I’ve been meaning to get around to this for some time now. Several years ago I came up with a modular display system. I’m using it for educational purposes, for a non-profit group that’s trying to increase awareness of a particular regional heritage. I thought I’d share how to build it for anyone else who needs to be able to put up information displays so people can take a look.
Got something you’d like to display? Feel free to build your own. The materials are readily available and don’t require a great deal of skill or special tools to assemble. Most hardware/lumber stores should carry them.
The basic material is one inch PVC pipe, used to make a rectangular framework. The actual dimensions aren’t critical — I made mine about 5 and half feet tall, two feet wide. If you want something shorter for a table display, or wider, feel free to adjust as needed. I’ve included some rough sketches to show how it goes together.
The top and bottom crossbars are PVC pipe with right angle joints on the ends. They are glued together. They slip over two PVC vertical risers — but are NOT glued to the risers. The joints fit on them by friction, but can be pulled apart.
So, decide how tall and how wide you’d like your display panels to be, and cut 4 lengths of PVC pipe for the top, bottom and risers to fit. A hand saw will work; a miter saw will make it easier. Don’t forget to allow for the joints on the top and bottom pieces, because they add to their width. You may want to dry fit the pieces together to check the dimensions work out before gluing the joints.
Okay so far? Next is attaching the display panels to the framework. Assemble a module frame and place the panel on it so it lies where you want it between the top and bottom. (As you can see in the photos, I attached mine so they’re almost even with the top. They are 2 feet wide and four feet tall. What I’m using for panel material is corrugated plastic sheeting. (* link for illustrative purposes only. ) It comes in four foot by eight foot sheets, and different thicknesses. It comes in different colors too — I went with white. It’s used for commercial signs — graphics can be printed on it. I’m leaving mine blank as I tape illustrations and posters to them as needed.
I used two pieces of corrugated plastic for each framework module, one on each side, but one may be enough. Using two makes it a bit more rigid though. What I do is lay the panel on the risers, use a drill to make pilot holes through the panel into the PVC riser. With that done, I secure it with sheet metal screws. Ive been using these for several years now and they’re holding up okay.
What makes this system really flexible is that you can adapt it to link together as many modules as you like. Remember the bit about NOT gluing the top and bottom parts to the risers? What comes next is fabricating hinges to connect modules together.
If you look in the photos at the top and bottom of the modules, you can see what look like small wooden blocks at the top and bottom of the modules. These hinge the modules together.
They are made from 1 inch thick plywood. They are rectangular, with two holes drilled in them just the right size to slip over the PVC risers. The reason for not gluing the connectors to the risers is so they can be pulled off so that the hinges can be slipped over the risers, and then the connectors can be placed back in position.
The hinges are double-acting. They allow the modules to swing completely around from one side to the other — a set of panels can be folded flat. Link three or more panels together, you can make what is like a free-standing kiosk display. (See the second photo.) Putting weight on the bottom connectors will help keep the wind from tipping it over.
You can set up the modules in a variety of ways. The photo at the top shows how 4 panels have been arranged around the end of a table. If you have enough space, you can set them up so that both sides of the modules can be seen. The last sketch below shows some of the other ways they can be arranged.
I made the hinges from a sheet of one inch thick plywood. (They can be found in 2 x 2 foot squares in some stores — you don’t have to buy an entire 4 x 8 sheet.) The easiest way to do it is to mark out the hinge blocks on the sheet Drill the holes first (make sure the PVC pipe just fits through them). You need enough space between the holes in a hinge so that the two modules can swing completely around each other. You also need to make the blocks large enough so there is enough wood to keep them from breaking around the holes. Once you’ve drilled the holes, cut out the individual blocks. Make some extras to allow for breakage. You’ll need two for each module panel. Sand off any rough spots.
I’ve built 4 modules. They’re just the right size to fit in the back of my Subaru Forester, and light enough so I can handle all of them at once. I will admit there’s enough flex in the hinges and PVC piping that they aren’t completely rigid when set up, but they’re good enough for most purposes. I’m not crazy about using so much plastic, but it’s a trade off for coming up with something light enough, durable enough, and with readily available components to make something practical for someone who needs something like this. I wanted to make it relatively easy to build.
I’m making the design freely available — feel free to adapt it your own particular needs. If you come up with improvements, please share. Run into problems or have other issues? Let me know.