Homemade Wing Jack Stands

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

Looked to me like the horizontal bars with round knobs below the V are the handles to spin the screw up and down. A quick inspection will verify.

The ball knobs are fine for light weight lifting, but they are not long enough to offer much leverage when loads get higher.

[EricJ]

28 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

The ball knobs are fine for light weight lifting, but they are not long enough to offer much leverage when loads get higher.

Often how those are used is something else elevates the load and the screw gets spun up to meet the load.   The crane or whatever can then move on to the next thing and the screw jack holds it up.   Small adjustments can be made, but I think it might be difficult (or at least very annoying) to use those for jacking rather than just as a jack stand.

[Shadrach]

4 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Often how those are used is something else elevates the load and the screw gets spun up to meet the load.   The crane or whatever can then move on to the next thing and the screw jack holds it up.   Small adjustments can be made, but I think it might be difficult (or at least very annoying) to use those for jacking rather than just as a jack stand.

As configured, I agree. The Screw jacks I once had access to had a ~16” handle on a two way ratcheting cuff. It was actually easing than actuating a hydraulic piston, but did require more movement. 

[LANCECASPER]

On 2/17/2024 at 4:47 PM, Skydancer2992 said:

Looking at screw type jack stands now. For $61, a screw pipe jack. Quite the bargain.  Modify two of them by cutting off the V.

https://www.vevor.com/roller-head-pipe-stand-c_10836/pipe-stand-fold-a-jack-v-head-pipe-capacity-12-height-20-37-2500-lb-steel-p_010585290868
"

About this item

• Heavy Duty V-Head: The pipe stand with a durable V-head is suitable for the pipe size of 1/8 to 12 inches (0.32 to 30.48 cm). The steel structure of the pipe jack stands is more durable resistant to rusk and corrosion. Lifting weight can be up to 2500lbs/1134kg.
• Adjustable Construction: The height of this pipe jack stand can be adjustable from 20"-37"/51-94cm to meet different needs. The locking ring allows for quick vertical height adjustments.
• Folding & Portable Design: The whole jack stand with a folding design makes storage won't take much space. The slip-proof rubber handle allows you to carry it easily.
• Great Stability: The pipe stand shows excellent stability because of its tripod structure. The rounded footpads of this stand are widened. And the strut tension plate for superior lateral support.
• Wide Application: Widely used in the welding of heavy pipes, shapes, solids, and rounds. Support pipe during pipe threading, hole cutting, roll grooving, etc."
  
  

Jacks are not one area where I would be looking for the lowest cost. One failed jack and you could have a lot of damage especially if it happens during a gear retraction.

No need to re-invent the wheel - these have been working well for a lot of people and the price is not unreasonable: https://alphaaviation.com/jacks/3-ton-low-wing/

[N201MKTurbo]

On 2/17/2024 at 3:47 PM, Skydancer2992 said:

Looking at screw type jack stands now. For $61, a screw pipe jack. Quite the bargain.  Modify two of them by cutting off the V.

https://www.vevor.com/roller-head-pipe-stand-c_10836/pipe-stand-fold-a-jack-v-head-pipe-capacity-12-height-20-37-2500-lb-steel-p_010585290868
"

About this item

• Heavy Duty V-Head: The pipe stand with a durable V-head is suitable for the pipe size of 1/8 to 12 inches (0.32 to 30.48 cm). The steel structure of the pipe jack stands is more durable resistant to rusk and corrosion. Lifting weight can be up to 2500lbs/1134kg.
• Adjustable Construction: The height of this pipe jack stand can be adjustable from 20"-37"/51-94cm to meet different needs. The locking ring allows for quick vertical height adjustments.
• Folding & Portable Design: The whole jack stand with a folding design makes storage won't take much space. The slip-proof rubber handle allows you to carry it easily.
• Great Stability: The pipe stand shows excellent stability because of its tripod structure. The rounded footpads of this stand are widened. And the strut tension plate for superior lateral support.
• Wide Application: Widely used in the welding of heavy pipes, shapes, solids, and rounds. Support pipe during pipe threading, hole cutting, roll grooving, etc."
  
  

These are just adjustable stands. They weren't meant to jack a load up.

[A64Pilot]

For giggles I tried putting a long section of pipe on the little ball ends on my jack stands, it didn’t work.

I think the screw threads are too coarse, and they aren’t square threads, to work properly I think they need to be square threads.

If you could put a roller bearing under the part you turn and if it had square threads I think it would work very well, but may cost more than hydraulics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_thread_form#:~:text=The square thread form is,it is difficult to fabricate.

[A64Pilot]

On 2/17/2024 at 5:47 PM, Skydancer2992 said:

Looking at screw type jack stands now. For $61, a screw pipe jack. Quite the bargain.  Modify two of them by cutting off the V.

https://www.vevor.com/roller-head-pipe-stand-c_10836/pipe-stand-fold-a-jack-v-head-pipe-capacity-12-height-20-37-2500-lb-steel-p_010585290868
"

About this item

• Heavy Duty V-Head: The pipe stand with a durable V-head is suitable for the pipe size of 1/8 to 12 inches (0.32 to 30.48 cm). The steel structure of the pipe jack stands is more durable resistant to rusk and corrosion. Lifting weight can be up to 2500lbs/1134kg.
• Adjustable Construction: The height of this pipe jack stand can be adjustable from 20"-37"/51-94cm to meet different needs. The locking ring allows for quick vertical height adjustments.
• Folding & Portable Design: The whole jack stand with a folding design makes storage won't take much space. The slip-proof rubber handle allows you to carry it easily.
• Great Stability: The pipe stand shows excellent stability because of its tripod structure. The rounded footpads of this stand are widened. And the strut tension plate for superior lateral support.
• Wide Application: Widely used in the welding of heavy pipes, shapes, solids, and rounds. Support pipe during pipe threading, hole cutting, roll grooving, etc."
  
  

I’ve got those and did cut the V off, one was a thick tube, the other one was solid, so they were different in a couple of ways.

My plan was to put a bottle jack under the center and push the center up while continually screwing the lock down.

It was partially successful, it works fine but isn’t fool proof. Lowering is the issue.

Next step is to get some steel strap and weld the bottle jacks to the jack stand, making the stand take all of the aircraft weight.

Currently the way it is the jack supports the load until the aircraft is jacked up, then you release the jack and the stand takes the load. The stand is very strong and stable, but while the jack has the weight on the way down it’s sort of flaky, you have to be careful. So it’s not ready for prime time. The stand needs to hold the load when jacking.

[1967 427]

About 10 years ago I decided to make my own jack stands and over the years they have seen a lot of use.  Yes I could have purchased jacks, but where is the challenge or fun in that.  I admit the design was not my own, but when I saw it, I thought how simplistic and really safe, as they don’t rely on hydraulic pressure to hold them up.

Recently my neighbor 2 hangars down showed me his new Meyer jack stands, and offered to loan them to me if I needed.  It made me think “Hey WTF is wrong with mine!?”, of course that was kept inside my head.  His offer made me look at my jacks and realized that I never really finished the job.  The jacks that I used still had some of their original paint and my welds along with the raw steel I used had surface rust.   They definitely were missing a coat of paint and looked like some shade tree mechanic made them on his lunch break.

What I love about them is that after jacking up the plane I insert the pin thru the hole and lower the jack until the load is no longer relying on the hydraulics.