A Quick and Easy Fez Stand

For a long time now I have been in search of a good display solution for our fezzes. We get lots of comments from our collectors about running out of places to stow their fezzes and I have been on the hunt for a sturdy, simple and reasonably inexpensive option for people to assemble on their own. I think I have finally figured it out.

Make a quick and easy fez display stand for under $15

How easy? You just need 3 parts and a drill.

First the goods:

I wanted a good sturdy base for this project. Sure the fez doesn't weigh much but you don't want the stand knocking over every time you go to pick up your fez. I found the perfect solution in a desktop mic stand. Long time readers might remember my post about the parts I used to make the fez displays we use in our booth, so this shouldn't be too surprising here. I was rather impressed with the quality of this stand. The base is solid, the chrome goose neck is flexible and stylish, and even has the course style thread we need for this project so no adapters are required. In fact there is an adapter that comes with the stand that we don't need to use.

   5" Stainless Steel Bowl from IKEA $2.99

Now we need something to support the fez. I wanted to find something that would look nice when the fez was elsewhere and if we could add a little extra function to it then all the better. Cost was also a key concern as this part would spend most of its time covered up.

My hand-made solution used for our booth at the cons included slots to hang extra tassels from, but that involved some extra finishing steps. This way we avoid the extra bits of hand finishing and we add the basic benefit of having a place to stow small items in the bowl. You could hide extra keys in there or have a safe place to stow cuff links. Hell, you could toss a handful of coffee beans in there and make your fez smell like a barista.

You actually have a few options here as long as you can drill a hole in the bottom of the bowl. For a few dollars more, IKEA has a bamboo bowl that would work just as well although you may have to countersink the hole a bit to get everything to bolt together.

5" is the perfect size for a Tall Fez but if you are making the stand for a Low Profile Fez you can actually go up to a 6" bowl. Obviously, you will want' to look for a material that you can drill a hole in and that can stand up to a little abuse. You don't want the bowl to crack if you knock into it.

If you want to display chapeaux, the 5" bowl is a little snug for a Small but works great for Medium and Large. You could always take some pliers to the bowl and bend it into a teardrop shape to better accommodate the Chapeau.

Now we just need something to hold it all together.

A 3/8-16 cap nut will do the trick nicely. if you want to get fancy you could add a rubber washer or something to help grip the bowl against the metal neck. It's not required but I made a quick one from a thin scrap of rubber padding left over from lining a tool drawer. It functions as a sort of gasket which means my bowl is water tight again... for no benefit really.

Tools and Assembly:

So you're going to need a drill for this. I assume you can manage to track one of those down. Ideally a drill press would be used for this but a hand drill will be fine as long as you are careful. Obviously your safety is your concern. Wear gloves and be damn sure to wear eye protection. This is especially important if you are using the metal bowl. Speaking of which, in a perfect world you would have the correct bit for drilling sheet metal, this is what step drills are made for.

Mark the center of the bowl for the hole placement and drill a 3/8" hole in the bottom.

You may want to sand the edges of the hole a bit to remove any sharp edges but in reality this part is going to be completely covered by the cap nut anyway.

Take the goose neck and screw it into the base using the fine threaded end with the 3/8 course thread sticking up. 

Drop the bowl on top of the threaded end along with any washers you opted for and cap it off with the nut.

I just finger tightened the nut on mine but if you want to get crazy you could use a socket set to really lock it down.

Now if you add shipping to the mix you will likely spend more than $15 for the stand, especially if you are only buying parts to make one. However if you spread the shipping over multiple stands you can get that below $20 per stand. The cap nuts can likely be found at your local hardware store -- heck, you could just use the adapter that came with the stand in place of the nut -- and you can replace the bowls with something cheaper and less durable if you prefer.

If you do decide to make one of these fez stands or even one of your own design, please share your photos. I would love to see what people are doing to display their fezzes. I have supplies to make about a dozen of these and I plan to give them away as prizes for upcoming photo challenges.

Be sure to follow me on the social networks so you don't miss the chance to get one for free!