Basic PVC Christmas Tree Frames -- Revised
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- The previous way I made PVC Christmas tree frames was too slow for a much larger project. A change in the way I bend the pipes speeded the process. I used three 10-ft. lengths of 3/4-inch PVC for each tree. Each PVC pipe was cut into a six-foot length for a side, a 40-inch piece for part of the bottom ring, and the remainder for leg. The project also required three cross-tee fittings, six PVC caps, a top piece, screws, and, if you want, something to cover the exposed threads on the screws. I used approximately 100 feet of lights for each tree. And spray paint.
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Thanks for the inspiration! I modified your design to make it easier to build and store. Instead of the PVC for the hoop, use PEX tubing. Comes in 100' rolls and is naturally bent in a hoop. It will slide through the equivalent size pvc cross fitting. It only takes a 20 cent fitting to attach ends. Also, for the top, instead of the wood block, just drill a hole in each upright PVC about 3 inches from top. Put a wire through and twist tie off loosely. String lights exactly as you did but just wrap them over the top, between tubes. To store, just remove PEX hoop, wrap in plastic stretch wrap with lights in place. Again, thanks for your video.
That would be very helpful for people to don't want to mess with heat bending PVC. I see you've posted some videos. If you have the time, post one of your tree set-up.
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 Here is a quick video... Instructions in comments. ua-cam.com/video/h5lbKEryXUY/v-deo.html
@@MikeTeets Looks great and a big time saver, too. Thanks for posting the video.
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 maybe you said in one of the videos, how do you know how many ft of lights you will need based upon the hight and going from run to run. I am making one based upon the hula hoop, pvc T - connected. I cut off one foot of pipe so far that I was use in the bottom of the T-s to help anchor and level. And how can I determine how tall I can make it? So let’s go with the hula hoop that has 9ft of pipe above the T-s and I currently have 4 sets of lights that are 24.5 ft each for a total of 98ft. I really want to go tall on this first one. And I am also using a round piece of wood and the caps at the top as I want to put a star on it. So what is the math to knowing how tall I can make it with 96 ft of lights. Also how tall are the ones that you are making to line your driveway and how many ft of lights do you have on them? And if needed I can go buy more lights I just have to do it quick as the shelves are emptying extremely quickly. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
@@1776Viking It depends. My trees had 6-ft. side poles, and I had 12 screws along the bottom ring to loop the strings of lights (so the tree had 12 "sides" of lights). I used approximately 100 feet of lights for my trees, which was enough for the sides as well as a final circle along the bottom ring with a little left over. If you went to 9-ft. tall, that would require an extra 3 feet of lights for each of the 12 (if you use 12) runs. Three times 12 = 36. So, I'd guess approximately 136 feet of lights for a 9-ft. tree.
Great build video Thankyou for sharing. I built 10 of your trees this year 5 up each side of my driveway. I drilled a hole in the center of the top peace to accommodate a pipe to mount a revolving lit ball on each tree. It's amazing how many folks you reach and help. God bless.
I know I'm almost 2 months behind but I'm still looking at Christmas videos to see what I missed. I must say those turned out so nice. Lots of work and patience but you did good. 👍🏾❤👍🏾 Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful job.
Thanks for the great ideas
Great idea! My only suggestion would be to wrap the screw threads with electrical tape. In a windy area, the sharpness of those threads may degrade/cut the insulation on the wires, with all the vibration.
WOW! That turned out just gorgeous!,
Amazing work!!! Thanks for sharing.
I had made plans for this sort of decoration too but my designs involved using plywood cut in a ring and slipping metal conduit pipes for the height of the trees. I’d use a wood bollocking up top as well but set it up as a collar to slide the pipes into and having all held in place due to friction instead of using the caps. Your way looks a whole lot more easier. Well done ideas!
What a great idea, thank you for sharing how to make them
Wow! Quite the project and worth it! God bless!
Excellent. Your hard work really paid off. Beautiful display to come home to every night.
Take play sand heat it up in an oven cap one of the pvc pipe fill it with the hot sand to the very top cap it wait 3 minutes and it gets flexible you can make it any shape and it won't collapse or kink run cold water over to hold its shape then dump out the sand works great nice design sir .happy holidays
Looks great!
Wow! That looks amazing! Ill try this next year but maybe on a grander scale cor one big tree in my small back yard
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing my friend, MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Thanks for sharing. Great job!
I secure mine to the ground by driving 2 pieces of rebar 8nto the ground and then using zipties to secure the tree to each rebar. Simple fast and cheap. Solid and secure.
Dude that was a large order, Thanks for sharing.
That was worth it came out beautiful great job.Merry Christmas
Wish I had patience to do this ... lol amazing job ❤️
Wow that's magical
Beautiful
Man I give u props I can only imagine how tideous it was to make them rings but diff gives me ideas of what I want to do ..for nxt yr Christmas
Nice job.
These are very professional..i would buy some
I bought a bunch of Hula Hoops, the large ones on sale cheap after the season, cut them, fitted them with the cross tees, and I save a HELLUVA LOTTA TIME SCREWIN' AROUND WITH PI R sq!!!!! Done deal! Beautiful!!! And they stay round too! HA!
Yeah, several people have suggested using hula hoops or flexible water pipe. I even made a video making trees following those suggestions. However, I think the trees made with all PVC are the sturdiest of the bunch. Good luck whatever method you choose.
I’d suggest using some flex seal or some pliasti-dip or whatever it’s called on those screw head to protect the light wires from the threads. Or you could grind the threads of the screws a bit so they aren’t sharp.
I make one of those lime 20 years ago.. Very easy and cheap
Very Cool
I think boiling hot water and capping off on end fill it up cap the other end and in a few minutes bend the tube remove the cap. It looks like it takes to long to heat the pipe and bends uneven. I love your plan and I might try and build some. Hey maybe blow the hot air inside the pipe. Just make an adapter for the heat gun to use on the pipe. Just my thought
Instead of bending pipe use 1/2 or 3/4 inch black water pipe its cheaper and faster. PVC fittings will work to connect them. Also use sheet metal screws instead of drywall screws.
Was my idea too save time and money
Get a bag of general purpose sand from a big box store and a cheap sauce pan that you will never use for food, place the sand in the sauce pan in a 400° oven until sand is hot and pour into the PVC pipe. You can then mold it around a form. Once the sand cools enough dump it into a bucket and repeat.
Just use pex pipe or conduit for the circle base, but great video!
I was wondering what length of light for each tree? and what size hole saw? thank you so much for sharing this video.
My setup, with 6-foot sides, required about 100 feet of lights. The hole saw was 3.5 inches. Elsewhere in the comments, someone suggested skipping the top cap and instead zip-tying the tops of the three poles together like a teepee. Then you'd just drape the wires around the tops of the poles. Go through the comments, and you'll find a link to a video the commenter made with his modifications.
Thanks for the videos! My only question/comment would be why not PEX for the hoops? The cost really isn't that much more than schedule 40 PVC and would save tons of time just cutting to fit.
Several people have mentioned PEX in the comment section, enough that I did a follow-up video experimenting with PEX and hoola hoops. It's a case of how rigid you want your frames to be. Use whatever you think best and fits the tools and materials you have at hand.
I have 2 questions. What size hole saw did you use for the top piece and where did you find plastic wood to make the top piece (instead of wood)? Thanks,
I used a 3.5-inch hole saw; although you could use a jigsaw if you're making only a few pieces. Lowes has PVC board that would work.
Those are great. One question though, how did you wrap them? Did you wrap the whole base fist then go up and down or did you just cross each section at the bottom when you got to it ?
Thanks. I zip-tied the plug near one screw at the bottom, went up and around top screw, down to the next screw on the bottom ring, over along the ring over to the next screw, back up, down to next screw, over, up.... Doing it this way means that there are gaps of lights along the bottom ring. By using 100 feet or so of lights, there are enough left, as you drop to the last screw, to circle the entire ring with lights, overlapping some that are already there. When you complete the circle, there may be enough left over to make one more trip back up, on top of one of a strings already there. I used some zip-ties on the bottom ring to hold everything in place. It takes a box and a half of the 300-count packages of mini lights at Walmart to complete a tree. (The 300-count boxes contain two sections of lights.) Or you can use five of the 100-count boxes, but you'll have several gaps of lights because of the light-free ends of the strings. (You can bunch up and zip-tie the lightless parts of the cords to close the gaps.)
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 EXCELLENT !! MIGHT BE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE FOR ME I HAVE TO USE THE LED LIGHTS. IF I USE THAT MANY MINI LIGHTS I WILL BLOW MY BREAKERS ALL DAY LONG LOL. THANKS MAN REALLY DPO APPRICIATE THE VIDEO AND THE FEED BACK.
This guy really needed to rent a pipe heater from sunbelt or someone for 100$ a day. Could of heated the whole pipe and put in jig and been done. To make one his method is great.
How would you keep them from falling down in windy areas?
I wrapped some thin wire around the ring in three locations and attached the wires to heavy duty tent stakes: www.amazon.com/dp/B016CQZ8AM/ref=dp_prsubs_2 . The trees, because of their openness, don't catch much wind, but because they're so light, it doesn't take much to tip them; so one would be wise to stake them down.
great job!! how tall are these trees and roughly how many lighs are on each tree??
The sides are 6 feet. I used about 100 feet of lights for each tree.
I would be interested in purchasing a frame sometime before next Christmas season. Do you sell them?
I don't, but if you check out the third video in the series, there are examples of how to make the frames without heat bending PVC -- ua-cam.com/video/vGHyrDpNjWE/v-deo.html .
These are awesome. Just to make sure I understand, is each piece you made for the bottom ring 40”? So a total of 120” plus the extra 4.5” for the added T fittings?
Yes, the three sections of the rings were each 40". Not sure what the fittings added. The important thing to remember is to give the three sections a little extra bend at the ends so that the straight PVC fittings better conform to the arc (5:06 on the video). Otherwise, you get a misshapen circle when the sections are joined. To make your life easier, you might want to try this other method that doesn't involve heat bending pipe: ua-cam.com/video/vGHyrDpNjWE/v-deo.html . Good luck.
Great idea!! About how much would you say it cost to make these.
Around $25 to $35 for the PVC pipe and fittings. It depends on where you buy the cross tees and caps. The cross tee fittings cost over $5 each if purchased at a hardware store but are nearer to $2 each if purchased from an online supplier (not including shipping). Then you have to add the cost of lights.
That's great looking work, I make a lot of Christmas outside decor myself. How many extension cords did you have to use on this set up?
It wasn't my house, so I don't have a count...but it was a lot. A big problem was trying to find enough circuits to power the incandescent lights. A 15-amp circuit could supply only 10 trees (1.5 amps per tree). Using LED lights would have alleviated that problem, but the owner and I preferred the look of the incandescents.
When I seen these, I thought you used hula hoops. Cut these and add the pvc tees. Lol
I'm thinking to use tomatoes cages for this instead of saying them. My skill set is pretty limited and so are my tools lol
I would suggest tomato cage trees as I have 6 of them they are not breakable, u can stack the for easy storage, they look very good if you put enough lights on.
How many lights are necessary to make these look good?
I use 100 feet of lights for trees that have 6-ft. sides.
have you concidered using pvc flex pipe instead of bending pipe? just an idea
Several people have suggested no-heat alternatives. I tried out a couple in this video: studio.ua-cam.com/users/videovGHyrDpNjWE/edit . Your suggestion would likely work as well or better. Bending PVC with heat creates the sturdiest of the versions, I think, but it's not necessary.
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 thank you I weas just wondering if it will hold up as well. I am thinking of making a couple of trees this year. I enjoyed the video
@@bfriesen2636 I think as long as you make the sides with regular 3/4" PVC and feed the flex PVC through 3/4" PCV cross tee fittings, you should be fine. I don't know if 3/4 flex would fit into the cross tee's like regular 3/4 PVC or whether you should get 1/2" flex and thread it through the fittings like I did with the hoola hoop in the third video. In any case, if the flex doesn't hold up, you can replace it with heat-bent pipe.
Lot easier to heat with one of those big propane weed burning torches it takes a lil practice though
I’ll take your word for it. I’d probably burn my house down.
Great idea, I am curious as to why you didn't use pex pipe for the bottom. Though yours would probably be more rigid.
I’m not familiar with pex. Would it work with the cross tee fittings and end caps?
Yea, its like pvc but more flexible. Most homes are built with it and it's in the same isle as the pvc at Home Depot or Lowes. Either way your set up looks great. 🤘🤘
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 I'm about to make this design with pex (for just the round part). Its 3/4" as well, but its outer diameter is much thiner, it almost will fit into a 1/2" fitting. I decided instead to just use the entire 10' of PEX (3/4") and put it through the crosses and connect it at the end. A screw in the cross should keep it in place. But this adds another 10' piece, and the pex for me is $5.50 vs $2.50 for the 3/4" PVC. I'm going to go a little taller than 6' for the legs though, since I have the material.
@@aidanlally Cool. Let us know if it makes a well-shaped, sturdy ring.
Why not use hula hoop for the base??? Only coz im lazy, but great work.
Like 🇧🇷🎄
What size whole saw did u use?
3-inch for the top cap.
Wonder if hula hoops would work for the ring.
Or use pex?
How many straid of light and the foot of length
About 100 feet of mini lights.
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 thank you so much I think this video is great and on my way to making these.to add to my light show
@@ghostofautumnwood6379 the hardest part was figuring out the template size I watched the video a million times to think i have the size now or close
Where are you located? May i buy the readymade frame from you?
I don't make the frames for sale. However, if you watch the following video, you can see some ways to make frames that don't require heat-bending PVC: ua-cam.com/video/vGHyrDpNjWE/v-deo.html
you should synchronize them to Christmas music
Considered it, but the driveway is around 300 yards long, requiring a large investment in cabling or wireless controller hubs. I *did* synchronize lights in this Halloween versus Christmas display, but it doesn't include the PVC trees: ua-cam.com/video/sbzaKHZ1YSk/v-deo.html .
those look like trellises to me.
These are nice, but boy, it's a lot of work and very time consuming. I made my light trees by using 2" Hexagonal poultry fencing wire. I bought a 4 foot by 150 foot roll. 95.00. I cut two , 8 foot long pieces. Then, I lay the second 8 foot piece next to the first one, overlapping it by about 1 foot. Then take 1 corner of the wire and fold it over about mid ways and roll it it to make a cone shape. This will form a cone shape about 2 foot at the base by about 6 feet high. You can practice with a oiece of paper to get the idea. Just cut a piece of paper 6 inch by 8 and roll it to make a cone shape. youll get the idea.
Couldn’t you just used a holahoop for the circle 😎
Steam box !
Radius x 3.1415 = Circumference.
Instead of bending pipe, why not just use hula hoops?
Why not just buy hula hoops from a dollar store for the bottoms
hula hoops would have been alot faster and easier
Save a lot of time and trouble making circles and go to the dollar store and buy cheap hula hoops instead.