Does anybody know where I can find the plans for DIY steel Lifting Surfboard Stands like Rusty, Merrick, Carper, etc, use in their factories?
A link, sketch, or anything detailing how to build them yourself, or where to buy the type of stands that the big boys use? I’m especially looking for the lifting and locking foot lever mechanism specs, but I need the whole ball of wax. I need to build them myself because I’m sure I can afford to buy them from a manufacturer, but a price link to check out would be helpful. I would appreciate any help at all. Thanks guys.
**Really am a oldphart and really sick of bending over! Same idea has been roolin' around. Pro rigs spendy, operation here doesn't make them cost effective. Maybe adapt a motorcycle style stand or ironing board??? Hope someone chimes in with some worthy advise!**
I built a lifting glass rack out of a used hydraulic motorcycle lift and some scrap lumber… my back is SO happy! I will take a couple pics and post them, but its nothing complicated… the T racks are just clamped to the top of the lift. I had to rebuild it a couple times to get the right height and sturdiness, but its basically very simple.
To clarify, I meant vertical lifting racks. I can, and have made lots of racks out pvc, wood, and steel. One of my first scrubbing racks (very sturdy sideways) I made manually liftable so I could lift one rack at a time to level an area of the board. But they were a pain to lift up and lock in place one at a time. Geez, that was 25years ago. I have back problems, so I need some kind of foot jack lever lifting stand for glassing like the pros use. Steel is ok, I can weld. I just can’t come up with a way to do the lifting/locking lever and another stomp to unlock/let down.
Thanks man, looking forward to it. More tips, tricks, links, or suggestions are most welcome.
That’s great Balsa! It gives me a ton of ideas! I got it bookmarked so I can watch it closer later when I have some time. I prefer a foot lever deal, but I may very well have to do something like you and Kieth did. Thanks!
How much lift do you need? A simple hydraulic floor jack welded to a steel frame would give you maybe 6" to 9" I did a simple search on google for those jacks. Priced under $40.00 You might be able to find a jack that will give you more that will do more lift.
Something like those with a foot lever like on the Glassing 101 video iirc, (Rusty and Merrick use similar ones) look like they would lift high enough. 18"-24"? Balsa’s and Kieth’s are more like the Cadillac deVille of surfboard stands. Something basic with enough lift would be good enough for me, but I will be looking really hard at their’s to get some ideas.
(I have to get back at it, I’ll check back with you guys tonight.)
Get a used Stainless steel SURGICAL STAND or a hospital bed tray device. They are usually mondo strong. You just take the tray part off and pad the frame. The adjuster is foot or handle activated and manually adjusted with your arm. Pictured is a foot activated stand that is hidden under the plastic. Just go to a used medical supply store and find one for CHEAP.
You may already have an air compressor in the shop. You can fashion a piston out of Schedule 80 or Sch. 40 PVC piping. One tube to slide inside the other. This would be a LOW pressure valve because it is safer and you aren’t lifting much weight. The trick is to get the right seals for your homemade pistons so there is no leakage. You can go with one piston at the center or one on each end of the rack. All it takes is an innertube valve stem to fill. A petcock valve is used to bleed the air out to lower the rack. The crux is finding the proper sized seals, maybe from a motorcycle fork or one you make. Best of Luck.
Balsa, do you have a larger image, and/or a detailed sketch of your rack?
Kieth, did that motorcycle sissor lift cost you $50, or the wood on top? I could use a sissor lift for all kinds of other things, and that looks really easy to fix up.
bb30, a hospital tray is interesting. But don’t they only lift about 6" or 8"? That would be an easy alternative if it lifted enough and I could finger out a way to do it.
tblank, that is really interesting. Maybe even a hydraulic tube and sleeve if the steel itself isn’t too heavy. Something like Balsa did with low air pressure. Maybe I can come up with a lightweight rod and sleeve that keeps a good air seal.
Plenty of great ideas for sure. But I keep coming back to a foot lever lift would be so easy and keep it the lightest with only an outer and - inner steel square tube to lift. I just can’t figure out how to do the spring loaded catch. A small post on the main tube to kick the catch back on the down foot, then a post to reload the catch at the top. It seems so simple, I think I can come up with something if I stay at it, but all these other clever ones may send me off in a different direction.
Thank you all. Any more ideas or suggestions, post 'em on up. I will appreciate any little thing.
a surgical tray extends to about 6 feet and the low end is about 3 feet. Perfect for the top lam them raise it for the rails. Sounds like you are on a budget so I imagine you don’t have a dedicated glassing room. Problem solved with a surgical tray. it is usually wheeled on one side with flat stablizers which weights or rocks hold securely. When finished glassing, remove weights and store out of the way. Simple, easy, multiple uses. Bed tray stands are less extendable. I gave those all away.
Pic below holding a 14footer drying the urethane on an unweighted stand. other pic raised with rails at eye level for me. I am 76" tall.
Ozzy, here are all the photos that I have in my archives, showing the progression of the rack from crude to sophisticated (Lol). tell me if you need anything else, I can shoot some more photos. The distance from low to high is 700 mm (about 2’4’', right?)
