Rubber Tubing image courtesy of NewAge Industries, Inc.
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor from the mid 1900s who is known for both very large and very small pieces of work. The one I have in mind at the moment is of the latter category, named, appropriately enough, Calder’s Circus. It is, as the title implies, a miniature display of more than seventy small mobile and interactive figures and animals, in addition to almost 100 supplementary accompanying “bells and whistles”, such as carpets, flags, lamps, musical instruments, etc, many of which are handmade from rubber tubing. With this creation, Calder managed to combine his competing interests in engineering and art in one very original and fascinating piece. Calder’s Circus can be seen at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
In addition to quirky art installations, rubber tubing is also— and more commonly— used as tools to transport materials— both liquids and gas— from one location to another or within and throughout a system— from blood transfusions in hospitals to channeling automotive fluids in your car. Rubber tubing can be both naturally produced— like that of latex tubing (also referred to as gum rubber)—or synthetically produced— such as neoprene and silicone tubing. Latex tubing is made from the Pará rubber tree, in addition to other plants, and is used in sensitive applications. Both natural and synthetic tubing is valued for their resistance to water and other otherwise corrosive materials, in addition to their buoyancy and light weight. Synthetic tubing is additionally valued and in certain cases preferred because of its hypoallergenic constitution.
Rubber tubing is manufactured in a variety of sizes, which differ in both inner and outer diameter as well as thickness. Furthermore, fittings, hose barbs and other connecting attachments must also be considered in respects to the tools, equipment and/or additionally tubes a particular rubber tube will need to hook up to. The chemicals and substances used to manufacture rubber tubing must also be considered in adherence to its intended purpose. Like previously mentioned, manufacturers of surgical tubing must consider sterility and size, whereas flexible rubber tubing must, as its name implies, a high level of flexibility, as it is typically used in applications where the tubing must be bent to fit a confined or complicated space.
