Buying cylinders

Over the years I’ve stumbled on some decent links here for buying plastic cylinders. I’m starting back up after a long break and was looking at building a pump. I had really good success actually using a fish tank gravel vacuum in the past. The problem is that the largest I’ve ever found are 2.25in diameter and I am really past that now. I want to bump up to 2.5 in. I know some of you will suggest just buying a real pump, but I just can’t have that shit laying around. We have fish tanks here so a gravel vacuum blends right in.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone could share some links where I can buy inexpensive cylinders and caps. Shouldn’t there be a sticky on this here anyway? :)

Tapplastics google it making my own for years.

What do you buy? A transparent acrylic pipe then and some flat acrylic, glue it together and drill a valve hole? We have some instructions on doing this around the forum but new simpler methods are always welcome if you wouldn’t mind detailing them.

I use a 2” standard pvc cap and heat tube with a heat gun. I can almost form to any basic size. I also plug end of tube with a rubber test plug heat the area that I need to expand and use a cheap car tire pump to put a small amount of pressure into tube to expand. I have been doing this for years kinda love to change shapes to see what works best. Before you glue cap to tube you have to rough sand it some it makes it seal better. I also have a metal lathe that I use to reduce some of the pvc caps to fit its more or less a hobby to change shapes and not cost a ton of $$.

So you buy a 2” tube and expand it with heat and pressure? That’s an interestingly high level of personalisation. No transparency to your tubes? A fitted cap makes a lot of sense.

Modifying a tube like that, monster2balls, would be a very worthy video on YouTube. Very clever.

Thanks, My wife says I can modify anything. Lol

I have a cylinder from pumptoys and I’m more than happy with it. It is not cheap, but like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

If you are man enough to brag about needing a 2.5" cock cylinder, you are man enough to buy a real pump cylinder rather that coming up with super-complicated half-ass measures.

Before I told my wife about my pumping, I kept my cylinder and vacuum hand pump in a tool box. The vac pump is a automotive Brake Bleeder pump. The cylinder is an innocuous looking acrylic tube. It all looks like a tool that would go in a tool box. Hell, as far as I know it looks like a specialized fish tank gravel vacuum.

After I told her, I still keep it there.

See gprent's excellent sizing for selecting the correct size cylinder for your girth here:

Selecting Your Cylinder Size

In reviewing the chart, I see you need a 2.5" cock cylinder if you have between 7" and 7.5" base girth. If you’ve got 7.75 to 8.25* base girth you will need the 2.75" instead. Best of luck on your new pumping routine,

I have 3 vacu-tech flared cylinders 13/4 ,2, and 2.25 and a VT 9000

.. All work great I don’t use them anymore and are for sale