Materials needed

To build the stand I used five 10' lengths of 1-1/2" PVC (plumbing) pipe. This leaves me with enough for two sections for hanging the background materials. You will also need eight T-joints and two 90 degree elbows. I also used eight endcaps, to make a neater finish on the feet sections. Total cost should be less than $50.

Do not forget a can of PVC cement,; as you are not using liquids in the pipes, primer is not necessary.

Building the stand feet

The pipe can be cut with an ordinary handsaw. Each side of the stand foot is made up of two pieces about 12" long, and one of 6".

After dry assembly, take apart again and glue the pieces using the PVC cement. Assemble each side of the foot, but wait with gluing the middle T-section (the one that will hold the upright).

The feet ends are capped, not absolutely necessary, but it does make for a neater result.

Connecting the upright to the feet

Once the two halves of the foot (per side) are ready, a T-junction is used to connect them to the upright. The upright is a 7' 6" section of pipe.

Be careful at this point to make sure that the upright is indeed upright. A spirit level is a useful tool here, you must get the upright as close to vertical as possible. Hold it there for a couple of minutes while the PVC cement sets, then carefully lift the upright and lay it across a couple of chairs while the cement sets hard.
You may like to do one half first and let it harden before adding the second half. But be very careful to make sure that the two halves align, otherwise the upright will be unsteady.


The end result, a side stand, but without the cross bar holder, can be seen here.