Supporting arch while putting lights on

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I've been having some trouble with putting the lights on my leaping arches, because when you get nearly done, you can't really hold it up in the middle, or prop it up, without tearing up the lights. So it sags very badly and makes it difficult to spin with the drill, because the person holding the drill has to hold the weight and try to keep it from sagging too bad.

I found an easy way to support the pipe from the inside. I use a 10' piece of rebar with an avil sitting on one end on my work bench. Then I slid the pipe up on the rebar, and it supports the pipe very well and allows it to spin freely.

It's too cold out there to take a pictue right now, my camera keeps fogging up. So here's a cheap drawing to help explain it.
 

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Great idea with the re-bar. I too had a bit of sagging.

I slid a ~1/2 grounding rod (~9 ft) inside my electrical PVC pipe (10 ft) and placed roller wheels (2 wheel on each side) clamped to workbench to support ends. Grounding rod gave the PVC extra stiffness... the wheels made turning the PVC smooth. Once done, tilted PVC down... rod slid out ready for next one.

I will send pictures once I get out and take them.
 
Good idea if you have a spare anvil laying around. haha. Seriously. Good idea. I happened to have 10 ft of 1/2 inch metal conduit that I slid through the middle of the pvc. It also makes for easy storing hanging from the ceiling. Getting near the end on the 8th strand is tricky for me as well.
 
JEEPGUY said:
Good idea if you have a spare anvil laying around. haha. Seriously. Good idea. I happened to have 10 ft of 1/2 inch metal conduit that I slid through the middle of the pvc. It also makes for easy storing hanging from the ceiling. Getting near the end on the 8th strand is tricky for me as well.
Click to expand...


:D Yep a spare anvil is always a handy thing. I traded a John Deere riding lawnmower for this thing. It weighs 100 pounds, and it the real thing, not some cheap piece of junk. It's old and a little rough, but still gets the job done.

But really, if I didn't have an anvil, I would have used a clamp, or a bag of rocks, or I would have drilled 2 holes in the bench and bolted a 2x4 or a piece of metal across the rebar.

I hope this helps someone else with the same problem.
 
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