# Curtain Stand Project for non profit



## Janger (Dec 2, 2015)

Hi,
I've been super busy on a curtain stand project for several weeks on and off. It's finally done! It is for a local robotics society and these curtain stands will be booths for the competition in April. It's a big affair apparently. With a lot of help from their group of volunteers I have made 80 booths consisting of bases small and large, small vertical risers, tall vertical risers, and horizontal bars that are collapsible. @Kris Jensen (hats off man) did the great cut outs for the bases on his CNC Plasma. Here's a bunch of photos. It's about $3000 worth of material.

I had to turn down about 30' of gas pipe to right diameter, cut to length, and weld to the bases. The horizontal sections have a 5' 1" section and a 5' 3/4" section which slides inside the first. The pipes are all electrical conduit we got at a wholesaler for about half what home depot wanted. The ends are EMT couplers and we ended up with a simple dowel with a wood screw to act as the support point. I powder coated the bases and cooked them in two big toaster ovens. Another volunteer is sewing 500m! of fabric into curtains.

It took three Saturdays with about 4 volunteers, plus a bunch of extra time by me, and my spouse helped with the fab too! It was a big job.

Pictures and video!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/146602691

Welding Curtain Stands


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## Alexander (Dec 2, 2015)

Nice work. That is an epic Hobby machinist project.


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## Kris Jensen (Dec 2, 2015)

Looks great!! I didn't think you'd finish so quick


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## Alexander (Dec 3, 2015)

Great video also that was  something I didn't see when I first comment.


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## EricB (Dec 4, 2015)

Wow!! Big project! Looks great! 

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## Jwest7788 (Dec 15, 2015)

Fantastic Work @Janger 
Let me know if you want a hand with your next big endeavor, I would be happy to volunteer too!

Take some pics once they're all setup too!

JW


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## Janger (Oct 14, 2016)

Ok the project has roared back into life! My friend Max now wants 32 more bases and 16 tall curtain sets and 16 short curtain sets. Turns out the robot competition has many more teams coming from Asia next year! Gotta get on it. @Jwest7788  you still interested in joining the volunteer weekend to help build this? Maybe help weld? Mid November I think.

So the problem this time around is the CNC cutting of the curtain bases because Kris Jensen has moved to the coast.  @CalgaryPT Peter has a plasma table and volunteered to help but his table is 2x4' ... so I got the 4'x8' plate 1/4" thick. How to cut it down so we can put the smaller plates on the plasma cutter? Using my Plasma torch is out because I used up all my consumables and they are Euro sized so no local supply. I also won't pay $75 for 5 from Toronto when I can get it from Hong Kong for $27 for 10 all in. But 4-6 weeks delivery. So instead I bought this Evolution Rage 3 circular saw online. It's a dry cut saw with a lower rpm 3900 than your typical circular saw. I have one of their miter saws and am pretty happy with it. This circular saw with their special blade and geared down motor will cut 1/4" plate. It's loud, lots of hot swarf, but it works! All the safety gear is necessary. Goggles, face shield, long sleeves, gloves, and ear protection. 2x4' plates coming up.

@Jwest7788 any idea how I can rotate these pictures?

Time lapse video:


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## Alexander (Oct 14, 2016)

Nice circular saw buddy.  While cutting the .25 aluminum plate  with my wood skillsaw i was quite afraid it was about to break.  I bet having the correct saw would make a big difference.


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## Janger (Oct 15, 2016)

These dry cut saws are effective but a note on safety. You MUST MUST MUST CLAMP THE MATERIAL. It's not like wood as you can easily get horrible kick backs with metal because you can't hold the material firmly enough. I busted the fence on my miter saw and had a piece of bar stock jump off the table without clamping once ... Learn from me scary scary. I think if the material moves even slightly the teeth grab and fling instead of cut.


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## Jwest7788 (Oct 15, 2016)

Hey, yeah I'm totally down to help on volunteer weekend. I know I am busy for the first couple of weekends in November though, hopefully it all pans out. (Please confirm dates)


I've looked into the image rotation issue twice now, can't seem to find a solution to the issue. 
Will have another crack at it. Open if anyone has any ideas. 

Yeah that saw looks like it works great. Did you try the new blade you bought vs original blade?


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