How to build batting helemt stands... very inexpensive

[jake33]

Hi all,

I am in the final touches of making my Tampa Bay Rays wall of game sued helmets showing every style logo that the team has ever worn. From over a decade of collecting, I wanted to improve the quality of the batting helmet stands that I bought. I have 22 game used batting helmets, some costing $300+, so why have a crap bating helmet stand?

From working in plastics as a sales rep, the only batting helmet stands that are out there are total junk made of horrible plastic and are extremely over priced. At $12 - $18 a pop + shipping, it is just ridiculous.

So, the last week or so I wanted to look for a cost effect way of making a nice batting helmet stand that won't bend and warp.

I am a awful builder and don't enjoy making things, and this was really easy to do.....

I will be posting on this thread how I did this and

[jake33]

First off I went to Lowe's to get the supplies. Lowe's has some real morons that work there let me say, but I went to Lowe's because I talked them into doing the material cutting for me.

Word to the wise, call ahead and ask if they will cut PVC and cut acrylic glass. DO NOT tell them specifically HOW MANY cuts it will be, because they will be pissed when they see how much labor will be involved on their end.
Once they commit to doing it though, they won't go back on their word....

This batting helmet stand that I made will hold up great with the new style batting helmets that are a little heavier.

[jake33]

The material below will get you to have 24 batting helmet stands....

first item you need is

Lowe's Item #: 239981
This is a 18" x 24" sheet that I had cut into 4" x 4" squares
Cost for this is $19.97 and most stores should carry this sheet.
The 1st 2 cuts on acrylic at the store are free, then 50 cents extra per cut, should be about $6.50 for the cuts.

Next item you will need is
Lowe's Item #: 23832
This is a 2 inch PVC pipe that is 10 feet long
Lowe's WILL cut this for free.
You would need 2 10 feet pieces cut down to 8 inch or 8.5 inch pieces.
I used 8.0 pieces because I display locker plates above the helmets and the lower the better for me, but 8.5 inch would be fine too.
Cost per 10 foot piece is only $4.69

Then black spray paint with primer, which is around $5.00 per can, I used 2 cans, but if you are super efficient, 1 can might work too. OR spray painting it your team's colors would be nice too.


Lastly, I used thin rubber furniture stops on the bottom of the corners, just for added stability, but that is not totally needed.

You could add a top to the sand, but I don't think it is needed, so I didn't use it.

Measure the center of the acrylic base.

For glue, I used an epoxy for plastics which was like $4.75
Needs to set for 20 minutes.
Then spray paint.

[jake33]

Pic of the goods

[joelsabi]

Looks really good. thanks for sharing.

Show us what one helmet looks like on the stand or send us a photo of your display when it's ready.

Nice work

[jake33]

stand

[HawaiiSportsNut]

Looks good Jake. I like to create things so I made my own as well. Shipping can cost more that the stand to Hawaii. The cost for me to make it was around $3 per stand.

[Wrigley2010]

Great work and thanks for sharing!

[cjw]

Nice job! Thanks for posting.

[tom1315]

Jake, very nice job indeed! Displays a helmet perfectly.

Thanks for sharing.

Tom

Go Pack! NC State 1981 graduate

[jake33]

I will have my entire wall unit done in the next week or so and will post a photo at that time.

It is sickening that there really is not that many batitng helemt displays out there, so for the garbage ones that are out there, they charge $12-$18 a piece. Really aggrivating, the markup % on that has to be almost what jewelery would be.

[jake33]

Just thought I would bump this back up, as I had a couple people over the last month ask me about batting helmet stands.

Paying $15 per batting helmet stand is ridiculous if you have a few of them to display.

[sherbal15]

Word to the wise, call ahead and ask if they will cut PVC and cut acrylic glass. DO NOT tell them specifically HOW MANY cuts it will be, because they will be pissed when they see how much labor will be involved on their end.
Once they commit to doing it though, they won't go back on their word....



I didn't understand why they would get pissed until I read how many you had them cut. Then I literally laughed out loud when I read the material yields 24 stands. I would have been pissed too. Thanks for sharing the post again. Those really are a great, cheap alternative to the crap you find on the internet.

[Shipp_96]

These look great! I couldn't agree with you more, the options out there are really sad for batting helmets.

I myself own 13 GU and 3 retail signed batting helmets.

Currently I keep the vast majority of mine in two separate glass curios. I also have some signed individual ones in football helmet cases, but they offer their own challenges.

I got around my problem because a local Sears went out of business. I was able to get those acrylic plastic heavy duty clothes bins, pre-molded rows of 3 for $15. They don't look too bad and hold the helmets with plenty of space.