I do not remember when I first came across MakerPipe, but I knew I wanted to use it to support the engineering program and our robotics team at my school. I was fortunate to teach the engineering class this year, the first time in our new space, so I was able to start the students off with physical prototyping using 3D-printed mini makerpipe parts and a bunch of coffee straws. I was then able to grab the CAD files from the community and have them CAD their solutions. Then they started building. We have completed 2 storage racks, with a third on the way, and a 10x10x10 ft cube that we are using as the framework for our FIRST robotics teams' pit displays. Our pit was the star of our recent state championship event. My facilities and maintenance teams are very intrigued by the product, and I have a few more projects in mind for the future. I will definitely be using MakerPipe in my program going forward.

Shared from the Maker Pipe Facebook Group. Check out Steve's marching band props made with MP and conduit. Click on the link above to see the props in action!

"Shout out to Maker Pipe for helping our marching band to a 4th place finish at states. All props were maker pipe inspired frames. We leveraged quick connects to make them super simple to assemble and transport. Was a game changer for us!"

"Since you’re asking, wonderful! We set out to build a bunch of props for my daughter’s high school marching band. Criteria were 10’ diameter “shields” for a Valhalla themed show. We couldn’t have done it without MakerPipe components. Each shield consisted of 2 10’ diameter circles connected together with t-connectors. Each individual circle was comprised of 4 arcs held together with structural couplings. We used a pipe roller to create a continuous even bend for each arc. It was then wrapped in custom printed fabric. I’ve attached several photos and a video from another band parent of one of the shows. We got tons of compliments throughout the season wouldn’t have been possible without Maker Pipe!" - Patrick

Video Credit to Shane Church of Des Moines Theodore Roosevelt HS Rough Rider Regiment

https://youtu.be/hxDItadQ8i8?si=V99-KUg7wPP1EIpv

https://youtu.be/undmZlUCMBk?si=Aal5CJjvcfjVORlj

Using tips and hacks and a lot of doodles I fabricated a 10ft tall book that moves around the field, opens up, tilts back, and has a page that turns.

"A few years ago I urged our program to move to a modular mindset for field show props. Designed and fabricated modular bases that use various inserts in corners, midpoints etc. which allows a single flat cart to be the base of a prop, a utility cart, etc. All of this is facilitated by the use of Maker Pipe connectors and EMT for basic structure above the welded steel base. This has saved me hundreds of hours of welding / fabrication over the past few seasons and saved the program a good amount of money by being able to re-use/re-configure our existing inventory of EMT and Maker Pipe connectors. While Maker Pipe has a great variety of connectors, The T connectors are by far the most adaptable as you can use multiples to achieve similar functionality to some of their more specialized connectors.

The 12'tall prisms on the field in the video are skinned in vinyl but composed of an EMT/Maker Pipe connector structure that allowed all 7 props to be disassembled into flat panels and flat cart bases enabling a significant reduction in volume for transport, ultimately saving a couple thousand in transportation costs (going from a dedicated box truck to a small section of one of our existing trucks) over that one season." - Chris

https://youtu.be/gWuFgdu8E4Y?si=_j4Es0KSE19DRJCz

"These are some Track & Field award stands I made using your products. They are lighter than standard plywood boxes and will last much longer. Thank you for providing a great product!" - David

"I work at a highschool teaching different woodworking, metalworking, and engineering courses. The first project we tackled was a 9 foot archway for our prom decorating.  I'll include a couple images.  One image shows the bare archway after we had it built in our shop room.  The other shows it assembled and partially decorating where they are setting up for prom.  When we designed it we had to make sure it could come apart into smaller sections.  The students had to disassemble it and take it to the building where they were decorating and be able to reassemble it. This will be very handy to be able to take it apart and store each year, then set up again when they need it.  We have already ordered a second set of fittings that we will be using for our ag department to build a mobile rack for hanging plants on.  This product makes it easy for students to design and create something out of materials such as EMT conduit.  I'm certain we will be purchasing more in the future for student projects." - Scott

"If im being honest, I did not stumble upon this product myself. It was suggested to me by my client. And I was skeptical at first. Not because it wasn't a wise concept...but because our application of these clamps was going to be used day in and day out on some colorguard backdrop frames.

The tube was 1/2" conduit of an already existing, welded frame. At 10 years old, most of the metal was sound...ish but the welds were not. My first instinct would be to just weld them all again. But when I got to thinking about it, not welding them gave us the option to use the material in a different capacity with minimal effort over the coming years. So, we threw in for 36 of the 1/2" clamps. When we got them, I was happy to see the black plastic compression inserts as a medium between the clamp and the conduit. To my surprise, these were incredibly strong, and I literally only needed a single Allen wrench to assemble once the metal was cut and cleaned. That value alone is tremendous!

The best value to me, however is that most people can easily understand and apply themselves to using this product. This means I can train my groups (most of them at the High School level) and they are soon self sufficient to maintain them props as necessary. So far, it has not been necessary :-). To be honest, I wish I had found Maker Pipe sooner." - Phillip

"We built the set for our high school's One-Act competition team.  The set required a tunnel in a mountain that people could actually go in and out in a hurry.  Using the EMT and big canvas tarps that we cut and dyed, we made the tunnel and a tent.  The tunnel ended up being ten feet tall and 14 feet wide.

One of the requirements for the competition is that the set must be assembled and put in place on stage in less than 10 minutes.  They had their public performance last night, and they were able to set the stage in 6.5 minutes.  Those quick-release connectors made it possible.  Saturday, they take everything on a school bus and travel to another school 100 miles away for the first competition.

Thanks for making this happen.  It looked great in person!  The plus is that we will be able to use everything to build the next crazy challenge we take on!

We have a video of the show that includes the kids assembling everything in front of the audience if you are interested in seeing it.

Thanks!" - Ken

https://youtu.be/XsV3af3sFQI

"I am working on a theatre project helping my daughter who is the drama teacher at Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham.  We are building Cinderella’s coach in my garage. The anchors will be used to help build the arch." - Henry

"We were able to build custom rolling A frames 7x10" with the connectors and casters. They're easily disassembled for transport. All at a fraction of the cost of ready made alternatives." - Jake

This was my first (extremely simple) Maker Pipe project. 8 players have to switch from trombone to baritone in the marching show.

I used flange connectors, shrink wrap, and conduit caps. The middle part that the bells rest on I had 3D printed here at school.

Not a big deal, but it worked great. I used lag screws to anchor them to the cart and they have held up perfectly all season.

Would like to get a copy of the design blueprint for this collapsable frame, mentioned in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCKBYgL6IA.

In my not-so-handy head, if the t-connectors are screwed tight onto the conduit, how do you make it rotate at the joint to make it collapsable??

Thank you in advance!!🙏

“We've finally got everything built, and have put our band props on the field... this is a fantastic system, and has gotten lots of compliments from the team and others who have seen it.” - Ben

"My son's school needed a mobile drum set platform/cart for the marching band. I found this product and it worked great for the railing. The shrink-wrap was a nice match for the school colors. Will definitely use this product again in future projects." - Eric

"This is your top choice for inexpensive strong connections with EMT conduit. You can literally do anything. I ordered all 1/2” stuff, but used 1/2 and 3/4 conduit. The 1/2 connections seem to be the same and just come with a plastic spacer. They actually cost like 50 cents more, but it’s worth it for the versatility. I made props for my kid’s marching band." - Ray

“My daughter had envisioned making a mobile green home out of Maker pipe, some mesh screen, and scrap wooden pallets for her (high school) senior capstone project. The result was outstanding, and everybody loved the final build! She earned 100% (as maximum score) from her class! The model home was easy enough to be built by a teenager with little help from parents. It is sturdy as it endured transportation (over a flatbed trailer) over bumpy roads. Best of all, the total build cost is within a teen's budget and the EMTs are available from our local Home Depot. America could solve homelessness with the ingenious use of these maker pipes, making sturdy, transportable, quickly built temporary shelters! Customer service is also top notch! Please remain humble yet effective in your business.” - Jojo

“I'm a parent volunteer with my daughter's high school marching band/drumline. We needed to make a much better screen/frame but had constraints that had to be met. It had to be able to be moved quickly and easily, it had to be able to go through a doorway, it had to expand to 8' high for a vinyl screen, lightweight, be durable, and not take up much space on a box truck… This was a fun build to do, I wasn't sure if the conduit would need any support for the top so I reached out to maker pipe and they said it should be strong enough and it was strong enough; the pipe didn't show any bend in it at all.” - Nathan

"I found Maker Pipe while looking to update some games for my child's annual school carnival. We went from a football toss game of floppy pool noodles that didn't stay connected and a target game that had to be hung from the ceiling to something that should last for many years and is easy to tear down and store. Great products and easy ordering!" - GL

My kids and I at Give Me A Chance in Ogden Utah built a classroom gyroscope from Maker Pipe. Rather than mess with wrist or pin bearings, I just slipped a 1/2 conduit inside two 3/4 inch conduits. You can see it in a video at the GMAC website: http://www.givemeachanceutah.org/building-a-gyroscope-in-the-classroom/

I wanted to share our high school marching band project from the Fall 2023 season. My team and I were volunteers who helped design, build, and maintain some of the props for the band performances. This was our second year using Maker Pipe and I'm really happy with the quality and flexibility of this product. Importantly, everything had to be assembled before performances. Then, disassembled when finished. Many times, everything had to be transported, in some instances across the state, to distant competitions. Band performances on are football fields.

First up, a back view of the backfield banner frames. We had six 8ft x 10ft frames with color-printed vinyl wrapped around the front (facing the audience). They were positioned near the far sidelines of the performance fields. The year prior, we used the "conduit cover clips" around the perimeter of these frames. While that was ok, a breeze would loosen those clips. We had to constantly tighten them up or else we would have wrinkles in the vinyl. They, along with the sandwiched vinyl material, were incredibly difficult to remove. This year, we went with bungee cord (high-volume, custom cut) to hold tension. This was better, efficient to assemble on-site, and lasted the entire season.

Rolling bases and pull handles helped roll these onto the field and position them correctly, then roll them off when finished. This year, we added screws to some of the critical T-connectors to ensure they wouldn't loosen. Sometimes these could make a quarter-mile round-trip from assembly areas, to the field, then back; things could loosen up. Tip: always carry spare hex T-Handles to torque down the screws.

Next season, we need to smooth out the corner wrinkles. The way the bungee cords tension the vinyl caused this loosening at the corners (visible below, upper left). The image shows a slight bowing in of the vertical sides of these frames, we'll probably add a horizontal cross-member (similar to the vertical one) to reinforce this.

Sideline frames in their standing position. The top, though hidden under the vinyl, is EMT connected with hinge connectors.

This cart held 8 sideline frames. Each frame was approximately 4ft x 8ft. Fully loaded, it was over 200lb. Those frames were similar to those above, with vinyl wrapped around and held with bungee cord material; on a smaller scale.

An innovation I came up with on the cart, while not visible in this photo, is two lateral rails underneath acting as a cradle. Those laterals have a length of PVC pipe, which acts as a roller bearing that would freely spin over the EMT. This made loading and unloading each frame much easier. Once loaded, the frames rested on the wooden cross-member over the casters, not on the rollers, leaving the rollers to freely move when the next frame was loaded or unloaded.

Here's the empty cart showing the PVC pipe "cradle"

Thanks to the team at Maker Pipe for personally giving us some ideas on our designs, the huge ideas book, and this community for making this project a success!

Bryan shared this awesome photo from the Mighty Panther Band. They made a gold bird cage out of EMT Conduit and Maker Pipe!

Teressa sent in some great photos of their marching band castle prop! Super Cool!

"Hi, I’m with the visual design team for our daughters’ marching band here in Asheville, NC. Last year we were tasked with building a 30’ wide castle to enhance the marching band show and allow for the grand entrance of a bagpipe player that really wowed the crowd! We planned on using EMT conduit for the structure but couldn’t find a way to connect the conduit the way we hoped until we found your company. What a game changer!!

The marching band participated in local competitions throughout the season and we had band directors from other bands coming over to see how our props were built. We couldn’t say enough about how instrumental your connectors were in making our castle! I’m attaching pictures of last year’s props so you can see what we built.

One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how to put wheels on the frames that would be heavy-duty enough to push the frames on and off the football field quickly. We ended up using your puzzle-piece clamp to attach plywood to the base of the frames and then connected the wheels to the plywood and it worked out perfectly!

This year, we will be designing more amazing props (and I’ll be placing another order for more connectors)"

Thanks to maker pipe for making a difficult concept and build super easy. I had to design and build 5 tiki huts for our Higschool marching band. Then they told me they wanted them to collapse during the show. All being safe for the kids to manage. Also had to be portable to to travel to compotitions. Everyone loved it and were very impressed with the maker pipe product. Oh yeah had to design and build a 40' round 15' tall functioning volcano also. This was a season that the kids will never forget and will be talked about for years to come. Thanks again to makers pipe. #MakerPipeBOTM

I love this product! I have used it to build various things i.e. launch stands for drone racing, shelves for garage etc. I mean is this not cool?