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Spaghetti Technic

 pasta meets meccano
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At schools many models are constructed using pieces of spaghetti. The reasons are obvious: it's cheap; light; easily broken to any length; comparatively strong; enables quite tall or wide structures to be assembled; it teaches some of the basic principles of engineering. It can also be painted or simply broken up and cooked.

This brings me to its down side. It's hard to make any kind of neat joints. Spaghetti Technic solves this problem by offering slightly thicker strands of spaghetti which have lines of holes running up each shank.

Although these weaken the strands, the advantages are clear. Pieces can now be easily joined with a needle and thread, or for the the more dexterous/advanced a set of pasta nuts and bolts are available.

—xenzag, Apr 01 2010

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       I would imagine pasta could be welded, by wetting the areas to be joined, squishing them together, and then letting the joint dry out again.
—Wrongfellow, Apr 01 2010
   

       try it.... it's not that easy
—xenzag, Apr 01 2010
   

       I wonder if a directable jet of steam might cook the pasta in specific places, allowing for a bendy "elbow" to be made. Joining other pieces of spaghetti might be achieved by the mechanism of meatballs into which adjoining spaghetti pieces could be stuck.
—zen_tom, Apr 01 2010
   

       I misread this as "Spaghetti Tectonic", which I believe sounds just as interesting.
—DrWorm, Apr 01 2010
   

       I always remeber spaghetti construction using gumdrops for joints. Rigid enough to provide structure, but pliable enough to push spaghetti all the way through for mid span joints.
—MechE, Apr 01 2010
   

       //I would imagine pasta could be welded, by wetting the areas to be joined, squishing them together, and then letting the joint dry out again.//   

       This technique works very well with Wotsits.
—wagster, Apr 01 2010
   

       One could certainly prepare a liquidised pasta and ethanol solution for glue. You would probably also need some kind of temporary clamp like a bulldog clip while it dries.   

       Alternatively, I think it would be simply marvelous to have a device that would bind 2 pieces of spaghetti together with fine thread; something that would save you having to wind round and round for ages. Such a device would prompt me to build the bridge over the river Kwai.
—marklar, Apr 01 2010
   

       //This technique works very well with Wotsits// Your task is to create a fully working example of a BSA Bantam motorcyle engine, using only Wotsits.
—xenzag, Apr 01 2010
   

       I'm thinking pierogis for central hub connections.
—RayfordSteele, Apr 03 2010
   

       Behold the variety of available pasta shapes! [link] There's a host of mechanical and structural resources there.   

       Although I can't see an exact analogue, the joiner piece I am imagining looks like a miniature of the kind used by riggers to erect scaffolding. Sort of like a knuckle, with two holes all the way through (but missing each other) at right (or other) angles. Or like two pieces of rigatoni or conchiglie joined together/moulded as one piece.   

       Spaghetti threaded into bucatini creates a piston, telescoping rod or linear actuator.
Fusilli lunghi bucati can be used as drive screws, Archimedes screws, self-drilling anchors, or reinforcing.
Fiori! Rotelle! Oh my!
—BunsenHoneydew, Apr 07 2010
   

       Just use the stuff the Dozers have on Fraggle Rock.
—marklar, Apr 07 2010
   


 

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