Cardboard Telescope Tripod (Legs).  This is part 2 of tripod project for 2017's VBS "Galactic Starveyors".  

Starting at the edge of a 40 inch by 40 inch piece of cardboard I drew 9 straight lines two inches apart from each other.  The first two are dotted and the third is solid, and I repeated this pattern two more times. The length didn't need to be exactly 40 inches, but it worked


I cut the three solid lines and scored the dotted lines.  By "scored" I mean I pressed the short edge of the square all along the line to "dent" the cardboard. This makes it easier to fold.













I folded and creased to make this triangle shaped tube. 


















I hot glued the seem.

I quickly became impatient holding the thing tight as the hot glue cooled so I cut some 2 inch triangles in scrap cardboard to hold it for me, I called them "clamps".












As I glued, I move the clamps along behind the part I had just glued and they held it tight for me.













Now I had the three legs I needed for my tripod.

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.

Cardboard Telescope Tripod (Head)

This year's, 2017, Life Way VBS is "Galactic Starveyors." Since telescopes are featured in the decor I knew we would need to make tripods. So I began imagining and experimenting.

cardboard tripod head

A tripod works because with only three legs it is stable.  Ever see a four legged object with one leg shorter than the others?  A tripod has three components; the head, legs and leg braces.  The head is the top part of the tripod that holds the telescope or camera. 

This first article shows how I made a cardboard tripod head.  

I use cardboard because it's cheep since I do not have room to store the stuff I make it is usually discarded after VBS is over, so there isn't a lot of profit in spending too much to make it.  I am able to get large sheets of cardboard from a local Sam's Club. I go in around 6 p.m. and find the employee straightening up the shelves. They usually have several sheets they are willing to let me take home. 

Here is a pretty good look at the stuff I used to make this.

This is the second head I tried making, the first failed, because I believed it did not need to be precise and I could make it look wonky.  I discovered that wonky was more difficult than straight and narrow, so I drew everything with precise measurements and angles in pencil first.  I will show you step-by-step how I drew each element.

Basically your goal is to draw a equilateral triangle with a tab extending out of each vertex. If you are one of the 10 percent of people who are good with geometry you probably have all you need to continue.  For the rest of us here are the steps.









First I used a compass to draw three circles one 3 inch, one 5 inch and one 5 1/4 inch diameter.  The compass needed to be half that amount; 1 1/2, 2 1/2 and 2 5/8 inch. These measurements work good for what would be considered a normal size telescope; they can be adjusted for larger telescopes.









I left the compass at 2 5/8 inches the radius of the largest circle.  Put the point of the compass on the outer circle and make two marks (arcs) on the circle on both sides by swinging the compass around. I movee the point of the compass to one of those marks and make to more marks the same way.  I repeated this all the way around the circle, so I had created six marks all equal distance from each other. Here's a link to another explanation of how to draw an inscribed equilateral triangle. 

I connected three of these marks to create a small triangle in the circle.

I measured 2 1/4 inches away from that small triangle and made a mark.  I did this twice so I could draw three lines all 2 1/3 inches away from the small triangle












to draw a large outer triangle.

Next I drew a line threw the vertexes of the triangles and measured one inch on each side and













drew lines two inches long from the edge of the large triangle.

One inch on each side gave me a two inch wide tab, which I needed because I knew I would be making two inch legs and the tab needs to be the same width as the legs.

The result is the object seen to the left. There is one more step before I cut it out.







I used a protractor to measure a 100 degree angle to draw flaps on each side of the three tabs. The flaps must start at the point where the tab meets the triangle. If you have never used a protractor; Here's a link to help you with the protractor.

























When I got ready to cut it out I realized that I had all solid lines; oh no, solid lines get cut and dotted lines get folded.  I used a little paint to dot the lines so I (you) would not cut the wrong ones.  

I cut the pie slice lines inside the small circle so each of the small triangles could be folded down.

Do not cut the circles.





Now, I used my scale to score the dotted lines to prepare them for folding.  If I want a straight fold I must use some sort of straight edge to score the cardboard. I put the straight edge on the line then pushed down hard.











Finally, I folded the tab down and I hot glued the edge of the flap to the edge of the triangle.










It is going to need some additional support so I made three sides.  Traced the basic shape added a small flap along the top.  I cut them out and scored the line along the top flap.










Test fit. (This photo shows side flaps, I learned that they need to be trimmed off.)

I hot glued each side support in place.

The head is done, next we make three legs and supports.

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.

Cardboard Telescope Tripod Part 3 (Braces)  

2017 VBS Galactic Starveyors 

Soon I will mount a telescope to the top of the tripod to complete it, but first I must put the head from part 1 and the legs from part 2 together so they'll stand. 

 

I glued the legs to the inside of the head.

At this point it stood on its own, but I knew it would not hold up to a lot of weight or being moved around.









I measured from the floor up 12 inches and made a mark, then I measured across the legs from mark to mark and discovered the distance was about 12 1/2 inches from leg to leg.

I added 2 inches to that measure, one inch for each end, and drew three strips that where four inches wide with a fold line in the center. I cut them out, scored them and folded.














Now I held these strips inside the legs and made a mark. Then I held them outside the legs and made a mark.  This gave me a pretty good idea of the angle I needed to glue the braces to the legs.

The marks were both on one side of the strip (brace) so I had to transfer the outside mark to the fold side.  I drew an angled line connecting the two marks. This line would become a fold line.

Now I cut along the fold, the small distance from the line I just drew to the end of the braces.










I scored and folded the angled line all the way back and cut off any cardboard that was over the fold.  In the photo you can see a dotted line where I cut.  I repeated this with all three supports and at both ends.









I held the brace back up to the legs and found the approximate angle I would need to fold the remaining section of the end so that it hugged the leg.


This made a triangle that would hug the inside of the leg and a flap that would fold over the outside of the leg.









I used hot glue on the outside of the triangle and on the inside of the flap.

I held it secure while the glue cooled.



I did this for all three braces.









Last I cut an a small piece to cover the where the two flaps where glued to the leg, and glued it in place to cover them both.

Now, I have a tripod. In the next and final step I'll mount a cardboard telescope, and be ready for paint. 

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.