Doll Hanger v2

anon4231 · February 6, 2024, 3:04am

So, my problem is that I’m cheap and don’t want to get a metal doll stand - besides, I’m not sure any of them will fit in my shower anyway.

I actually made one already - see below on the left (the thing on the right is an attempt at something for a doll to lean on while posing - it sucks)

Probably the most glaring issue is that the feet are shorter than the hanging part at the head. It’s just barely stable, but quite frankly, it’s dangerous. I slapped it together in about an hour though, because I was trying to clean out my first doll and I could NOT hold her up in the shower. It’s done what I’ve needed it to… so far.

I decided I could improve the overall design and workmanship though, and improve the safety and usability - on top of the feet being too short, it’s also just a hair too wide for my bathtub and it’s too short to hang my 163cm doll from. Additionally, because I used an eye screw instead of something with built-in swivel, I can’t really rotate my doll (not that I can anyway because it’s not tall enough,) which makes it difficult to wash her.

Design sketch:

(don’t judge my handwriting lol)

Parts list:
(all parts are pressure-treated lumber, since this’ll be used in the shower - probably not the most healthy, but it won’t kill you or your doll lol)
(it might make her feet green with extended contact though )

1x 72" 4x4 (main pillar)
5x 16" 2x6 (top of baseplate)
2x 27" 2x4 (“feet” of baseplate)
2x 24" 2x4 OR 1x 24" 4x4 (top hanging arm - I went with 2x4s because I don’t have a saw that can cut a 4x4 cleanly - a 4x4 would be better looking though)
1x 12" 2x4 (lower brace, will be cut at a 45 degree angle to 8" inside length)
1x 16" 2x4 (upper brace, will be cut at a 45 degree angle to 12" inside length)
4x 4.5" structural screws (to screw into bottom of the main pillar)
4x 8" structural screws (to screw into top of the main pillar) (crap I forgot to get these )
28x #10 3-1/8" rated screws (plus probably 10-12 more if you’re putting together a pair of 2x4s for the top pillar - though now that I think of it, I could probably use Deckmate screws for most of these since they’re not really load-bearing… hmmm)

As you can see, the bottom will be longer than the top, a brace is being added to the bottom (instead of a board tacked on the back of it to hold the pillar in place,) and I’ll be using a swivel hanger (designed for hammocks, IIRC) on the top instead of an eye screw, which will allow me to rotate my doll in place.

I decided to screw around and make some sawdust, and here’s what I came up with:

The central pillar is held im place from the bottom by 4x 4.5" structural screws, which are equivalent to 3/8" lag screws. The other screws used are #10 3-1/8" screws rated for something like 200lbf each. This is probably overengineered, but I don’t know how to do the math so better safe than sorry.

If there’s any flaw in the design, it’s that the screws are largely too close to the edge of the wood - I’ve done what I can to center them (note the line I drew, which is in line with the center of the 2x4s on the bottom,) but it’s definitely a weakness in the design.

The only saving grace is that the baseplate isn’t really going to be subjected to shear or pulling forces for the most part, so they won’t need to handle much load (and thinking about it, it was probably a bit of overkill - I probably could have used Deckmate screws here, which are a hell of a lot cheaper than those GRK ones.)

With that said, the screws probably are of value in the diagonal brace, since that’ll be supplementing the bolts in the bottom of the 4x4 pillar in holding the pulling/cantilever force* it’ll be subjected to when a doll is hanging from it.

I’m done for the evening, but I’ll post the remainder of the project once I get it built. I might even finish it with a nice stain eventually, though I do need to use it sooner rather than later.

* I am not a structural engineer by any means, so I may not be using the correct terms anywhere in this post - hopefully it’s obvious from context though.

poppy70 · February 6, 2024, 5:51am

A big built and all the wood must be heavy and not easy to move.
Interesting and frightening at the same time to have a gallows at home.

anon4231 · February 6, 2024, 6:01am

To be fair, it’ll probably weigh about as much as a doll.

And be a fair bit easier to move since it’s not wobbly like a doll. Not as fun as a doll though.

DollCommander · February 6, 2024, 7:58am

I think you did a great job, both on the hanger and drawings!

anon4231 · February 11, 2024, 4:01am

Okay, it took a few days to get back to it, but I finished the thing with some minor modifications. Amusingly enough, while the problem @poppy70 mentioned (e.g. “it looks like a gallows”) doesn’t bother me, it may bother my neighbors, who would be able to see the silhouette in the window. Hence the towel draped over it in pictures. Guess I need to get a curtain of some sort for the bathroom window.

It stands almost 7 feet tall - 3.5 inches for the top, 5.25 inches for the bottom, 72 inches for the pole in between.

So, the bottom didn’t change, but the design of the top did. See, as I mentioned in my original post, I theoretically needed an 8 inch lag screw/structural screw for the top - 3.5 inches thickness of wood stuck to the top, and the structural screws I have are 4.5 inches. 1 inch worth of screw is not enough to safely attach the wood to the top.

The solution was to cut some 7 inch pieces of wood and stick them to the sides (three screws on top, three screws on bottom, on both sides) to bind the pole to the top. This isn’t ideal, but it’s good enough, especially with the diagonal brace. I grabbed the top and hung from it a bit, and not even a creak or crack out of the structure - considering I weigh 270 pounds, I consider this a success and it’ll be more than sufficient for doll hanging.

I also ended up cutting the top brace a little bit shorter - 20 inches instead of 24 inches. This leaves the end extending out 16.5 inches (3.5 inches are taken up since it’s mounted to the top of the 4x4 post, not the side,) and the hanging hook is about 15 inches out. I did this because I realized that the hook would extend down by a good 5-6 inches or so, which meant that I didn’t need as much length on top to avoid a hanging doll hitting the cross brace. The closer the doll is to the center of the structure (very roughly speaking,) the more stable it’ll be when a doll is hanging from it and you’re manipulating the limbs while washing/powdering/etc.

The weakest point in the whole thing is where I hung the hook swivel. Itself, it’s rated for something like 500 pounds, but it’s being held in place by two screws and some washers I dug up. Ultimately, I want to replace these with proper structural screws, especially since they’ve got nice wide heads that’ll avoid the need for washers.

Overall, I’d say this project is a success even with the changes I had to make if I didn’t want to make another trip to the hardware store. The planks on the side holding it together aren’t ideal - stress parallel with the grain of wood is a weaker connection than stress perpendicular to the grain. I still want to supplement it with a structural screw through the top (incidentally, parallel stress is one of a few reasons 1 inch penetration won’t be sufficient,) but it’s probably fine as it is considering the use.

Hopefully this design inspires someone else to do something similar if they find it useful.

A couple of things I might do differently if I make a v3:

Make it out of nicer wood - the post and the boards were pretty sappy and cracked, and I could’ve done better choosing them. I could probably get away with making it out of untreated wood, as long as I put some sort of waterproof top coat on it. Maybe consider some red cedar, since it’s a naturally rot-resistant wood. It should also be fairly close in strength to your average pine lumber.
Sand it down and stain it a nice color. I’d have to do this if I were going to waterproof it anyway. I could technically do this with what I have, but it’s more difficult to do once it’s all assembled (and treated wood doesn’t really take stain too well 'til it’s a year old or so, and has dried out significantly)
Possibly put some separation between the boards on the bottom. This is a mixed blessing. The weight of the base helps lower the center of gravity a bit, which should make it more stable with a doll hanging from it. On the other hand, the damn thing’s heavy. Separating the boards will help drain water off the base though.
Consider doing some joinery - possibly a moritse and through-tenon on the top. This is a fuckton of work, but it looks nicer and is significantly stronger than a butt joint like I did - I could possibly leave out the diagonal brace on the top entirely, but I’d want to do some research to see how much strength this actually gives since it’d probably still be weaker than screws. Same for the bottom, though I’d probably leave the diagonal brace down there.