Paint/Assembly Stand

First off not sure if this is the right place so mods move if needed please...

So my beer bottle stand wasnt working out so well for larger rockets... so i needed to get paint and primer anyway and i was going to home depot so i looked around for stuff to make a stand with... i had the idea in my head just wasnt sure where all the pieces may be... this is what i came up with...


It took an entire 10minutes to build inckuding the time it took to get the tools off the shelf... i plan on building segeral more of these for different BT sizes...

Whats needed:
Dowel Rod of desired diameter (in this case 1 1/8" rod)
1/2" Ply wood
Drill bit of same diameter (in this case 1 1/8" hole bit)
Saw
Wood Glue
Duct Tape (only required if you are making the top plank adjustable)
Drill
Hammer

Instructions (these will based off of this build make sure to upscale/down scale as needed for larger/smaller rockets)

1. Cut plywood to 8"x8" square
2. Cut another piece of plywood to 4"x4" square
3. Cut dowel rod to desired length (I didn't measure mine... I cut it into 3 sections of random sizes)
4. Drill hole through the center of both square pieces of plywood (use the same size bit as your dowel rod)
5. Slip the smaller square of plywood over the dowel rod so there is 8"-10" of of length from the end and use to duct tape to secure plank from slipping down
6. Add some wood glue to the bottom 1/2" of the shorter side of the dowel rod and spread finely
7. Slip dowel rod into hole of larger square... use hammer if needed and to help adjust...
8. Add a bead of glue around the dowel rod where it mates to the base to help secure the rod...

let dry and then enjoy using it

Great idea! And very timely! I have two rockets almost ready for paint and primer... With my limited tooling in our temp house this looks like an easy project to knock out. Thanks for the inspiration!

I did use my chop saw and circular saw... but all in all they wernt needed... all i did was drill holes through the planks and glued the bottom one... the top one is just held up with duct tape so i can adjust it if needed... the bottom section should stay fairly clean and ill be able to use it to turn the rocket in the paint booth...

Yeah I've got a Jet 10" cabinet saw, Jet 18" bandsaw, dust collector, jointer, planer, drill press, scroll saw, and too many hand tools to count... sadly it's all in storage while we wait for escrow on the new house... so my prior 3 car garage workshop is piled into half of a one car garage and I'm left with basic tooling and a 6x6 balcony for a couple months...

But, your design can easily be made with a hand saw, cordless drill, and a hole saw or forstner bit...

mdoering said:

Yeah I've got a Jet 10" cabinet saw, Jet 18" bandsaw, dust collector, jointer, planer, drill press, scroll saw, and too many hand tools to count... sadly it's all in storage while we wait for escrow on the new house... so my prior 3 car garage workshop is piled into half of a one car garage and I'm left with basic tooling and a 6x6 balcony for a couple months...

But, your design can easily be made with a hand saw, cordless drill, and a hole saw or forstner bit...

Click to expand...

oh yeah it is stupid easy to build... in fact it doesn't even need any screws... the entire thing cost me less then $10 and that was because i needed to get a 1 1/8" hole bit...

I edited the OP with materials and build instructions for anyone else that is interested...

Very neat idea.

Cool idea. I might build one with a smaller rod and then use a friction fit carboard centering ring for each BT size. I would think that with the CR recessed into the BT you would be able to paint to the BT opening without worrying about it sticking to the support. A wrap of tape around the rod would keep the CR from sliding down.

So far ive had no problems with it sticking... so far... my original thought was using a pre made table leg. But i couldnt find a smooth one. If i had access to a lathe i would probably turn my own tobmake it gradually step down in sizes. Think of an extremely long nose cone.

Edit: with this design if the rod is adjusted right the end of the rod is touching the motor mount thus keeping it elevated. But i have not tested it like that. I just threw down 2 coats of primer and a coat of paint on the vegabond. I also used it to help assemble the Magician. So far it has been flawless.

O.k. After posting that it was a cool idea I was lying in bed and decided I should build one . . . now. It took longer to take the pictures and post them than it did to build. I made two rough corrugated cardboard CR to support the tube and just slipped it on. Thanks! Great idea.

Lol... nice... im glad i had an idea that was usefull and you were able to make it work for yourself. Like i said earlier this stand is super simple and super quick to build. In fact i think i am going to make several smaller ones for display stands. For the rockets i have that have the motor retainers sticking out past the fins. Ill probably use your idea of the CB CR so they stay upright.

Nice Job bubba!

I've found it's helpful to mount the base Holder on a Maunal or Spring Driven Microwave turn-table to get to all sides of the models without touching it or the stand. A bit of Epoxy or a few short Sheet metal screws will fasten the base to turn-table.

Ps. if you want to build your own manual Lazy Susan style turn-table both Lowe's and Home Depot carry a variety of size ball bearing & sheet metal units from 3" to 10" in diameter for only a couple bucks. All we have to add are the top and bottom bearing plates (generally 1/2" Plywood).

I could easily add this to a turn table of sorts... in fact i built it to do that down the road... juet need to find a burned up microwave or something...

You can buy lazy susan hardware for under five dollars at your nearest home improvement center.

Yeap I believe I typed that...
also 8" and 10" spring driven "wind Up" microwave turntables can be had a most variety Stores like Target, Penny's, or Bed,Bath&Beyond for around 15 dollars. I've been using the two I have for a little over 13years...they are still turning just fine

I've got a little rolling device similar to a roll around chair but more like a moving dolly (make any sense?) I picked up from work. I think it was part of a candy display at one time. On top of that sits a heavy metal plate with a perpendicular square tube (used to hold a bag dispenser to put your produce/meat items into). Those parts could be made of wood, used bed castors, old office chair... but my favorite part... the PVC pipes and duct tape nested together. Big pipes to hold the rocket off the bottom plate, and smaller tubes wrapped with tape to be inserted into the motor mount! Super ghetto method but works well even with big heavy rockets. Just my 0.02 dollars....

I used the paint stand for the first time tonight. It is a beautiful thing! Slipped the rocket over the simple little cardboard centering rings, and dropped the nose cone on the end. I stepped outside and held the dowel in my hand so I could turn the rocket as I painted. Once I was finished I just set it down in the garage to dry. No messing around. I really like it.

Oh, and yes, I forgot to mask the nosecone coupler so I will wipe it of with some acetone tomorrow and sand if necessary.