$30 DIY C-Stand

[tcindie]

Wow I've been gone a long time...

Seems this forum has been slowish for a while. I just did a nice easy DIY project today, have posted this on a couple other forums, so I will post here for y'all too..


Ok, it actually cost me $39, but $5 of that was for the bit and hole-tap, and $30 sounds better than $34.

I started with the basic idea as laid out here (http://www.diyphotogear.com/cstand1-1.html - Giving credit where due), but wanted to make a few changes. My changes have alleviated at least one if not two of the three cons listed there.


So, why DIY a c-stand you ask? Well, a few reasons. Firstly, they are incredibly useful on set. Secondly, commercially available stands cost at least twice what it costs to build one, if not 3 or 4 times as much. The cheapest I've seen them on ebay is roughly $65, before shipping. So for that amount you can certainly build two, but if you look at the more spendy ones, they are right around $120ish (OR MORE!) so that means with shipping costs included we should be able to build 4 for the price of one.

What does it lack over a commercial c-stand? As opposed to the original version I loosely modeled my design after, it does have "folding" legs, so the only missing piece is the grip head that allows for attaching a boom arm. These aren't terribly expensive though, so you could pick one up if you need it. Still working out a diy solution there, but I'm thinking it might come from drum kit parts (something along the lines of this: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tama-MC66-Universal-Clamp?sku=440219).
However, you probably wouldn't want to cantilever a very big light on a boom arm with this stand, I don't know how safe it would be (haven't tried it, so I can't say for sure). But a simple arm to hold a flag or bounce shouldn't be a problem. Either way though, using sand bags to weight the legs down would be a wise choice. (I plan to do a Sandbag DIY solution tutorial soon)

My DIY c-stand is a two section telescoping stand with three "folding" legs weighing in at about 15lbs (heavy duty baby!). It will safely extend from 5 1/2 feet to a height of roughly 9 1/2 feet. (A full 2 1/2 feet taller than the original design). These heights could be modified simply by changing the lengths of the two telescoping pieces.

Parts List

• 1 - 5/16" x 1 1/2" - 18 thread Thumb Screw
• 1 - 3/4" x 48" Nipple Pipe
• 1 - 1/2" x 48" EMT Conduit (this comes in 10 foot lengths, you can cut it with a pipe cutter or hack saw, it's very inexpensive stuff)
• 1 - 1/2" EMT Conduit Set Screw Adapter (I could only find these in packs of three, but it was under $2 for three)
• 1 - 1/4" x 3" Nipple Pipe
• 1 - 1/2" x 6" Nipple Pipe
• 3 - 3/4" x 12" Nipple Pipe
• 1 - 3/4" x 10" Nipple Pipe
• 1 - 3/4" x 6" Nipple Pipe
• 1 - 3/4" x 2" Nipple Pipe (This might be a 2.5", it said 2.5" on the shelf, but the receipt said 2" -- It should be the next size up from the "close" size, and less that 3")
• 1 - 1/2" x 3/4" 90 degree Elbow
• 2 - 1/2" x 3/4" Bell Coupling
• 1 - 1/2" x 1/4" Bell Coupling
• 2 - 3/4" 45 degree Elbow
• 3 - 3/4" 45 degree Street Elbow
• 3 - 3/4" Cap
• 2 - 3/4" Tee

You will also need a 5/16 drill bit, and 18NC hole tap. I found these as a kit. Additional tools you may or may not need:

• Power Drill (or Drill Press)
• Hack saw (or Pipe Cutter)
• Pipe Wrench
• Pliers (or tap wrench)

If you find that your pieces are not staying tightly together, you can use a thread locking compound (like loctite) or drill through the joints, tap the hole and use a screw. I didn't have any problems with joints not being tight though. But it is very important that they do hold tight, if one of the legs should twist it will likely cause your stand to come tumbling down, with whatever lights, etc are mounted on it.

Here's a look at the finished DIY c-stand:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/FinishedStanding.jpg

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/FinishedFolded.jpg


It may look like it's leaning in the first image, but that is due to angle the photo was taken from. You may also notice it looks like the foot on the top leg is lower than the other two. There is a little play in the legs however, so they even out and it stands mighty straight (I didn't check it for plumb, but eyeballing it it looks pretty darn spot on).

The only thing I have left to do is spray on a coat of paint, but for a quick trip to the home center and about 20 minutes of assembly I have a very functional c-stand. I definitely plan to make many more of these!

If you're wondering, I bought my materials at Menards, but you can easily find all the pieces at Lowes, Home Depot, or most any other Home/building supply store, and they may actually be a bit cheaper there too

The build is pretty straight forward. Unfortunately my firewire port died on my video camera, and I've not yet gotten my HD camera, so I don't have a video to share. Instead I have a series of photos, which will follow in a few additional posts in this thread that clearly mark where each piece is attached.

[tcindie]

This is what the package of EMT Set Screw Adapters looked like:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/EMTConnector.jpg

Lets start from the bottom and work our way up...

When assembled the legs will look like this:


http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/BottomEnd_Unassembled.jpg

[tcindie]

Bottom Leg Detail:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/BottomLeg.jpg

Middle Leg Detail:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/MiddleLeg.jpg

Top Leg Detail:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/TopLeg.jpg

Bottom End Detail:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/BottomEnd.jpg

[tcindie]

The top and middle legs float freely on the 1/2" x 6" bottom piece, how tightly you crank down the bottom leg will determine how easily they rotate, I recommend leaving a little play so they are not terribly difficult to rotate. This will make set up and tear down a bit easier.

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/AssemblyTopLeg.jpg


http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/AssemblyMiddleLeg.jpg

Once assembled it will resemble this:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/LegJoints.jpg

And we can continue up to the telescoping joint...

This is the most difficult part of the build, because you have to drill and tap a hole for the thumb screw that keeps the upper segment in place. Not that it's really all that difficult, but compared to twisting pieces of pipe together the difficulty level is a little higher. Note: I had no problem with my EMT conduit sliding nicely through the 3/4" x 1/2" Bell Coupling. If you do, you should file down some of the threads inside the couping on the same side as the thumb screw, this will leave the threads on the opposite wall so that it gets a good "bite" when you tighten it down.


http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/MiddleJoint.jpg

[tcindie]

Finally, before we can slide the conduit into place, we must attach the top assembly.


http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/TopEnd.jpg

Another look at the telescoping joint:

http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/TelescopingJoint.jpg


http://216.17.37.184/photos/c-stand/Telescoping.jpg

There you have it. Aprox. $30, a quick assembly, and you're ready to go!

I tried to use all "Black Pipe" as it's a bit cheaper than the galvanized, but could not find all the attachments in that kind of material. So it is part black pipe, and part galvanized. I do plan to paint it though, which will make it nicely uniform looking.

Have fun, and good luck!

[LizaTrainer]

No way, great pic's easy fix and cheap. Thanks for posting.

[Runeshai]

That's awesome! I've been trying to figure out what to do for light stands somewhat recently and couldn't find anything similarish to a light stand to buy cheap locally. This is a great idea though, and I'm pretty sure I have almost all the parts already since I built a crane out of these pipes that didn't end up working. Thanks a lot for the tips and the link, I'm going to see what I have and try to work out a design that would cost basically nothing for me. To attach a boom arm, you could just use a Tee on the main shaft and then a closed nipple and another Tee and then a long pipe, but you'd have to use a screw in it or something to keep it from moving on its own. Your idea at musician's friend looks better though. I was just thinking, what about a "frame" to hold some sort of diffusion over the light? Would that have to be a separate thing? Like one of those PVC backdrop frames or could it be an attachment to this stand? It would get too heavy if it was an attachment, and I suppose a backdrop stand would be useful for other things like greenscreening, but it's just another thing to have to set up while on set. Any ideas? I'll play with it when I can try sketching out my own design. Thanks again for the tips, great stuff!

[tcindie]

The only thing I don't like about using a Tee would be that I would be limited to what angle I can put the boom at. even with something like a 45, it's limiting.

I am very seriously thinking about building a CNC machine, in which case I can probably manufacture grip heads for really cheap, but in the mean time B&H has them for like $24 each...



A frame for holding diffusion over lights eh?

Well.. it just so happens I built a flag yesterday, and have a (not nearly as detailed as this one) how-to for that.. I'll post it in another thread.

[Runeshai]

Alright, awesome. Thanks a lot, I'll check it out.

[ProductionNow]

There are some errors in your recipe here.

ALSO - The 1/2" conduit pipe wouldn't fit in my 3/4" x 48" Nipple pipe - Black nor Galvanized - I bought my materials a Lowes and could only find a 5' copper pipe that had a smaller diameter than the conduit - at 13$ it starts to become not worth it - try home depot maybe... This could be because I live in America and there are different hole sizes in the plumbing pipes.

Here's the corrections

Parts List

* 1 - 5/16" x 1 1/2" - 18 thread Thumb Screw
* 1 - 3/4" x 48" Nipple Pipe
* 1 - 1/2" x 48" EMT Conduit (this comes in 10 foot lengths, you can cut it with a pipe cutter or hack saw, it's very inexpensive stuff) You could also get 5' x 1/2" white PVC in plumbing - but once again I wasn't able to find something that would fit int he 3/4" x 48" galvanized pipe so beware!!!
* 1 - 1/2" EMT Conduit Set Screw Adapter (I could only find these in packs of three, but it was under $2 for three) Didn't fit on the conduit - I was able to replace it with Conduit Set Screw Flex or something like that
* 1 - 1/4" x 3" Nipple Pipe
* 1 - 1/2" x 6" Nipple Pipe
* 3 - 3/4" x 12" Nipple Pipe
* 1 - 3/4" x 10" Nipple Pipe
* 1 - 3/4" x 6" Nipple Pipe
* 1 - 3/4" x 2" Nipple Pipe (This might be a 2.5", it said 2.5" on the shelf, but the receipt said 2" -- It should be the next size up from the "close" size, and less that 3")
* 1 - 1/2" x 3/4" 90 degree Elbow
* 2 - 1/2" x 3/4" Bell Coupling
* 1 - 1/2" x 1/4" Bell Coupling
* 2 - 3/4" 45 degree Elbow You need 3 of them
* 3 - 3/4" 45 degree Street Elbow
* 3 - 3/4" Cap
* 2 - 3/4" Tee

A shame I may have to return everything if I can't find a 48" black or galvanized pipe to fit the 1/2 conduit. Sigh.... well c-stands are only $6 to rent - I'll just pick another one up tomorrow.

[Nate Downes]

**rushes off to the hardware store**

[Knightly]

I get that feeling every time I read the builds on this forum Nate