How to Build Your Pop Diva Her Own Stage

Welcome
In this instructable my daughter, Holly, and I will demonstrate how to build a very nice, fully functional, miniature stage for wanna-be pop-stars. The cost of this stage only $35, with almost no wasted materials. The size of the stage is totally up to you it can easily be made into larger and/or modular sections.

Background

Every couple of years we, the wife and I, change the theme in our children's bedrooms. Holly is now into the DIVA Pop-star theme. My over all goal is to transform her room in to a mini-Pop-star club.

I thought it would be a good idea to have a stage for her to stand on while performing. In order to do this and save money it was important to utilize current assets. For instance my first plan was to use her computer as a Karaoke machine, while utilizing her PC camera to make her own sing along pop video. I did find free Karaoke software but finding quality music was difficult. We just went with a karaoke machine to save ourselves all of the other trouble. It came with one microphone, but I bought her a microphone and stand that would plug into the machine. Now both she and a friend can sing together.

I have many more upgrades to add to her room but this is the first of the projects that I have built. So of course I had to make an instructable for everyone else so they can build their own version. I really hope this will inspire others to build their own or create some kind of spin-off idea.

Lets get started.

The only thing missing from this instructable is a picture or video of her actually using it, which I hope to get really soon, so hang it there.

List of Materials

(1) Pallet

(1) 4x8 sheet of chipboard of plywood

(1) box of lament, flooring

(1) box of deck screws

(2) tubes of construction adhesive

Tools

Table saw or circular saw

T-Square

Measuring tape

Caulking gun

2 Saw Horses

Screw Gun

Drill Bit

Before we can get started we need to prepare the pallet by countersinking all of the nail heads.

1. Set your pallet on the saw horses.

2. Use your hammer and pound any nails flush with the wood.

3. Look for any stray nails sticking out and either pound them down or cut them off

4. Trim off any of the board edges that are not flush on the sides or corners, so no odd boards are sticking out. I used my circular saw for this.

5. Check each board to see if they need anymore fasteners installed to keep the pallet ridged.

Go to the next step

In this step we will create the deck of the stage.

In order to make it easy on my back, because the chipboard is heavy, I cut the sheet of chipboard in half, creating two 4 x 4 sheets to work with.

Next I laid one of the 4 x 4 chipboard on the saw horses

Then I laid the pallet upside down on the chipboard

Using the frame of the pallet itself I drew a line across the chipboard creating a cut line. This will create a smooth edge with no over hang when I mount the board to the pallet

Now cut off the excess chipboard by cutting down you cut line.

After you have done this; next place the other 4 x 4 sheet of chipboard underneath the one you just cut. Square up the edges of the larger sheet with the smaller sheet. Using a pencil and the edge of the smaller sheet drawn a line a new cut line on the lager sheet.

Finally cut the larger sheet on the cut line. Since I used a circular saw I used a straight edge board clamped to the larger sheet to help keep the cut straight. you can see this in the other pictures.

Lets move on to the next step.

Make sure you pallet is right side up, in the prior step we had the pallet upside down to create cut lines.

Now that you have two pieces of chipboard sized to match the top of the pallet place BOTH of them on top of the pallet. Square them to the pallet so all of the edges are flush.

Pick one corner to start working from. Using you drill create a pilot hole for the first screw. Drill through both pieces of chipboard and into the pallet. This will help to keep the wood from splitting.

Next, using your drill/ screw gun drive your screw through the pilot hole through both layers of chipboard and into the pallet.

Follow the same steps for each corner your screws should go through to and into the pallet frame boards/ribs.

Now continue the same procedure for each of the three ribs in the pallet. I put one screw through each of the cross planks and down the center of the pallet as well.

It's time to get the floor ready.

Remove the panels from the box and lay them out on top of your work area.

Snap the panels together and square up two sides of the panels to two sides of the pallets.

Next draw a cut line on bottom side of the panels of the over hanging areas.

Now, flip the panels over and use your saw to make the cut on the cut line. All of your panels should come out squared and flush to the edge of the pallet. See the last picture below.

Time for the fun part! Gluing it!

I use Loctite Power Grab for my construction projects, because it works as advertised. You can use other construction adhesives though, I suppose any will do.

You may look at these pictures and think "wow that is a lot of glue" and you would be right. I wanted to make sure that the floor didn't ever come loose and I really didn't want tot have any extra glue left over. I just don't like having pre-opened tubes in storage, they are a pain to use again later, not to mention messy. So I used all of my glue on this project, but not all of it on this step, so make sure you save some for the final steps.

Put a good coat of glue down

Place your first panel along the front edged, make sure everything is squared and flush to all three sides.

NOTE*** My flooring is a tongue and groove friction snap type so I had to insert the tongue into the groove at a steep angle so I had to take my time when assembling the flooring.

Next start snapping your other panels in place. Be careful to create flush edges before you lay the panels down; you will have a heck of a time trying to pull them back up.

After I had all of my panels in place I started off by using a rolling pin, see pic four below, to apply even pressure on the panels to help spread the glue underneath the panels.

Once I was finished with the rolling pin I put the stage on the floor and walked gently around the stage to help push the flooring down even more.

When I was finally finished walking on the stage I put the stage back on the saw horses.

Let's move on to the next step.

Install the side trim pieces .

You should have enough material, laminate and chipboard, left over to install on the front and rear of the stage. The side of the stage will only need laminate.

Position the trim on the sides and mark cut lines if necessary. Then cut your panels to fit.

Cut all of your panels before gluing. I recommend cutting your side panels first and then cutting the front and back panels. This way your front and rear panels will overlap the side panels edges. This creates a cleaner look to the stage.

Once you have all of your panels cut then glue them and install the side pieces first and then the front and rear pieces.

NOTE*** You don't have to create a rear panel, since no one is going to see if it up against a wall. However, if it is going to be in the center of a room you may want to install the rear trim anyway.

This stage is SOLID and HEAVY so be careful when lifting it. It took both my wife and I to get it up the stairs.

As I had stated earlier this is a stand alone stage or you can make it modular. If you built a lot of these stages you could push them together to make a larger one. It all depends on your needs and the size of the room.

There is one final touch I could add to the stage and that is to put a piece of trim around the edges. The reason I haven't is because I thought my daughter and her friends might trip on it. I am still debating whether or not to install it. It still looks good with out it though.

See the pic below to look at the edges.

I certainly hope that you have enjoyed this instructable. I am working on more theme items to go into her room. I already have the background idea for the wall be hind the stage. That will be another instructable though :)

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome, as long as they are respectable and constructive.

Thanks for reading this instructable