Thread: How to make cheap stands for anything

I used cheap brass rod from the hardware store, plus copper wire and ordinary soft solder such as you might buy at Radio Shack. 1/16" rod is easier to work with, but flimsy; you will have to add a lot of bracing if you want it to hold a brush, as I have done. 3/32" rod is stouter, but hard to bend into decorative curlicues, and hard to solder. You can (barely) get by with a soldering iron if it has a big tip. A soldering gun is better.

To add strength to the joints, I skinned some ordinary stranded copper electrical wire, then used individual strands to lash the brass rod together before soldering, the same way you would use rope to lash sticks together. For butt joints like the one at the top of the DE stand, I used small files to get the rods to fit together nicely, the same way you might fishmouth steel tubing before welding.

I added some washers to the razor stand as "feet", to add weight & stability. I see no reason why you couldn't recycle all sorts of junk hardware, provided you can get them hot enough to solder.

Hope this gets you thinking about how much you can accomplish with few tools & little skill. All it takes is imagination. Enjoy, -Johnny