Spiffing up your Campsite...

Bannerstand

Unto to all good Gentles;

Some time ago I was working in my shop and was trying to find things to do with the various pieces of scraps laying about. Needing a banner stand I began to experiment with various designs. The following is the result of that experimentation. To date, my banner stand has held up to Pennsic weather (storms and all), indoor events, travel and the constant packing and unpacking that we all do.... there have been a couple of refinements since I made my original one and they too shall be presented with this pamphlet...

Have fun... make stuff!

O.K.... you’ve finally gotten your arms passed, learned to sew a bit (or else had some kind person you know do it for you...) and you’ve gotten yourself a way cool banner for outside your pavillion and you’ve suddenly realized all you have to display it on is a couple of pieces of PVC you’ve duct taped together the night before... bummer....

Well, I am pleased to present you with plans for constructing an all weather, indoor/outdoor, it’ll pack in your Geo Metro banner stand. All it takes is a chunk of 4"x4" wood about a foot long, a couple of pieces of 2" x 10" pine about 2 feet long, a piece of 5/8" inch dowel about 3' long and the handle from a push broom (the longer the better.... 5' minimum and at least an inch in diameter).

The Plan... Let’s start with the easy stuff and go from there...

Take those pieces of 2" x 10" material and lay out something that looks like the illustration to the right.... that notch on the bottom has to be laid out along the center line and is the width of the 2" material... or 1 ½" (yea... dimensional lumber... go figure...). Part 1 of the base has two distinctions from part 2 of the base... First, the slot for joining the two base pieces is on the bottom of the center part of the piece. Second, there are two holes drilled through the shoulder of the part.... one to each side of the center slot. These are used for anchoring the banner stand to the ground when it is used outside. These holes only need to be drilled on this half as it saddles the other part and locks it to the ground.

There is no particular design pattern except that I like to make the spread of the feet at least two feet wide to help ensure stability. DON’T PUT THE HOLES FOR ANCHORING IN THE FEET! Been there... done that... bad plan. The grain of the wood runs parallel to the ground and the shape of the base parts make a weak area between the feet and the shoulder of the part. If you should have to pry the spike or nail out of the ground you can fairly easily tear the feet off of the part if the nail is in the foot rather than in the shoulder... trust me... I found out the hard way.

The slots should be just the width of the material you are using to make the bases from. The slots should each extend ½ of the distance between the top and the bottom of the part at the centerline. When you test fit these pieces they should fit "finger snug"... Remember... wood swells when it gets wet. Even putting a good sealer coat of paint, varnish or polyurethane on them won’t ensure they won’t swell.... you don’t want them too loose either or they’ll get some wobble in them...

A Trickier part...

The next part is a little trickier to make. This is the piece that holds the whole assembly together. If you have access to a lathe and know how to use it (or know somebody who will teach you...) it can be turned... turning is very period and goes back a very long way... If, on the other hand, you don’t have a clue what a lathe is and have no desire to find out.. It can be carved or just a square block of wood. For lack of a better word to describe this part we’ll call it the ‘post’.

The post, as the illustration shows is about a foot high and should be at least 4" square... actual dimension... larger is fine but you’ll need the width to give you the legs long enough to saddle over the base pieces and yet be strong enough to carry the weight and stresses of the stand.

As you can also see from the drawing, there is a 1" hole in the top of the post to accept the banner pole. Personally, I like to find poles that are about an inch and a quarter in size... they’re a bit more costly but I like the look.

Once again... the slots in the post should be just wide enough to accomodate the base pieces on a "finger snug" fit. Too tight and things start getting broken when the humidity and rain hits it... the same goes for the hole in the post.... you might want to consider drilling the hole just a bit oversize and then using small wedges to keep the pole tight... it’s a bit more bother but could make taking a soaked banner pole a lot easier to get out!

Odds and Ends...

Use a 5/8" drill bit to bore a hole throught he banner pole about a foot from the top. Slide the dowel through the hole. This will form the cross bar from which you can hang your banner.

I like to spray paint my banner stands with gold paint. From a distance it gives a wonderful metalic appearance. There are also very nice copper, bronze and silver spray paints available.

Turning or carving a finial for the top of the banner stand will help to ‘dress it up’ a bit. Using a dremel tool to carve a design, badge or other emblem on a plaque or shield and then mounting it to a piece of wood with a 1" hole drilled in it will serve to make a very nice finial without having to turn the wood on a lathe....

The Assembled Base

Enhancements:

His Grace Sir Edmund of Herford has modified the cross bar assembly by puting a bit larger dowel through a block of wood that was set on top of the banner stand... This allows for two pennant type banners to be suspended, on on either side of the pole. If you and your lady (or lord) are seated in front of the banner stand then you can each have your banner hanging behind you... it makes for a very effective display...

Anyway... have fun and make stuff...

Your obdn’t servant -

Charles Oakley, Esq.