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Trick (trik) -noun: a clever or ingenious device or expedient; adroit technique
Making an R/C Work Stand
Why a Work Stand?
I wondered that same thing before I built this one, but figured for $6, why not give it a shot? It's not great for every project or repair, but often it's really nice to get the truck up off the work bench so I can change out the shocks without having to compress them for installation or removal, pull the wheels and tires, check servo movement without the weight of the truck messing up the results, or even test running the engine! I've been working on my Savage recently and found this stand is really nice to have.It doesn't get much cheaper or easier than this project. There's a specific design below with measurements for an HPI Savage since that's my main vehicle, but the basic information is added below that so you can easily alter the design for virtually any other vehicle out there. The basic design came from TheOtherSide over at the RC Universe forum. Thanks!
Materials
I used ½" Schedule 40 PVC pipe and fittings because it's cheap, light, durable, easy to find, and easy to cut. Most hardware stores and home improvement centers carry this pipe and the related fittings. I got mine from Home Depot where I paid $1.29 for a 10-foot stick of pipe and an average of about $0.24 per fitting. Nice!The ½" PVC pipe's outside diameter is actually 7/8" and its inside diameter is about 9/16". The fittings fit snugly around the outside of the pipe. Each fitting will take in ¾" of the pipe, so anywhere you have one fitting abutting another, you'll need a 1½" long pipe to connect them, or slightly shorter. Because of that overlap, the cuts don't need to be pretty or perfectly square. Once you slide them into the fittings, they'll look fine.
To sum up, if you use this design you'll need a 10' stick of ½" pipe, four elbows, four caps, and twelve tees. If you find the pieces above the upper tees unnecessary, don't bother buying the caps. Since building my Savage stand, I've removed the caps.
Material Preparation
For a Savage:Click the left image below to see an assembled Savage work stand with text showing all the dimensions (for a stock-length Savage). Big thanks to Saxy on on the RCBasher Forum for the image! Just cut the pipe to length and assemble as shown. No glue is necessary, as the fitment of the pipes in the fittings is snug and there's really no stress or pressure on these joints. It's nice to be able to pull it apart if you decide you want to change the size or something, or if you get a different vehicle. The second picture is all the parts cut to size, ready to assemble, and the third and fourth pictures show the completed Savage work stand.
For a Different Vehicle: The procedure is the same as the Savage method, you'll just need to alter some things to fit it to your vehicle. We'll use the Savage stand as an example for measuring, but the same procedure would apply to pretty much any vehicle.
The support points are just inside the lower arms so there's no interference, but at the same time not much slop (so the vehicle can't slide forward or backward very far without hitting a post), and that determines the length (parallel with the truck) of the work stand. The chassis width determines the width (perpendicular to the truck) of the stand's support. The length required in the case of my extended-chassis Savage is 11¼" (distance between the lower arms). To determine the required horizontal pipe length, we'll need to subtract from that length ¼" (for clearance) and the outside diameter of the tee fittings so we know what length to cut our horizontal members. Each tee and elbow fitting is 1¾" wide, minus the ¾" insertion length, leaving 1". Double that, because there are two ends, and subtract that total from the overall length required. 11¼" - ¼" - 2" = 9", which is the length I needed to cut our four left-to-right pieces.
The members your vehicle will rest on need to be wide enough for your vehicle to fit comfortably between them, but not so wide that the vehicle is loose and can slide around a bunch. Use the same method detailed above. For my Savage I used 3½" pipes going into the tee fittings (only 2" is exposed, since ¾" is inside each tee).
The front-to-back pieces can be whatever length you want. You'll want them wide enough to keep the loaded stand from tipping over, but not so wide this thing takes up your whole work bench. I used 3-1/2" because that makes them the same length as the pieces holding up the truck, simplifying the cutting process. Anywhere from about 3" and up should be long enough for plenty of stability. If you're not sure, make them longer than you think, since you can always make them shorter later. You'll need four for between the vertical posts (two high and two low), two on the front, and two on the back. If they're the same length as the support pieces, you'll need a total of eight that length.
The only thing remaining is how to butt two tees together, which you'll need to do for the vertical posts. All you need is to cut some 1½" lengths to fit into two adjacent tees. The ends of the tees should butt up against each other and you won't even be able to see the 1½" long piece inside.
The Build
Ummm, there's not much to say here! Just put it together as shown in the pictures above. It's very simple. The pieces should fit snugly together, tight enough so they're "solid" but not so tight that you can't get them apart or twist them within one another. If you have some loose-fitting pieces, you either got the wrong size or the manufacturer did a poor job making the pieces. If the poor fitment is minor, you could use PVC primer and glue to lock them together, but that's a 100% permanent connection, so don't screw it up! :-)That's it, you should be done! Hopefully. You should have two to three feet of pipe left over, so you can experiment with a longer base if you want, or whatever other ideas you have.
Options
I've seen some people put pipe insulation foam on the support pipe to cushion the truck and rubber feet might be something to consider as well, to prevent sliding on your work surface. If you have any other ideas or suggestions for how to modify or improve the design to make it easier to build, cheaper, or more useful, please let me know! If I post your idea, I'll give you full credit. Feedback is always welcome, please click the "Contact Me!" link if you'd like to leave some.Copyright © 2008 RCBASHER