Building a Custom Flat Screen Stand
The problem with using a Flat Screen TV with a standard TV stand is that most stands designed for older CRT TVs are intended to support something with a wide, flat base. Flat screen TVs don’t have a wide stand, and they sort of just sit in one of those stands precariously, requiring lots of additional bungee cords or Velcro straps to avoid having them fall over, since the center of gravity of the flat screen is much higher than a CRT TV. They do make stands intended for use with flat screens, but it requires removing the base stand of the TV and attaching a flat metal plate with a permanent arm with four screws to the back of the TV. You either have to find a way to carry the TV with the attachment (way too awkward) or remove and replace the four screws every single time you put it in and out of the carrying case. Not very desirable if you want a quick setup time.
The answer is to modify a stand intended for a small mixer. The one I got has an adjustable width slightly larger than the width of the TV, with brackets nearly two inches wide at the sides – more than enough to secure the TV. Unfortunately, the pegs at the bottom only were about an inch long, and because of the slanted design of the bottom of the TV, it was in severe danger of slipping right off the stand if jostled (a regular occurrence in most shows!)
The easiest way to do that was to get some 1 ½ inch aluminum angle stock from a warehouse, along with a length of 1 ½ inch flat stock. One 4 foot piece of each was more than enough to complete the project. Cut two pieces of angle stock long enough to reach slightly wider than the mixer stand when it’s set for the width of the TV. Then cut 3 pieces of flat stock just under 3 inches long. Drill four holes, diagonally opposed on each piece of stock. If you clamp all three pieces together and drill them at once, then use one piece as a template to drill matching holes in the angle stock, you end up with three pieces which will be interchangeable if you need to disassemble & re-assemble at any point. If you want to be fancy, use a countersink to drill the holes in the angle stock & use flat-head screws to fasten things together. Make sure to use screws that are only long enough to go through two pieces of stock, a lock washer, and a nut. That way you don’t have protruding screws at the bottom to catch on things. Also make sure to file all the sharp edges left from saw cuts so you have smooth edges.
Now you have a tray about 19” long, 3 inches wide, and 1 ½ inches deep to rest on the bottom pegs of the mixer stand which will keep the TV from slipping off. I used Velcro on the back edge of the tray to secure it to the side arms of the mixer stand, and two long straps of double-sided Velcro at the top and bottom edges of the TV to secure it to the stand. Small pieces of adhesive-backed Velcro on the back side of the stand arms provide a place for the long Velcro straps to anchor.
Depending on the physical design of your flat screen, you
might find it useful to get a right-angle RCA adapter to put on the Video input
jack to keep the cable from poking against the stand brackets. Mine’s a Vizio, and it definitely comes in
handy.
And there you have a really nice custom monitor stand which can be set up with the TV when you’re traveling in about 90 seconds!
