Like a lot of folks I wasn't thrilled with the current crop of prebuilt or homemade PVC launch pads. For about $35 I came up with this steel angle pad that I'm quite happy with. Will outline my process in case anyone else here cares to make one for themselves.
Parts:
*1-1/4-in x 1-1/4-in x 5-ft L Steel Perforated-Round Angle, $25 at the hardware store. They had two different weights (or thickness) and I went with the heavier one. Glad I did.
*2 Aluminum Lay-in Lug, AWG 14-4 to hold launch rod. $1 each from hardware store
*Anything from a 1/8, 3/16, or 1/4" cold rolled steel rod for another five bucks
*Layer cake pan for blast plate. .99 from thrift store
*various screws and nuts ~$5 - $8 (I sort of lost track, lol)
I’m not at all experienced working with metal like this, so I started by building a cardboard mockup. Cereal or cracker boxes work great for this kind of thing. I decided to shoot for a 30 degree spread to the legs, and a finished length of 16” to 18”.
CRITICAL: please always use gloves and eye protection when you work with metal. Flying sparks, chunks of metal, and tiny slivers in your hand can ruin your day.
Using the cardboard as a template, I transferred the 30 degree angle to the steel sections, then using one of those cheap hand grinder/cutoff wheels I cut the angle off from one side of the L shape. Remember your trigonometry (or cheat and just measure lengths off the cardboard mockup like I did)- the flat side you will bend down needs to be longer than the 18” to make up for the angle. The first two legs I cut 18 ¾” off the bar. When I laid it out I set the longest point of the angle to be 18” from the back so the extra ¾” length bent down to pretty much flush with the point.
The third leg I made 5” longer (still setting the longest point of the angle to be 18”) so I had metal to cross over the other two and bend up 90 degrees for the launch rod. Save the flat piece you cut off this one as it will become your rod holder.
Pro tip: to get a nice straight bend on that top section, lightly score across the bar with the grinding wheel or a hack saw. It bends down a lot easier, and far straighter when you do.
To strengthen the base I used epoxy glue to fill between the flat and the angled piece. When this dried I was amazed how much more stable the tripod was so I recommend you do this step.
I needed to trim off a corner of the leg that went on the bottom of the stack to get the holes to line up. When you have that, put a ¼” clamping knob through the center hole, and a ¼” wing nut on the bottom. The idea being easy setup and breakdown with no tools required. I used epoxy to glue the wing nut on the bottom so I never lose it. Spread the legs out to roughly 120 degrees apart and you have a solid tripod mount!
Your tripod will now be balancing on 3 points. If you always launch in dirt that is probably ok, but I wanted a little more spread for hard surfaces to increase the stability. Lay a scrap of 1” lumber near each foot and draw a line parallel with the ground. Cut off at the line and now you have a much broader surface to set on the ground.
Next I went over all the metal parts with the grinder and smoothed all the crude cuts I had made. I told you I have no experience with this kind of thing so the cut lines were REALLY janky. I also ground off all the sharp corners. Lastly I went over everything with emery cloth to be sure all the metal edges were truly smooth.
Parts:
*1-1/4-in x 1-1/4-in x 5-ft L Steel Perforated-Round Angle, $25 at the hardware store. They had two different weights (or thickness) and I went with the heavier one. Glad I did.
*2 Aluminum Lay-in Lug, AWG 14-4 to hold launch rod. $1 each from hardware store
*Anything from a 1/8, 3/16, or 1/4" cold rolled steel rod for another five bucks
*Layer cake pan for blast plate. .99 from thrift store
*various screws and nuts ~$5 - $8 (I sort of lost track, lol)
I’m not at all experienced working with metal like this, so I started by building a cardboard mockup. Cereal or cracker boxes work great for this kind of thing. I decided to shoot for a 30 degree spread to the legs, and a finished length of 16” to 18”.
CRITICAL: please always use gloves and eye protection when you work with metal. Flying sparks, chunks of metal, and tiny slivers in your hand can ruin your day.
Using the cardboard as a template, I transferred the 30 degree angle to the steel sections, then using one of those cheap hand grinder/cutoff wheels I cut the angle off from one side of the L shape. Remember your trigonometry (or cheat and just measure lengths off the cardboard mockup like I did)- the flat side you will bend down needs to be longer than the 18” to make up for the angle. The first two legs I cut 18 ¾” off the bar. When I laid it out I set the longest point of the angle to be 18” from the back so the extra ¾” length bent down to pretty much flush with the point.
The third leg I made 5” longer (still setting the longest point of the angle to be 18”) so I had metal to cross over the other two and bend up 90 degrees for the launch rod. Save the flat piece you cut off this one as it will become your rod holder.
Pro tip: to get a nice straight bend on that top section, lightly score across the bar with the grinding wheel or a hack saw. It bends down a lot easier, and far straighter when you do.
To strengthen the base I used epoxy glue to fill between the flat and the angled piece. When this dried I was amazed how much more stable the tripod was so I recommend you do this step.
I needed to trim off a corner of the leg that went on the bottom of the stack to get the holes to line up. When you have that, put a ¼” clamping knob through the center hole, and a ¼” wing nut on the bottom. The idea being easy setup and breakdown with no tools required. I used epoxy to glue the wing nut on the bottom so I never lose it. Spread the legs out to roughly 120 degrees apart and you have a solid tripod mount!
Your tripod will now be balancing on 3 points. If you always launch in dirt that is probably ok, but I wanted a little more spread for hard surfaces to increase the stability. Lay a scrap of 1” lumber near each foot and draw a line parallel with the ground. Cut off at the line and now you have a much broader surface to set on the ground.
Next I went over all the metal parts with the grinder and smoothed all the crude cuts I had made. I told you I have no experience with this kind of thing so the cut lines were REALLY janky. I also ground off all the sharp corners. Lastly I went over everything with emery cloth to be sure all the metal edges were truly smooth.
