipped tied a couple times to create more folds. I was at a loss what to do here for this year's decor.
•	Before next year I will update the body... probably before xmas since plan on just hanging this spider up on my ceiling as a year round thing. I see too much octopus in its look for my taste.



*STEPS*
1.	Cut PVC to length and mark bend points. 
a.	60" long, 3 8" segments, 2" bend space, 8" body width.

2.	Tape middle of legs together with 2x4 spacers in-between. 
a.	I used a piece of cardboard across the bottom to make this easier to tape. 
b.	I also did only 3 legs at first, to find my way into this project. It was a meh thing and really didn't help/hurt the process/end results.

3.	Heat gun the joints.
a.	I put the legs on a 8" tall box to simulate the desired distance I wanted the spider from the ground. Be careful of heat gun near it though... 
b.	It only takes say 6 seconds of the high heat, about 2 inches off pvc, to get it hot enough to melt. I suggest you first heat it for a 20 count, or till you see it literally dropping, then bend it. By the time you are halfway done you will be an expert and want to try twisting and ...
c.	You have to hold the shape you want for a while, say over a minute if you heat it too long, or only a few seconds if you barely heat it to bending point. This is where the 5 year old really comes in play.

4.	Slide on pipe insulation
a.	hold up next to leg, estimate cut, add a couple inches, cut

5.	Slide on dryer vent
a.	hold up next to leg, estimate cut, add a couple inches, cut
b.	I stapled the inner end to the 2x4 pieces then duct taped on the outer end to the insulation
c.	I stapled each pair of leg to same piece of wood. This should help prevent possible ripping if the spider is put on uneven ground.
d.	I actually put the first 2 legs on separately, then felt confident enough to cut the others as a sequence before I actually stapled/taped them on.

6.	Add burlap to legs
a.	Cut the burlap into a couple inch wide lengths with the razor, so it will naturally fray
b.	Wrap around the legs and secure with a Zip tie at the end.
c.	I made sure I Zip tied around the metal coil in the vent to secure it
d.	I used my sharp scissors to stab through both sides of burlap and vent. Then, with the scissors still in place, slid the Zip tie across the blade as a guide.

7.	Celebrate and take a bunch of pictures

8.	Figure out body set up (I also started playing with lights at this time)

9.	Attach butt (because its funnier to say butt then abdomen)
a.	I strengthened a disposable turkey tray with plastic plates for strength
b.	Zip tied it to a pvc bar that I also Zip tied to the leg center piece
Duct tape wasn't working here for me so Zip ties stepped in

10.	Attach body structure together
a.	3 holes, 3 Zip ties, and the two plastic bags are one (evil genius laughter)

11.	Cut, combine, and attach Orange Juice containers for eyes
a.	I left the 'walls' of the container on top for strength and to deflect rain better
b.	The 'wall' that actually faces outward from each eye, I completely removed.
c.	I slotted the other two sides to stop water holding and allow for Zip tying between
d.	I used some aluminum foil to wrap my xmas lights together and set them how I wanted the 'bunches' in each eye. A zip tie and they are held in place.

12.	Drape on burlap
a.	I trial and error this till I had something I liked. Remember the latex paint will hold the shape so just tighten it as much as you can prior to painting.
b.	I was using scrap burlap that was used to wrap dozens of foot square boxes. So there was interesting stitching and cuts to work around that actually created a more monster look to the spider

13.	Latex base paint
a.	I went white to contrast against my roof, to be different then average dark spiders of Halloween, and make it easier to handle for the younger Tots we get (we only get about 40 kids on average and two thirds are under ten). Plus I had a gallon of cheap white paint.
b.	It soaked up and I lathered it on thick, realizing this is structure as much as paint. The gallon of paint is basically gone on this one spider.

14.	Spray paint
a.	5 year old picked the colors but I agree with end result
I was going to go with more orange since I have a thing for pumpkins
b.	A coat of yellow on body, a coat of light pink on legs
c.	A highlighting coat of white on body, a highlighting coat of dark pink on the legs
d.	Coat of white spray on eyes to milk them over


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## Pumpkinskull (Aug 26, 2006)

Update after the fact:
Just realized I never updated after the season, so here goes.

Pro
Worked great, many compliments and so on.
Lasted all year outside (left on side of house, so dang big) and made another appearance next season.
Wife hates spiders so that is a pro
The base leg segments of wood taped together to give slight movement on setting up was very needed and worked perfectly

Cons
I didn't spread the legs far enough apart. I was thinking just pvc and not the extra girth of the end product for legs. This made them almost non-visible next to each other. Going to make a couple new ones this year and will spread them out more to correct this.


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## shaggywdc (Jul 30, 2014)

Didn't think about melting the PVC to bend it. That's cool. Really thinking outside the box with the hampers.


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## Pumpkinskull (Aug 26, 2006)

shaggywdc said:


> Didn't think about melting the PVC to bend it. That's cool. Really thinking outside the box with the hampers.


It did make it weaker (more brittle) and one snapped when I was putting too much pressure on it this year. But the other 'half' of the pipe was intact so wasn't noticeable or caused any issue.

And I went that route because i wanted more then 45 degree angle and less cost (if I did it with pvc joints it would have like triple the cost). Though they sell those any direction pvc joints now for us Haunters... but they ain't cheap either.


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