ideas for an affordable TOOL-LESS frame to mount lights on?

i'm looking to start another grow room, and want to build either a 3x6 frame or a pair of 3x3s for a pair of halides and SCROGs and am looking for some kind of tech where i can build the frame without using power tools. in the past, i bought a couple of wire frame shelf units and created a pair of 2x4 beams to hang my lights from, but i don't want to be seen hauling long lengths of board into my apartment and raising suspicions and power tools will do the same. what tech is there that i can build a frame out of that can easily be torn down for those ever annoying surprise inspections?

someone at home depot suggested PVC, but that SUCKS! that shit can't handle the weight of a pair of grow lights!

the BEST idea i can come up with is to just have a bunch of 4 foot long sections of plank cut at a home depot (give up on the idea of PRECISION fucking cuts there!) and just screwing them together risking the wood splitting, or the screws stripping the wood if i ever have to take a frame apart, but that's the simplest tech i can come up with. i wish there was some sort of wooden/aluminum lego/erector set type of tech out there designed for flexible assembly and tear downs.

it would be so much easier if i had my own house and could just build a PERMANENT frame like i'd like to.

the best method i can think of is just getting pre cut wood and joining it like this with screws. using "L" joints would give the frame the stability it need, especially for corner posts.


that would be such a pain in the ass though hand screwing 50 or so screws because i don't know where to get pre-drilled beams.

i keep telling home depot that i'd GLADLY pay up to $1 a cut for precision cuts, but all you can get is sloppy, not square, or even accurate to within 1/4 of an inch crap that won't fit together.

there has to be a solution out there somewhere!

any ideas?

Unistrut? Oh wait, no tools. What tools do we get to use?

3/4 pvc is more than sturdy enough to handle a cpl lights.

A really Big Erector Set....
lol
Im Thinking but you stumped me.

further thought to PVC should be given, look up schedule 40 PVC it is the thick walled type not the thin stuff your thinking of.

draw a shape of what you need and post it here, nothing fancy is fine and I will do my best to design a descent structure.

Happy Holidays!!

Unistrut = Really big erector set

hydrogreen65 said:

3/4 pvc is more than sturdy enough to handle a cpl lights.

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1" schedule 40 is the most structural without wasting space, they even have a corner, 4 directions if you can picture it at Home Depot.

It makes the build a lot easier.

all you need is PVC glue.

best to glue sub assembles flat on the floor to keep them straight.
then assemble sub assemblies into finished product.

A cheap 4 foot level helps a lot you can get away with a 2 footer or even
a little plumbers level and a long straight thing to rest it on.

I await your drawing!

How bigs the space, l x w x h?

how do you grow?

In a closet?

How wide is the doorway?

in a tent, how wide is the opening?

I have hung a few hundred feet of unistrut in my time in construction.

Great stuff, just need so e nuts and bolts, only problem is cutting it, they said no noisy power tools.
It would be a real workout to cut by hacksaw!

Probably won't have to make too many cuts. Use light gauge strut. Sharp blades with agressive teeth, not the cheap blades either.

all you need is PVC glue.

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that's the thing, i'm looking for a TEMPORARY structure that can be torn down and re-assembled quickly as needed with landlord intrusions. glued PVC = a permanent structure and eventual landfill when it's disassembled. i was looking for something along the lines of snap or bolt together.

as to designing, i can't share my ideas as i'm on a public computer, but would have no problem designing whatever myself as i'm adept at drafting and engineering, but what i'm lacking is the MATERIALS needed to make a semi-permanent structure.

the best idea i can come up with is just making everything out of 6 foot and 3 foot planks and trying to find a way to drill them out myself. it's really hard doing this shit in apartments! i've had nosy neighbors and landlords up the exit at every place i've lived and tried to grow the gift in. that's why a structure that's easy to dis-assemble and re-assemble is so important. in my last grow, i used a pair of wire mesh restaurant style shelf units that i joust ran a pair of 2x4s across joined at the ends. the shelf units were "camouflaged" as space saving storage for my record collection, but hiding 8 foot 2 by 4s proved to be an issue. i was going to get a couple of garage door hangars with all of the holes cut in half so i could bolt them together erector set style and then break in half.

there HAS TO be some sort of wood "pre-fab" out there designed for rapid prototyping and flexibility, or at least should be. i TRIED to have a "scruffier" (combination carbon scrubber/muffler) built out of 3/4" MDF, but people wanted $100 to start for building a simple freakin' box, and most of them seemed shady wanting the money up front without wanting to make contracts, or let me see their handiwork.

i WISH there was some business where people could go and rent PRECISION power tools like table saws and drill presses for small projects like mine. then building a frame unit that could be broken down into sections 4 feet or less and just bolt them together would be a snap.

it's looking like $100 in hard to carry without a car shelf units like before, or risking drilling a bunch of pilot holes in sloppily pre-cut planks are my two best options. i don't like the idea of PVC, even if it is sturdy enough to hold the lights as i have arthritis that would make fitting everything together a little challenging and taking it apart even more so if i didn't glue it. besides, i plan to hang a pair of 3x3 SCROG screens on the frames too. that would require dangling them from the frame if i used PVC and making a sloppy loose arrangement.

i can't find EXACTLY what i've been trying to describe, but this is kind of like what i was thinking of if i made a pair of frames, but would only be "half" of one


but imagine the top removed kind of like an upside down table with a "female unit" that would slide down on top of it and on the outside with the SCROG screens resting on top of the "legs" on the bottom unit with the two sections bolted together where each set of braces overlap, and instead of using less stable single beams as shown here, every post, and the base and top would be "double braced" L style for stability. the tops would also feature cross beams through the middle like shown in the pic to hang the lights on. this pic shows the rough shape, but not dimensions i'm thinking of, and not the right layout of wood. i couldn't find any pics of cheap tables that use L shaped, when viewed from the top or bottom" legs. i don't know the technical term, but understand the physics.

OK, i found one imagine THIS if the top were open and cross braced like the frame above, top and bottom


with the two sections bolting together in the middle. in that alignment shown, that would be the top of the frame, and if you turned it upside down, it would be a base. imagine a pair of bolt holes on each face at the bottom of each leg that would bolt to their mates male/female style.

i WISH i had a PC. i could do a 3D mock up with my photo editor no problem. i've noticed that with things like this, people have a very hard time visualizing what i do like the wood worker that acted like i was talking chinese until i did both a 3D mock up as well as a 3 angle elevation with dimensions.

hey! maybe there's a business idea... making pre-fab light frames for growers that are easy to set up and take down and that are cheaper than grow tent$.

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/565488-improving-flavorand-buzz-whatever-strain-5.html

quit wasting peoples time.

are you talking about something like this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281178597549?lpid=82

If thats what your talking about you could use 1" pvc and build like the picture. Dont use glue, and use some pvc double socket connectors to keep the pipe lengths down. This was a easy one.

that would be a potential solution, but there's nothing to mount SCROG screens and reflectors on that way. PVC would make making a SCROG screen a pain without having to build another table under the system. i'm looking to build a "two chamber" open frame with a scrog screen in the middle, and to then add reflectors under my lights that almost touch the hoods, and that go down flush to the edges of the screens.

i'll have to show what i'm doing once i get everything built as no one seems to know of any sort of "pre-fab" wood like i'm looking for. i could do something out of aluminum, but that stuff gets expensive QUICKLY. wood is the cheapest material, especially when you're working with low grade planks.

thanks for trying to help everyone. i'll show you all what i'm talking about when it's built. it will be something like a combination SCROG screen/grow tent, but be bolted modular so it can be taken apart on short notice and re-assembled quickly. hopefully, it won't even be an issue once i get out of this room. i just started looking at apartments, and will fill out an application or two at the best one(s) i can find and maybe have a place next month to start way fucking behind schedule again

as to the troll response... how pathetic could you be wishing my grow sabotaged before i even start? if i ever succeeded to do a grow without outside tampering, you might lose your fucking mind! then again, trolls never run out of lies and conspiracy theories

Does nobody use hand saws any more. I just got doing all the molding in the house. Even cut the 45 on the ends. Man just go get some 8 ft 1x3 or 1x2 or 2x2. Buy a hand saw for wood. Get some finishing nails. Some wood glue. Have the store cut the 8ft in half= 4ft pieces. Those you can carry inside un noticed. Then make measurements, cut with hand saw, assemble with finishing nails and wood glue. It will be strong and yet could be torn down fast.

OH! here we go! someone's already done it!


look at how much brighter the panel (grow area) is with a diffused reflector spreading the light more evenly. cameras don't lie and see the differences even better than out eyes. bear in mind too, those are reflectors close to the light. the effect should be even more noticeable at a distance from it as in lining side walls.

before i start plants under my next stoplight, i'll get a couple of cardboard boxes and line one of them with the polished side of foil or some mylar if i can find some reasonably priced, and the other with some reasonably thick paper, stack the boxes one on top of the other, and have the same light shine through both chambers onto a flat white surface like the wall in this pic, and then whichever one reflects the best will produce the best illuminated "grow zone". i'll bet a dollar here and now that the foil produces mostly direct light with some bright hot spots, but the flat white will evenly illuminate the entire area and be clearly brighter.

Tents are so cheap now that IMO that is the way to go.
When I first got into indoor, well I dont even know if tents existed back then, but when I first saw tents a small one was close to 400 bucks.
Now you can get a 4x4x6 for 100 bucks. That is about the same amount you spend on plywood now and still need 2x4s and a lot of labor.

where can you get a 4x4x6 for $100? when i looked into them at a grow shop, they were $250 plus.

i like the idea of tents! they add an extra layer of light stoppage so you can get into and out of your room without light flaring, but with a 4x4, how would you get around your SCROG screen? that, and as i'm looking for 2 @ 3x3 @ 400w each areas, the cost would be $200 at the very least.

i like the idea of "open frames" so that i can work my screens from at least 2 sides and not have to throw my back out reaching 3 feet into them every day.

i'm looking to spend less than $100 on a complete system, and think i could do it for even under $50 if i get the wood pre-cut and buy a cheap drill to bolt my frame together. i kind of don't trust tents either as they feel flimsy like if you accidentally bump one the wrong way, the entire thing will collapse. that's why i bought a pair of wire shelf units that were super sturdy, but the downside was that each one wasted 2 feet of room space with a roughly 5 foot long by 3 wide area between them in my last room with about 1 1/2 feet between one and a wall for me to have to squeeze behind to get to the other side of my screens that never actually got hung off my light beams anyways.

another part of the reason i'm looking to go with open frames this time is for space savings. the frame itself is just a couple inches larger than my grow areas.

i just wish someone made predrilled planks at various lengths so you could just spec what you need and bolt it together easily. that would just be too logical and flexible. precision cutting at home centers, even at a premium is too much to ask for too. the only solution to the problem seems to be throwing money at the problem sadly.

Buy a used circular saw and drill. Do the project and sell the saw?

Seems like an option.

Check on Amazon. I was just showing a buddy the prices on Xmas Eve when he stopped by. He has been talking about building a grow box for the past 2-3 years. Back then it was more economical to build. I pulled up Amazon, searched grow tent and they were all over the place.

hazey grapes said:

where can you get a 4x4x6 for $100? when i looked into them at a grow shop, they were $250 plus.

i like the idea of tents! they add an extra layer of light stoppage so you can get into and out of your room without light flaring, but with a 4x4, how would you get around your SCROG screen? that, and as i'm looking for 2 @ 3x3 @ 400w each areas, the cost would be $200 at the very least.

i like the idea of "open frames" so that i can work my screens from at least 2 sides and not have to throw my back out reaching 3 feet into them every day.

i'm looking to spend less than $100 on a complete system, and think i could do it for even under $50 if i get the wood pre-cut and buy a cheap drill to bolt my frame together. i kind of don't trust tents either as they feel flimsy like if you accidentally bump one the wrong way, the entire thing will collapse. that's why i bought a pair of wire shelf units that were super sturdy, but the downside was that each one wasted 2 feet of room space with a roughly 5 foot long by 3 wide area between them in my last room with about 1 1/2 feet between one and a wall for me to have to squeeze behind to get to the other side of my screens that never actually got hung off my light beams anyways.

another part of the reason i'm looking to go with open frames this time is for space savings. the frame itself is just a couple inches larger than my grow areas.

i just wish someone made predrilled planks at various lengths so you could just spec what you need and bolt it together easily. that would just be too logical and flexible. precision cutting at home centers, even at a premium is too much to ask for too. the only solution to the problem seems to be throwing money at the problem sadly.

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Probably not the best quality, but 115 shipped.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-x-4-x-6-5-GROW-TENT-ROOM-48x48x78-Reflective-Mylar-Hydro-Box-Cabinet-Hut-Dark-/400597546983?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item5d457977e7