How to make a wall mounted puppet stand

[TopperFraggle]

I'm trying to figure out how to make a puppet stand that I can mount on the wall. I really like the idea of a PVC rod mounted to a simple wood plaque (available at craft stores) because I know it would be easy to shape the PVC at a 45 degree angle close to the wall. What I can't quite figure out is a good way to secure that pipe to the wood plaque. I guess maybe a hole saw the same size as the pipe would do it, and then maybe just glue the heck out of it to make sure the pipe never comes out of the hole. But I'd love to hear any suggestions for a better way to do it, or if anyone else has alternative ideas for displaying your puppets on the wall. Thanks in advance.

 

[Melonpool]

This is the way I'd do it:

Get about an 18-inch length of PVC pipe, a tennis ball. a 45-degree PVC coupling, and a hole saw the same diameter as the end of the coupling. You'll also need a board that's at least a 1/2 inch thick and a couple of small wood screws and a drill bit about the diameter of the wood screws. It think 1-inch PVC is about the best for this -- you could try smaller, but I think you'll need it that big when you attach the coupling to the board.

1. drill the large hole in the board all the way through. try to get the hold as snug to the diameter of the PVC pipe coupling as possible.
2. insert the coupling into the wood so that the flat end is snug with the backside of the board. Also make sure the 45 degree bend is pointing "up."
3. Now, the tricky part: drill some pilot holes through the inside of the coupling into the wood. Don't drill though the face out the other side, though. You basically want to drill through the coupling and maybe a 1/4 inch into the wall of the wood part of the hole. You may want to experiment on a piece of scrap until you get it figured out.
4. finger tighten the screw in the hole until it's snug. It doesn't really have to be all the way in -- it's just there to keep the coupling from spinning. For added support, you could put in a couple, but I don't it's necessary unless your puppet is particularly heavy.
5. Insert the PVC pipe into the coupling on the front. You can paint it and glue it if you like, but I don't think it's necessary.
6. Cut a "+" shape in the tennis ball about an inch around (you may have seen a similar technique on the bottom of older people's walkers so the legs don't scuff the floors). Pop the tennis ball onto the end of the PVC pipe to make keep any sharp edges from messing up the inside of your puppet.

The arm rods can just hand there, or if they're removable, you can take them out when the puppet's on display.

I haven't made something like this, but it's the way I'd attack it if I was doing something like this. Feel free to improvise or come up with your own way of doing it!

 

[TopperFraggle]

Thanks Melonpool! You know, I have been planning this all in my head without going down to the hardware store and actually looking at what was available. I didn't even consider that there would be a coupling which I could easily mount to the wood, thus giving the pipe something fitted to go into. My main haingup was how to fit the pipe to the wood, and that would solve it. If it is indeed that easy, I would alter your plan just a bit and rather than mounting the coupling behind the wood, why not just mount it to the front? Putting it on the back would mean it would have to be sunk a bit beneath the level of the wood (easy enough with a router, but another step nonetheless), but putting it on the front eliminates that, and the screws will go in either way.

I only hope that this whole contraption is sturdy enough. I've got at least 4 puppets to mount, though I may make more than one stand.

 

[Melonpool]

My only reason for going in through the back is so that none of the screw heads showed. The way I outlined it, the heads would all be on the inside of the coupling as opposed to the front. Either way, it's probably the dodgiest part of the contraption.

 

[TopperFraggle]

A quick trip to the Hardware store today revealed that I would need to use a metal flange to put the pipe into, not a plastic pvc one, only because they don't carry the plastic one. It would be ok, but makes the whole thing, much much heavier, especially considering I might be doing 2 or 3 of these on one piece of wood. I'm gonna investigate and see if I can find a plastic flange online or at another store, and am even thinking for all the work it might just be as well to just use the hole saw or router to seat the pipe itself into the wood and be done with it.

 

[Melonpool]

I have yet to find a plastic flange in PVC. You know what I used to do, though? They make caps for PVC pipe. You can use a couple of screws to attach it to the wood (open end out) and then just plug the regular pipe into it. Use a short piece of PVC to attach a 45 degree coupling, then put am 18-inch or so pipe onto that. You'll have to glue it, but it should work for you.

This is the end piece I'm talking about:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[TopperFraggle]

Hmmmm that might work. Previously I had made myself some really quick upright stands, with a wood plaque and a thick dowel. I just used one screw up from the bottom of the base and through the dowel. It quickly became loose and would just spin. Still worked, but it didn't look great. I'm trying to imagine if I could get 2 screws into that cap so that it wouldn't spin- especially with it having a rounded end.

I've just had a bit of an epiphany though- maybe I should just get the metal flange, put the 45 degree elbow and pipe onto it, and mount that directly to the wall. I was thinking of the wood plaque to make it decorative but maybe that's just uneccessary. Frankly the room I'm putting these in has no wall space as it is and I'll have to take a picture or two down- this way at least the part attached to the wall will have a smaller footprint. Hmmmmm something to think about.

 

[Melonpool]

I have seen a technique where people take a PVC pipe, heat it up with a heat gun and then screw it into the metal flange. Basically, the PVC becomes soft from the heat, and the flange creates the threads on the PVC so it will seat correctly.

Never tried it myself, but it might be worth investigating.

 

[Melonpool]

I've often thought of using a flag bracket as a puppet stand as well:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...8KhI4PjiAKpr6SvDQ&ved=0CIcBEPICMAI#ps-sellers

 

[TopperFraggle]

interesting... that would be about the cost of the metal flange I was looking at but much lighter probably. There is a PVC part that is already threaded and would screw into the metal flange, so no need to heat a PVC pipe.