http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/American-Recorde...tand-Pair?sku=459520


I'm a bit wary of these as they look as though the center column is only about two inches thick, but size and colour wise they''d be quite nice for me, I was prepared to build new stands, but due to my back injury I don't think I'll be able to do it after all. I'm sure my painted cinder blocks are better stands, I'm just tired of stubbing my toes on the things already!
Thanks for looking!

BTW, any other recommendations would be appreciated too!

These would be to support my BM5a's.

Thanks!

I would suggest you make some of your own out of some MDF, PVC pipe, and sand. REALLY easy to do, really cheap, and they look (and sound) good.

Check here.

Cool link, CR. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Contrast Recording:
I would suggest you make some of your own out of some MDF, PVC pipe, and sand. REALLY easy to do, really cheap, and they look (and sound) good.

Check here.

Thanks CR! I've seen those before, I was thinking of doing a three pillar similar design, but I'm really beat up at the moment... I'd still rather build myself, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it for a while. I may just stick with the blocks... who knows.

The sand and PVC thing does work well and can be even easier than what I saw on the link. The biggest problems (well...none of this is really a "problem"...it's all pretty easy) are getting the ends of the large diameter PVC pipe cut nice and square...and then attaching the pipe to the square wood top and bottom pieces. Any easy way to cut square ends on large pipe is to just use a large mitre saw. Most have a tall enough fence and will cut a lovely square end on 3" pipe. Still...you have to be especially careful cutting rounds of that size because they can shift (scarey!)...even more so with PVC than wood since it has a natural "slipperiness".

Even easier is to just cut the ends with a hand saw trying for square...but no biggie, and here's why. You'll need a matching (3") PVC cap for either end and some PVC primer/glue. When you cap the PVC pipe, the ends will pretty much always wind up square since the caps fit pretty precisely. First locate the center of the square wooden end pieces (two diagonal lines from corner to corner will locate the center where they intersect) and, using a spade bit (a few bucks)large enough for a 3/8" x 1 1/2" (or so) slot-head bolt washer, countersink a hole deep-enough for the washer and the head of the bolt. Then change bits to drill through the rest of the way for the bolt. Now drill a hole in the center (approximate) of the PVC end caps also for the bolt. Assemble the wood to the PVC using a large fender washer inside the cap so you don't crack it if you overtighten the bolt.

After together, glue the whole end cap/wood base assembly to one end of the PVC. Flip it over and fill it with the sand and then glue another assembly to the other end. After that, the pipe can be cleaned and painted and the wood can also be finished. If you worked only reasonably carefully...the whole mess should stand up straight and look pretty nice. Those PVC end caps even give a sort of modern "capital" and "base" look to the column when it's all finished.

-john

We totally think alike my friend, that's what I was thinking cap wise also!

Sad thing is, I found my friend some 3 foot tall hollow resin plant stands at a garage sale for $20 last year, they looked like mini Roman columns! They're made to be filled with sand or concrete, they're just perfect! Unfortunately they're way more expensive if you buy them anyplace other than someones moving sale!

I may be heading back to PVC land, a friend used the cardboard concrete casting tubes used for making footings for decks etc... They didn't turn out so bad either.

Maybe I just need to wait for the cold damp weather to pass, it's not like I could move these cinder blocks too easily at the moment.

Ok, went to take a look around, spent bit more money than the pipe route ( I wont have to route a recess or cut round plugs either which is great! ), but think it should work out better. I purchased two 42" heavy resin 4x4 sleeves, a 4' piece of 1x12" red oak and two bags of sand. $65 dollars. I have some scrap 4x4 at home so I'll make 3" plugs to mount the sleeve around at the top and bottom to attach the top and bottom plates to. should work out just dandy. Thanks everyone for convincing me to do it right rather than take the easy way out!