Concrete guitar stand

A guitar stand made primarily from concrete. It was the result of a concrete workshop at my school. The concrete embraces the guitar with a protective foam-padding.
The mould was done by hand using mdf-wood.
It's a heavy beast however, and I would've liked to do a slimmer model, but was unsure how thin it could be done without compromising the structural integrity. I'm considering doing a new design using wood and a CNC milling process instead. An illustrated Instructable is on the way.

Comments

[Chemi Wal]

I work at a concrete laboratory man! silicafume makes concrete strong!! I had attained an initial setting strength of over 85 MPa!!! by mixing it with regular cement!! and for the mold you can use a demolding agent some used cars oil and fuel ... we use a special product more eco friendly

[kandisr]

this looks fantastic. i do believe i am going to steal this idea, but use wood as a medium, if that is ok with you.

[Flark]

Thanks. I think a wood version would be very cool, so steal away :) actually, somewhere in the comments I've shared my thoughts with a quick sketch on how a wooden version could be made.
Feel free to share some pictures if you do make a stand in wood :)

[jamesande]

Here is one that I made which was based on your idea but instead of making it out of concrete, I carved it out of a piece of Oamaru stone.

[brianfss]

very very cool. thanks for crediting the original
I teach material science at my high school and we make guitars. I've been looking for a good concrete project for a while and now I think I've found it. BTW--I like the idea of a black lining like in the original.

Beautiful work.

[joeslost]

loving the guitar, what is it?

[jamesande]

What I should have first is thanks Flark for sharing your awesome idea with us :)

It's a Gibson LP Studio (worn brown) , I put different knobs on and got rid of the pickup covers.

Do you think that the stand would look a bit better with black fabric instead of the grey?

[dchall8]

If you want to make it lighter, you could make it from papercrete. Instead of using stone and sand, you use liquefied paper with cement as a hardener. I would keep the same thickness to start, but after drying it would be much lighter. Search papercrete for more info. If you make a form you could reinforce the form with copper wire and copper mesh. Copper is much more expensive nowadays but the reason for not using steel mesh is to prevent rust. Probably fiberglass fabric with the papercrete matrix would work in this application, too.

[bishopdante]

Could also use any one of the many plant-based aggregates. Hemp-crete springs to mind. Could also use polystyrene balls, and add in some form of synthetic fabric for strength, such as nylon weave, a shredded sports bag would do.

[me1080]

Concrete eats soft metals like copper and brass!

[dchall8]

I did not know that. I've seen concrete and copper used together in art but they did not discuss long term effects. How do they get away with using copper pipe in concrete slabs for housing?

[me1080]

Well corrosion of non ferrous metals such as copper occur due to oxidization in an alkaline rich environment. PVC is used in concrete slabs where I'm from.

[Flark]

Papercrete sounds like a cool idea :) I would ask if you know what the density of the material is, but I'm guessing the answer wouldn't be metric, and I would be lost. I found a site saying it's roughly 25lbs/CF, but it's far to late right now for me to break out the calculator and start converting :) I will consider looking into it more if I get started on a similar project another time though. Thank you for the suggestion.

[dchall8]

Put the following into Google and hit Enter 25 pounds per cubic foot in kg per cubic meter If you want it in grams per ml you can do that.

[freeza36]

That is an amazing guitar. Is it a Mexican Standard Strat or an American Standard? (assuming it is not a squier)

[Flark]

It is a shamefully cheap knock-off. My first electric I got while I was studying :)

[freeza36]

All of my guitars are cheap.

[DisplacedMic]

Looks great - would love to know how you did it :-)

[Hugo Boom]

very clever and original idea :D looks beautiful

[ebubbula]

nice!

[maxm66]

Great work guys! this is genius... :-)

[etanner78]

I finished mine and donated it to be auction in Las Vegas Nevada. I decided to win it in the auction to keep it.
-The stand was poured using a 500 psi mix and and High Range Water Reducer and Plasticizers to improved flowabilty of the concrete and reduce shrinkage.
-After a 2 week cure the stand was covered in Flex-C-Ment to add a stone like look.
- The Flex-C-Ment was covered in a Skim Stone about 1/16" thick that contained a black integral color.
-The  stand was coated in Stardek Sealer to add shine.

Enjoy the Pics!

[etanner78]

Should say 5000 psi.

[Masicklazik]

ARTISTIC AND AWESOME :) i like it, its the best guitar stand ever, cause it ain't going anywere

[Chris.]

Finally finished my stand. Cheers for the idea! Here's some pictures if your interested

[Glockenator]

nice stand. beautiful les paul

[Flark]

Awesome job! Very well done :). I would recommend getting some rubber feet for it though. it would prevent it from tearing up your floor/carpet, and it gives the stand a nice touch as it makes it kind of float. Otherwise great job :)

[Jodex]

That thing really is cool!

[etanner78]

You could reduce the weight by using a lightweight concrete mix. This contains an expanded aggregate rather than natural stone aggregate. You could also use glass as the aggregate and change the look and texture. I am a concrete major ( i know it seems like a weird thing to have a B.S. in) and we have learned about hundreds of different ways to mix concrete. To make a smoother finish you could use a counter top mix (available at artisticconcretesupply.com). you can also get stamps to add textures like the look of real stone. Another idea is an acid stain to give it color and other marble like effects. The website above will give you a glimpse as to what is possible in the world of decorative concrete. I will post my photos as soon as I am finished.

[70rn45n3r]

You could also make one out of fiberglass

[ItsTheHobbs]

I have to say, this is the best guitar stand I've ever seen!

[thatbellevuekid]

That is the most amazing guitar stand I've seen.

[Chris.]

Very awesome design. Can I ask what you used for the padding? Also any tips on making the mould? (especially the part where the guitar sits)

[Flark]

I'm not really sure what the padding is called exactly. it's a special kind of foam-rubber I bought at an architectural model-shop at my school. I've tried adding a sketch of how I did the mould. I'm not sure if it's readable. I'll try and get a proper scan if it's not. Basically, I glued two sheets of wood together to get a 4,5 cm (bout 1,8 inches) thick plate. I then placed my guitar ontop, using blu-tack to secure it from moving too easily. I taped a pencil to a right angled ruler and traced the guitar. I then added about 1-1,5 cm (about .4-.6 inches) to the outline as the plate has to be subsequently angled and there has to be room for the padding. The plate is then cut out. a regular jigsaw should be sufficient for this. I then sanded down an angle. So far as I can remember this should be about 5 degrees or more to allow the concrete to detach. I used a sanding machine (dunno what they're called in english), and a rough file for the concave curves that the machine couldn't reach.Be aware though that the edges that are to touch the edges of the mould should not be angled. Essentially you then just attach the shape to a plate which goes into the overall mould. I've traced out a rough outline of the pieces required to assemble the mould. The top should be left open as this is where the concrete is poured in. All the surfaces of the wood that will come in contact with the concrete should be treated with a layer or two of wax to ensure that the concrete does not bind with the wood. You should try to ensure that the concrete gets into all the corners and crevices. banging the mould with a stick to help air-bubbles escape is also a good idea. I hope that helps :) lemme know if you have any other questions Then basically just attach

[Chris.]

Thanks heaps, This helps alot. I'll let you know how it goes :)

[Flark]

I'll look forward to hearing how it turns out :) I've sketched an outline on how to do a much simpler wooden version below if you're interested. You'll need a power-router and table-saw, but if you have access to those tools, this could be made in a couple hours rather than a couple days. Basically the procedure is somewhat similar to making the mould, but rather than carve out the positive shape of the guitar you've outlined, you use a power-router to remove the material directly from the wood. I've done some very basic math for the angles which should be correct, but you might want to double-check it if you intend to use this approach instead :), basically angle A is however much you want the stand to slant. The math for angle B is merely to ensure that the slant is consistant on all surfaces (unless you decide to alter the design ofcourse). The surface-area between the two pieces should be large enough to be glued together, but you could strengthen the structure be using dowels screws. I plan on making a couple of these (or something similar at least) for my guitar-hero guitars :) Hope this helps, and good luck with the project

[Flark]

aah. forgot the sketch. Here you go

[berky93]

I wish you could buy guitar stands that cool in a store, or that I had the materials to make that (I could just as easily go to a hardware store, but knowing myself there would be a small mess up and I'd try to fix it, causing bigger problems.)

[duck-lemon]

that is awesome, and i can see your equally awesome cd rack in the backround. I might make a wooden version of this for my friend. =]

[Flark]

I'm glad you like it :). I'm working on making some illustrated instructions on how I did the mould. I will probably do some of how to build the stand using wood instead. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the project, feel free to ask :)

[999592]

......WOW! that is freakishly cool!

[downhilldman]

that is awesome!!!!!!!!!!

[verticalfuzz]

great make dude! how did you make the mold or even trace out the guitar in the first place? my friends birthday is coming up and this is perfect!

[Flark]

Basically I attached a pencil to a right angled ruler (not sure what it's called in english) to trace out the guitar on a piece of wood with the right height, then used a jigsaw to carve out the rough shape and a sand it down at an angle of about 10 degrees to allow the concrete to detach easily. This piece of wood was then screwed onto the insides of the overall shape of the stand which was basically just sheets of wood screwed together to form the outsides of the shape you see up there. The wood needs to be treated so the concrete wont bind to the sides of the mold. I can't remember what oil/lubricant was used, but maybe a quick search on instructables can help you clear that up :). I poured the concrete in from above as the critical points in the shape were the two "handles" sticking out at the top right, and I didn't want to risk there being any air-bubbles to weaken them. The mold needs to be pretty rugged as you'll need to tilt it and pound it a bunch of times to allow any air bubbles to escape from the bottom (especially the foot) An idea that I didn't have the time to implement was engraving some graphics or text which could easily be done using cardboard glued to the inside of the shape. If you intent to build something like this as a b-day present, that could maybe be an idea :)

[Weissensteinburg]

Wow, it turned out really well! If you used steel rods to reinforce it, you could made it a lot slimmer.

[Flark]

thank you. I actually did reinforce it. I just really wanted to be on the safe side as I didn't have the time to build a second or third one at the time. If I'd chosen to use fiber-reinforced concrete which I only found out was available to us at the last minute, I could definately also have shaven off a few centimeters. I also considered using hidden foam-blocks to fill out the insides some of the thicker parts to reduce weight also but never got around to it. Fortunately it doesn't need to be moved around a lot :-)

[Weissensteinburg]

Did you paint it?

[Flark]

No that's the natural colour of the concrete. I added foam-padding to protect the guitar, and rubber feet to protect the floor and elevate the stand to give it a slightly lighter look. But that's pretty much it.

[dentsinger]

That is awesome!!

[dchall8]

That is COOL!