To sum up part 1: i bought a hammock, two eye bolts, two heavy-duty carabiners, and some rope to hang my hammock with... Only to discover that i would need to build a stand.
The first thing i needed to decide was what material and schematic to use in order to build said hammock stand/frame. The most obvious option was wood: it was relatively inexpensive. But i hadn't worked with wood in a long time, and i wasn't particularly inclined to spend $10 on the U-BILD plan that seemed to be the most professional looking source of information. One big plus was that i could see a photo of the finished projects, while on the how-to and DIY sites were far less forthcoming.
This was also the case for PVC pipe projects. PVC pipes were slightly more expensive, but the glue seemed to be less daunting to me than stain/sealer, bolts/nuts/washers. I found one picture that looked promising of such a project, a GreatPlans number that cost $12 to buy the plans for. Apparently PVC pipe furniture is popular, though i saw a lot of people advise against using it for weight bearing and instead advocated ABS piping or to stay away from these sorts of pipes all together. One of the things that put me off this idea was the fact that the pipes cannot screw into one another (i think i'm right about).
My thoughts eventually turned to steel pipe. This seemed to be the most practical option. There are a lot of metal frames on the market, easy to copy from pictures. However, this turned out to be cost prohibitive, far more expensive than wood or PVC, and i had read warnings that pipe is impossible to completely clean, that it is always oily. This didn't sound practical for indoor use, and it was definitely beyond my budget. If money was no option, i'm pretty sure that this is probably where i would have ended up. Oddly, it was the craft in which i have the least experience. However, the materials are strongest.
Finally, i stumbled upon the Hammock Forums and TrailH4X' portable hammock stand. I felt as if the U-BILD option was a bit overkill, too low and not really practical for a Mayan hammock. This seemed to be a inspired-by yet reworked version of the same pattern. I'm not sure if that's true, but hey, a free schematic was definitely a plus. One thing that i should have taken into account was the size of his hammock compared to mine (i assumed that it was a couple of feet shorter, but didn't take the time to confirm by how much), but it was a starting off point. I decided to make the base 2' longer than Trail's and assumed that this would be sufficient. So i went out and followed his shopping list, planning to make some of the cuts a couple of inches shorter so i didn't have to buy more wood than he had. The wood was pleasantly inexpensive. The stain was far over budget and i ended up getting more than i needed because i trusted the estimates of the employee who helped me rather than figure out the math myself. And the bolts...i was confused about what kind to use. He recommended 1/4" in diameter and i had a feeling that would not be sufficient. But i purchased some of that diameter that were galvanized steel.
Upon getting all of the supplies home...i cut most of the would with my father's old electric saw and sawed through the remaining thickness by hand. I slept in my old bed one last time. The next morning, i put the first coat of stain on the wood. And then i started to drill holes.
Stay tuned for part 3.
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