Strand stands

[sunray]

Hi guys, not sure if this should be in the wanted area.

I have 2 telescopic chrome stands available to me, got them out today to take them to a different venue and found both had a broken leg/foot/arm. I fiddled about and moved a leg over to make one usable I believe they are Strand products. What are the chances of finding a broken stand lurking in a cold dark cellar just waiting to become a leg donor.

[Glyn Edwards]

I have a memory that most of Strand's stands from the mid 80s onwards were actually made by Manfrotto so that may help the hunt for spares. Alternatively do you have a tame blacksmith? It appears that the leg is basically a bit of box with some shaping and a strategic hole for the axle.

 

Glyn

[sunray]

2 hours ago, Glyn Edwards said:

I have a memory that most of Strand's stands from the mid 80s onwards were actually made by Manfrotto so that may help the hunt for spares. Alternatively do you have a tame blacksmith? It appears that the leg is basically a bit of box with some shaping and a strategic hole for the axle.

 

Glyn

I did wonder if they were Manfrotto, they kinda have that look about them.

 

I took the incomplete stand to a local metalworker I have used a few times in the past, the conversation went something like:

"No problem if I can do it with solid bar."

"That's OK with me. It will add some lower weight for stability."

He did a few measurements and sketched on the wall with chalk planning the sequence.

"About £50 to £60 each."

 

Sunray thinks he didn't want the job.

[indyld]

2 hours ago, sunray said:

"About £50 to £60 each."

Sunray thinks he didn't want the job.

Possibly, but as someone that deals with enquiries about repair jobs (albeit electronic) from Joe Public I find that even my 'don't mind the job' prices fall on unhappy ears. The business know how much overhead, contact time, messing about, opportunity costs etc. it takes to do stuff as a business and that includes small one-offs. 

For me, when someone starts with 'it's probably just a loose wire' I know that they are gonna be waiting for a non-forthcoming £20 price. Gentlemen of a certain vintage are the main culprits - dunno if that rings any bells....?

Even not knowing the ins and outs of what this fabrication needs, I wouldn't do it for less - £50 is a 'well, ok' price.

Edited August 9 by indyld

[J Pearce]

Metal is not cheap, time is not cheap, workshop rent is not cheap, power to run the machines is not cheap. Probably not worth pricing jobs much below £50 really.

[ImagineerTom]

A piece of steel bar that sort of size will be at least £10 (plus the delivery costs or the storage/cutting costs if he happens to have the right size in house) cutting / grinding / drilling consumables (discs, drills, electricity) I can see a £5 easily. There's a good half hour of work time involved if it IS as simple as it looks; if there's any complications (I'll bet those aren't actually perfect round-number thicknesses, openings and tolerances which means even more measuring and grinding) then you get to over an hour easily and he's already got £40 in out-of-pocket costs.

The workshop has overheads relating to just existing (our workshop costs over £300/day in rent/rates/standing charges/insurance/maintenance) have to be factored in, as does making some sort of profit on the work. £50 sounds very reasonable to me?

[sunray]

As a self employed person (running my own rented workshop for a while) I fully understand the comments and the costs involved.

However as a user I know it's not worth spending >£100 (+VAT BTW) on rejuvinating a 50 year old stand when a pair of lightweight speaker stands, which are basically all they are but with a larger footprint, can be obtained for well under £100. As it happens I have such stands and will very likely be making the arrangements to use them.

Yes I am of a certain vintage which is more than likely why I'm contemplating the refurbishment rather than simply dumping it in landfill and buying new.

Now taking a step back; I know that making the first item is all the R&D element, the only critical bit being the thicknes and shape (not complicated) of the hinge area and the position of the hole. Somewhat simplified as the original legs are there to copy, we had already discussed the other dimensions are not critical and a sample piece was drawn from the offcuts pile as an example.  The second item is far simpler (heavens knows I've repeatedly been in that situation myself), if he'd said 50-60 for the pair I would have not given it a second thought and possibly said make 3 and then proudly shown some different pictures here.

 

However taking a step further back my question here was: Does anyone have one of these stands lurking in a dank dark corner, possibly damaged/incomplete for disposal.

[sunray]

The man from Manfrotto spares took one look at pics and said; No, ours had a different arrangement.

[indyld]

19 minutes ago, sunray said:

However as a user I know it's not worth spending >£100 (+VAT BTW) on rejuvinating a 50 year old stand when a pair of lightweight speaker stands, which are basically all they are but with a larger footprint, can be obtained for well under £100. 

But would they still be serviceable in another 50 years? The problem in repair/reuse is not the cost of getting things done, but the comparative price of the throwaway replacements. Or, in the case of modern electronics, the next generation of throwaway replacements.

I imagine that any donors people may have had of these stands have long since been put in the Mixed Metals, but here's hoping.

You might ask in the FB British Entertainment Technology Archaeology group, as it now seems to be largely peeps getting dizzy over old Strand stuff and 'rate my Patt23' pics. If anyone knows of such donors, they'll be on that group.

[Dave m]

What exactly is wrong with what you have?

couldn’t you just buy 50cm of alloy/steel and mod it with a hacksaw/anglegrinder?

it’s not like you need a milling machine or lathe.

[sunray]

4 hours ago, indyld said:

But would they still be serviceable in another 50 years? The problem in repair/reuse is not the cost of getting things done, but the comparative price of the throwaway replacements. Or, in the case of modern electronics, the next generation of throwaway replacements.

I imagine that any donors people may have had of these stands have long since been put in the Mixed Metals, but here's hoping.

You might ask in the FB British Entertainment Technology Archaeology group, as it now seems to be largely peeps getting dizzy over old Strand stuff and 'rate my Patt23' pics. If anyone knows of such donors, they'll be on that group.

No I doutbt it will be servicable in 50 years but by then I'll be 120 so to quote our dear Catherine; it dis face bovverred?

 

It's just one of those situations where I know someone will still have a disused/broken stand propped in a corner and a nudge may just make them think it they never did get around to finding the clamping bolt or whatever and it's gone very rusty and hasn't been touched for 20-30-40 years.

Thanks for the suggestion, I guess that'll be me signing up to FB then.

1 hour ago, Dave m said:

What exactly is wrong with what you have?

couldn’t you just buy 50cm of alloy/steel and mod it with a hacksaw/anglegrinder?

it’s not like you need a milling machine or lathe.

 

19 hours ago, sunray said:

...I have 2 telescopic chrome stands available to me, got them out today to take them to a different venue and found both had a broken leg/foot/arm. I fiddled about and moved a leg over to make one usable...

 

I did look at making my own but my metal working tools do not extend to accurately drilled holes for the hinge bolt or trimming the thickness to an even 22.43mm to prevent the leg being wobbly. I had actually got as far as finding a source of 25mm square bar at under £3 per leg at a sensible distance from home for collection. This option is open to me but I feel my skills are too lacking to be repairing something not belonging to me, I wouldn't have hesitated if this was mine.

Edited August 9 by sunray