Artificial Christmas tree stand?

[BrianStark]

Has anyone built a wooden Christmas tree stand for an artificial Christmas tree? Doesn't seem like it would be too hard -- I'm just curious what type of design would lend itself to the strength required to prevent a tree from tipping over. I've got a 9' artificial tree with a 1 1/4" pole. The metal stand that came with tree broke last year. I forgot about that until I tried to put up the tree today...

Brian

[LCHIEN]

I'd get me some 1 x 4 pine.

I'd build a receiver box with a 1.25" hole for the post top and middle and a bottom to stop the post from sliding all the way through. probably about 3-4 inches tall and about 4" square.

Then to all four sides I'd attach 4 legs with 2-four screws. The leg would be flat against the side of the box and go towards say, the right. this would make a pinwheel effect so the short side of the leg would butt against the side of the adjoining leg.
If you wanted you could make the whole thing sit flat on the ground with the box on the ground, but I would cut a 15 degree miter to the legs ends so that the box would be about 1-2 inches off the floor and only the four legs tips touching the ground, this would make it less rocky. Also need a 1.5" taper on the top of the leg so that the wide end of the leg is on the box and the skinny end on the floor. The legs should be long enuf that they extend almost all the way to the outer diameter of the tree, but just a couple of inches shorter.

Use 1/4" lag bolts x 1" long

Hope that helps.

[BrianStark]

Hope that helps.

Yes... I can tell I was likely over-engineering the thought process... I was envisioning something that would look like a tic-tac-toe diagram when viewed from above, with the receiving box in the center. I was thinking 1x4 oak would be best, but your approach is simpler.



Brian

[LCHIEN]

um, 15 degrees is probably quite drastic, about 5 degrees will do, thinking with a clearer head this morning. And lag bolts 1.5" long would be better, more than just 1/4" into the box ha, ha. Good luck.

[steve-norrell]

I built one very much like the one in Loring's picture, with the following changes:

1. the center piece is about six inches square and is made with layers of 3/4 in plywood glued and screwed together.

2. the center holes in each piece of ply were drilled out, then sanded to a snug fit for the base of the tree. The bottom piece of plywood has no hole so the tree is securely held in place.

3. the legs are about 12 in and are flat across the bottom - no taper. Top has a slight taper, but just because it looked like there should be one. They are screwed and glued to the sides of the center piece, as in Loring's diagram.

The unit is heavy enough to securely hold an 7 ft artificial tree. All parts and pieces were left over scraps, saved from the landfill.

Regards, Steve