Comments on: What would you do with a cardboard tube?

Question: What would you do with a cardboard tube?

Totally Zanzibarin' Ya — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:34:45 -0800

So I have a buttload of cardboard tubes...what can I do with them?

They are 3 feet long, 4 inches across on the inside diameter, and about 1/4 inch thick (sturdy).

I was thinking maybe building some rockets or a launcher of some type, but I would like more ideas.

Links would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks!

By: craniac

craniac — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:45:17 -0800

You could make a cool looking cardboard assemblage and paint it. Also, there are lots of sites describing assorted cardboard furniture, and those sound ideal. Last suggestion: art prank.

flickr pics

By: craniac

craniac — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:45:51 -0800

Oh wait, I blew it. The right answer should have been:

"eat more fiber."

By: chillmost

chillmost — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:48:38 -0800

1. Place one end towards guitar amp or other type of speaker.
2. Place mic at other end.
3. Record.
4. Adjust placement and volume to get different sounds.

You can also join multiple tubes end to end to get weirder sounds.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:49:15 -0800

Extraordinary Uses for Cardboard Tubes

By: sjuhawk31

sjuhawk31 — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:50:39 -0800

Build a fort!

And that's not snark...I'm dead serious. Spend some time acting like a 6 year old again...it'll do ya good.

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:53:29 -0800

Lots of cardboard tubes? Build a cardboard Internet!

By: utsutsu

utsutsu — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:57:14 -0800

At least a few of them should be destroyed via cardboard tube sword fights.

The cardboard tube samurai would approve.

By: Sara Anne

Sara Anne — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:57:45 -0800

Pinhole Camera
Room Divider, stuff them wth sound mufflers and link 'em up.
Or just let the work of Shigeru Ban inspire you.

By: orangemiles

orangemiles — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:59:51 -0800

Call up your local primary or middle school art department and see if they could use them. Then pat yourself on the back for contributing.

By: and hosted from Uranus

and hosted from Uranus — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:00:53 -0800

Any local daycare centers nearby would have to have a portion of your buttload. Kids can think of all kinds fun ways to use them.

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:03:59 -0800

Find someone with lots of pet hamsters / gerbils / rats / mice. Donate.

By: and hosted from Uranus

and hosted from Uranus — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:05:05 -0800

Err, 'love to have'. (Or, yeah, what orangemiles said.)

By: SassHat

SassHat — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:05:12 -0800

Make a pixelator.
Here are more links. They are what the kids call "cool."

By: Aquaman

Aquaman — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:08:46 -0800

Please refrain from using the words "buttload" and "tubes" in the same sentence in the future. Please. Think of the children.

Second the daycare idea - there's nothing so much fun for a five-year-old as a cardboard tube for some reason.

By: andythebean

andythebean — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:10:03 -0800

codpieces.

By: FauxScot

FauxScot — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:27:31 -0800

I used a collection of similar tubes (about 12" long) as shelf organizers....

I stacked them so that their open ends were accessible from the front of the shelves and each one made a cubbyhole into which I could insert long skinny things.. in my case, stone carving tools, clay sculpture tools, a pile of metal bars, short dowels, ear plugs, safety glasses, ad nauseum. Every thing was visible, protected, sorted, accessible and the shelf volume much better utilized. Instead of a jumble of crap on the shelf, I had 50 little holes to stick things in. Loved it.

Perhaps they'd work similarly in a pantry, though you'll have to shorten them.

By: Totally Zanzibarin' Ya

Totally Zanzibarin' Ya — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:29:46 -0800

Wow! Thanks for the buttload of responses! Keep 'em coming!

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:45:30 -0800

Make some chairs, a la Joe Colombo.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:09:42 -0800

I remember having a couple of those around when I was a kid and I loved them. I would cut them up and use them as toys in all sorts of ways, it was great. Definitely see about the arts & crafts donation idea. I don't think they're quite suited to rocketry as from what I remember they were extremely heavy due to the wall thinkness.

By: anildash

anildash — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:12:32 -0800

That collection of tubes is going to be very, very, deceptively strong. You could probably set them all up together and make something that looks like it could never be held up by mere cardboard, but will actually end up being as sturdy as if it had been made by 2x4s.

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:13:36 -0800

I had a boyfriend once who built me a four-poster bed out of cardboard tubes (I think they were from inside industrial-sized rolls of fabric). It lasted for about a day and half, before collapsing beneath its own weight in a hilarious fashion. Romance+Comedy=Profit!

By: textilephile

textilephile — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:29:11 -0800

Speaking of reliving your childhood, you should smear at least one with peanut butter, roll in bird seed, and make the biggest cardboard tube bird feeder ever!

By: !Jim

!Jim — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:03:50 -0800

Create a cardboard model of the intarweb.

By: Totally Zanzibarin' Ya

Totally Zanzibarin' Ya — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:10:17 -0800

At least a few of them should be destroyed via cardboard tube sword fights.

It would be an epic battle as these are very strong.

That collection of tubes is going to be very, very, deceptively strong.

I can stand on one and it will barely deflect!

By: norm

norm — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:52:49 -0800

For some reason, this reminded me of the Monty Python skit involving 3 inch lengths of string.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:55:36 -0800

Build a time machine.

Those fools at the Academy thought I was mad to try it. But here I am posting from 2037! Who's laughing now!

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:57:13 -0800

Actually. We use them for dog toys. Tape it up with a piece of bacon inside. They go nuts over it.

By: toxic

toxic — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:31:32 -0800

Relive your teenaged years: fill with black powder, cap the ends with glue, insert fuse, test on neighbor's mailbox.

Oh, hello Mister FBI man.

By: Benway

Benway — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:01:19 -0800

If the tubes are rigid and you have some time, you could make some unique furniture.

Like shelves... (some imagination with same size tubes might make some interesting designs) or you could make a telescope or a pinhole camera with a tunnel effect.

By: eve harrington

eve harrington — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:08:50 -0800

I nth the idea of donating them to a grade school art or music teacher: maybe suggest a thongaphone orchestra...

By: xod

xod — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 09:26:04 -0800

Ask Shigeru Ban.

By: jobby

jobby — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 08:38:59 -0800

Geodesic dome?