pvc-builder

I’m building a dinosaur for Burning Man (the whole build lives at /raptor/), and pvc-builder is the tool it’s drawn in: a browser-based 3D design studio for SCH 40 PVC that knows what an elbow is. Draw pipe at true scale and it infers the fittings, simulates the joints under physics, and spits out a cut list you can take to the hardware store. No accounts, no backend; projects autosave locally.

The software’s mature at this point; the creature is the active project. The frame that’s now glued came out of cut lists made here, the head is in progress, and the physical build sits around 75 percent. Riglab handled the linkage engineering, and pvc-builder is where the drawing happens. It started as a cheaper-model experiment (Opus building alongside Fable’s Riglab) and ended up the tool I actually reach for, confounded comparison and all.