pvc pipe stand

**Yojimbo** · 05-26-2013, 22:30

I tried doing a single pole stand similar to Alamosa's with PVC. First with 1" then 1.25" then the 1" inserted into the 1.25". These were the heavier weight PVC pipe. All poles started to bend under the stress. Also was not very light weight. The hard part was trying to angle the pole similar to the handy hammock pole for best support.

**Theosus** · 05-27-2013, 07:36

in your square box configuration you drew... why not anchor the hammock on an angle, instead of in the middle of the pipe. Your tie out points would be in the corners instead.

I typically use handy supports made of a natural cellulose-lignin composite material. It's lightweight, pretty durable over time, has a good strength-to-weight ratio and is easily replaceable.

It is found naturally in wooded areas, however the roots make them difficult to move without a chainsaw.

**FLRider** · 05-27-2013, 09:07

From my skating days, PVC is great for sudden pressures applied to it and then released (jumping on it, for example), since it's got good rebound. However, in torsional loads applied to it, it's going to bend (even just having a foot of coping hanging off of a box for a couple of months is enough to bend PVC, using its own weight--let alone a person's).

Anyway, that's been my experience with PVC. I could be wrong, but I think either lumber or hollow pipe or bamboo are going to be your best bets to stand up to torsional stresses on the stand. But, if it turns out that PVC works, please do let us know!

**Jimmy Shelter** · 05-27-2013, 09:29

Being a Plumber for a living,..Anywho there are several types of pvc pipe .The most common that you will find at a hardware outlet is going to be schedual 40. It is either sold as foam core,which is light weight, or solid core, a bit heavier. If this stand was to built of either type,I would Not be comfortable making it with anything under 3" pipe.Anything smaller in diamater is going to bow, and flex with any type of weight load. 3" pipe is still going to have some deflection. Then you could goto 4" or schedual 80 pipe with is a thicker wall, and also heavier,and is going to get into your wallet,expecially when you get into fittings.On the note of fittings ,the fittings are goin to be the weakest part of the project,as they are not made for stress.Fittings will always break before the pipe. And finally one important thing to consider is PVC pipe is not UV friendly. The UV rays of the sun will break down the PVC over a period of time making it brittle.

**WickedKlown2** · 05-27-2013, 11:26

Here is a great article Dejoha just completed on different types of portable hammock stands. Maybe something in his article could help you out. : Portable Hammock Stands

**gnar** · 05-27-2013, 14:38

Originally Posted by paulydanyl

I've seen PVC stands that work, but the designs i've looked at are typically glued together for strength, so they wouldn't be as portable as it sounds like you want. It would be a big challenge to design something with press fit connections strong enough to be safe.

gluing the fittings would not make the pipe stronger. all it would do is make it not be able to come apart. simply "dry" fitting the pipe would be fine if it could bare the weight. pvc fittings generally hold real tight when not glued, the issue is the pipe its self.

**Jared** · 03-11-2014, 13:50

The ropes around the Handy Hammock struts stabilize the strut so that it is always loaded in compression rather than shear. Your best bet for using a low shear strength material like PVC is to rig the same sort of thing - DIY a Handy Hammock design.

The other possibility is if you can distribute the deformation over the entire length of the pipe. Look into curved strut tensegrities.

**80083r** · 03-11-2014, 14:35

Aluminum pipe would be stronger (by far) for the same weight and you might want to look into the strength properties of triangles. Make something that is shaped like a back yard swing set.

**Floridahanger** · 03-11-2014, 14:35

For a portable PVC pipe stand, try a bipod stand. It has dowel rods in middle for strength.

-->http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=JiRD71IC3yE

**OneEye** · 03-11-2014, 14:55

Originally Posted by Jared

The ropes around the Handy Hammock struts stabilize the strut so that it is always loaded in compression rather than shear. Your best bet for using a low shear strength material like PVC is to rig the same sort of thing - DIY a Handy Hammock design.

The other possibility is if you can distribute the deformation over the entire length of the pipe. Look into curved strut tensegrities.

I'd suggest the tension cables are there to prevent deflection from centerline at the midpoint of the strut. This dramitically increases load at which elastic (Euler) buckling begins. With a higher elastic buckling critical load, compression strut can take higher loads until an inelastic buckling or local buckling failure becomes the predominant failure mode. Maybe we're saying similar things, but the failure mode of the restrained buckling strut is still a compression failure rather than a shear failure.

Curved-strut tensegrity is more artistic than functional. The bending stiffness needed in a curved strut is significant to prevent a runaway p-delta effect on the compression loads. The configuration takes a theoretical nominal load eccentricity to start and changes it to a known large load eccentricity from the center point of the strut. Weight savings are not to be found down that path.