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.
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