Question on heat stick construction

Hey, all. hopefully i can stop bugging y'all on this topic soon but i just had a quick question on materials for building a heat stick. http://www.3d0g.net/brewing/heatstick suggests that i use a 12" chrome drain pipe. Chrome seems to be hard to find and i was wondering if it's just an aesthetics thing or if it serves some purpose and other materials might be less acceptable. The other thing is that it has me sealing the stick with J-B Weld and says i should pour it in and allow it "to flow around
and seal the electrical connections at the bottom". If it conducts electricity, will this not 'cause a short as soon as it's plugged in? Anyway, sorry for my ignorance but once i figure this stuff out, I'll help the next ignorant person Thanks again, all

As long as the J-B Weld is fully cured it wont conduct. I was unable to get the "let flow around" method to work. I used this method -> http://lovebrewingcompany.com/brewing/diy/heatstick/ except for in the 5th picture it shows the terminals being potted; I wrapped heavy tape around the base of the element to contain the j-b weld until it fully cured.