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  1. #1
    Senior Member salamander42's Avatar
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    Home made hammock stand

    I've been wanting/needing to make a hammock stand for my patio for a while. I originally considered the 2x4 version here. . . http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=8758. . . after SinisterMinister made one and drew up some very nice plans. I wanted something that would be a little simpler and easier to transport or store though.

    So I started thinking about one made of galvanised steel pipe. I was a little put off by the price though, and while it could be made with shorter lengths of pipe to make it more transportable, I thought the weight would make it pretty cumbersome.

    Then I had a flash of inspiration yesterday and immediately ran to Home Depot and picked up the parts and put it together. Here's what I came up with. . .




    Basically I thought that a hybrid of wood and steel would meet all of my requirements. It does have it's drawbacks, but with a little refinement and a little ingenuity I'm sure I'll be able to overcome them.

    The materials used are:
    4 8 foot long 2x4s
    1 10 foot long piece of 1 inch galvanised pipe
    20 feet or so (I didn't actually measure) of sisal rope

    I used a 1 3/8 inch spade bit to bore through the 2x4s. I don't know the exact outside diameter of the galvanised pipe, but this made a reasonably good fit. It left just a bit of wiggle room. A 1 1/4 inch hole may have worked, or it may have been too tight. I just bought the one bit, and made my choice on a quick eyeball estimate of the diameter needed, so I didn't have any other size bits to try. . . I just tried the one I got on a piece of scrap and was happy with the fit, so I went with it.

    After inserting the pipe ends through the holes I'd drilled, I used the rope to lash the boards together with three turns above and three turns below the pipe. This may not be necessary, but if nothing else, it does keep the legs from spreading apart more than about 6 feet. If the lashing were skipped, I'd want to attach a rope between each pair of legs to keep them at the desired angle.

    A few notes on the component lengths I used. . . I measured my hammocks (the Grand Trunk ultralight in the pics, and my HH Expedition) and both were right around 9 feet long, give or take a bit. So I figured a 10 foot ridge pole would work just about perfectly. This doesn't give me enough room to hang the Expedition's tarp, but I have a 10x9 Equinox tarp that I should be able to use. For the legs I could have easily used 6 foot long 2x4s, but I went with the longer ones for a couple of reasons: First, I wanted to keep the ridge pole high enough for me to walk under. Second, I'd like to use this or one very similar in my bed room, and I wanted to make sure I would have enough height to hang the hammock over the bed. As it is, even with the legs further apart than I'd originally planned, and the support rope wrapped around one of the legs to drop it down a bit, it's still hanging just a bit higher than I'd really like for patio use. I'd just lop the legs off a bit, but I don't want to lose my clearance under the ridge pole. I'll work something out, I'm sure.

    As far as portability goes, I have a Saturn Vue, and with the back seats and front passenger seat folded down , the 8 foot 2x4s fit in with no trouble. The 10 foot pole has to go in at an angle with the front end on the dash. I'll probably use 6 foot 2x4s and cut the pipe in half and use a coupler in the middle for a more portable version.

    I've only spent a couple of hours hanging from this so far, but as I do more testing and refining of this thing, I'll keep you all posted. I'd also welcome any comments and advise you all may have. Hope you like it.
    Last edited by salamander42; 01-03-2011 at 19:09.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Poppabear's Avatar
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    Excellent looking stand. How stable is it? You mention the lashing is to prevent the legs from spreading out. What about shifting fore and aft. You mention nothing about anything holding the pole in. Is the friction fit tight enough so that there is no worry of it slipping out?
    Terry

  3. #3
    Senior Member salamander42's Avatar
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    It's surprisingly stable. . . That was my one major worry with the design. It does sway a little bit end to end, and I'll probably have to do something about that eventually. If nothing else, a guy line off of each end should keep it from being a problem. Side to side, the way the hammock swings, it's rock solid.

    The suspension line from the hammock pulls the the 2x4s toward the middle, so I don't have any worries about them slipping off the end. Friction seems to be enough to keep them from from being pulled further in along the pipe, but just to be sure the legs don't move, I'm thinking of getting a tee fitting to screw on to each end of the pipe. That would would block the legs from being able to slide off, and give me something to lash them to to prevent them from sliding inwards.

  4. #4
    Senior Member leroybrown's Avatar
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    I like this design more than others that I have seen. Like it or not, a hammock WILL fail on you at some point and I hate the thought of falling on the foundation of a stand.

    Nice job.
    how much do you pay for a 10 foot section of pipe like that?

  5. #5
    Senior Member salamander42's Avatar
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    I'm hanging in my hammock at the moment, and don't want to get up to look at the reciept from home depot. The pipe was right around 20 bucks. Everything including the bit that I bought was aproximately 40. That's not including the rope which I already had on hand. Even after I add the tee fittings that I mentioned, it should still be under 50 bucks total unless they cost a lot more than I'm anticipating.

  6. #6
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    I like it a lot!!!!
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  7. #7
    Senior Member salamander42's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leroybrown View Post
    Like it or not, a hammock WILL fail on you at some point…
    By the way… that's really not something I wanted to read whe suspended 2 feet off the ground with nothing but concrete under me.

  8. #8
    Member jasen4_30's Avatar
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    Great design! I have been looking for a stand like this, affordable and collapsable. I think I am going to run down to Home Depot tomorrow.

  9. #9
    Senior Member salamander42's Avatar
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    Hey, a thumbs up from Shug! I'm in the big time now!

    Good luck Jasen4_30! Let me know how it turns out, and any improvements you may think of!

  10. #10
    Senior Member Terry_Dodson's Avatar
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    Do you think a pole like a TV antenna pole would work? Would it be lighter? One advantage would be that it comes in sections with the coupler already built in on one end.

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