Light, small, retractable pole.

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Eamonn

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Hi,

I'm looking for something that is light, as small as possible and can be mounted to a seat or bench,.. but is an extendable/retractable pole. Something that I can attach a shop vac extraction hose to, so that the hose can be held at shoulder height, rather than dangling down on to the floor.

Something to take the weight of the hose... and maybe an electricity extension cord from time to time.

Does anyone use/have something like that in their workshop? Or know of something from some other part of life... society... the world, that would fit this function?

I don't mind having to make a simple mounting for it. As long the "device" is robust ish and retractable.
 
broom handle? length of dowel?
Or if retractable then a walking pole?
 
Last edited:
Just thinking outside the box and possibly a daft suggestion but would a fishing rod work? It's light, extendable and flexible but strong.
 
Also look at the gear used by photographers and film crews to hold up lights and backdrops. It floats through ebay often enough. The pro grade stuff is very durable. Manfrotto and maybe Calumet are names to start with. Telescopic alloy poles and clamps are part of the toolkit.
 
Thanks for the replies. I should have added, if it can retract down to 300 - 500mm or so, would be great.
 
Just thinking outside the box and possibly a daft suggestion but would a fishing rod work? It's light, extendable and flexible but strong.
Not in this instance because I would like it to be small when retracted...

Thanks for the replies. I should have added, if it can retract down to 300 - 500mm or so, would be great.
 
Just thinking outside the box and possibly a daft suggestion but would a fishing rod work? It's light, extendable and flexible but strong.
Hold on. They have fishing rods now that, collapse down to 300mm? Can they be locked of at different heights?
 
Yeah that, but retractable down to a smaller size,
So it sounds like you need a 3 or 4 part telescopic pole. Maybe a monoped, search for monopod for camera, some are carbon fibre £200 jobs with fancy heads but basic ones can be found for £10 to £20. If you are a photographer and have a tripod, unscrew one leg and try it out.
 
I had a similar requirement and originally set up a couple of broom handles with clamps that allowed some vertical adjustment for supporting backgrounds and lighting on my "tabletop studio". That worked, but not well enough. I am a keen amateur photographer and had a few lighting stands that I never use. The tripod legs just take up too much room in my home studio.

The solution was to remove the legs completely and mount the "pole" in 3D printed clamps to suit. The attached photos illustrate this. It is possible to buy a pair of stands for around £25 nowadays and I expect that they would be fine for the task. See these on Amazon

I hope this gives you some ideas.
 

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Hi,

I'm looking for something that is light, as small as possible and can be mounted to a seat or bench,.. but is an extendable/retractable pole. Something that I can attach a shop vac extraction hose to, so that the hose can be held at shoulder height, rather than dangling down on to the floor.

Something to take the weight of the hose... and maybe an electricity extension cord from time to time.

Does anyone use/have something like that in their workshop? Or know of something from some other part of life... society... the world, that would fit this function?

I don't mind having to make a simple mounting for it. As long the "device" is robust ish and retractable.
How about a retractable ceiling mount?
 

Attachments

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