Treatise on Building a Tower Stand

by Dion Hollenbeck
hollen@megatek.com

Here is how I made a brewing stand for a multi-tier gravity system. It is made of squared off "A" frames which are made up by 2x4 pine lumber. One is shown below. The 2x4s are shown with the 4" face looking at you. The cross members are put together with biscuits, or you could use dowels. Each joint uses two biscuits of the #20 size. The little "o" characters represent holes drilled to accommodate bolts. Two of these "A" frames are held together by 4 2x4x running across between the frames at the site of the holes. In the ends of the cross members, are cross dowels, small steel dowels with a threaded hole across their diameter and a screwdriver slot in one end. They are normally used to put together knock down furniture. The bolts used have a flat thin head about 1/2" in diameter and a hex key hole. They are available from any good woodworking store (maybe even home stores). They are definitely available mail order from "The Woodworker's Store". 


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          | |                     | |          End View
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In the side view, the vertical lines represent a side view of the A frame shown above. The horizontal lines are the stringers. On th bottom of each leg, it is advisable to put some sort of adjustable height foot. On top of the stringers, put shelves of 3/4" plywood. The design can be modified to accommodate any sort of multi-tiered shelving needs. It can be dis assembled and stored in a closet in a space about 8" thick.

The most expensive part of the whole assembly will be the bolts and cross dowels, but they are not that bad, a set of cross bolts for the above system would be $15. The above is three tiered in that the floor is the third tier.

Dion Hollenbeck
June 1995