Hand Pump Stand

[Coop]

This isn’t fine woodworking by any means but since some of you have been instrumental in moisture prevention for me, so I thought I would start something. I have an old water hand pump that sits on a stand that recirculates water going to an old watering through that serves as a small pond. The water pump needs replacing and the pond cleaning so I thought that I would replace the old pump stand as well. It was originally going to be built from treated lumber and painted and I was politely admonished for painting wet treated lumber so I changed courses. The corner posts are made from pine with the ends painted with epoxy. The design will replicate my recently built mailbox holder and plant stand.

The pine 4x4’s cut to length, design and the ends soaked with epoxy.

 

Next to prime paint all surfaces. 

[Mark J]

It's hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like parts of some of the ends are still uncovered?

[Von]

On 3/11/2026 at 10:21 PM, Coop said:

The design will replicate my recently built mailbox holder and plant stand.

I like this style of mailbox holder and building one is on my someday list. Did you build to a plan or wing it? TIA

[Coop]

On 3/12/2026 at 7:15 AM, Mark J said:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like parts of some of the ends are still uncovered?

The portions of the legs uncovered will be “trimmed “ back later and more epoxy will be added to the exposed end. 
 

 

On 3/12/2026 at 7:15 AM, Von said:

I like this style of mailbox holder and building one is on my someday list. Did you build to a plan or wing it? TIA

I had seen a similar one in another section of town and took a pic and built it from the pic. 

[Coop]

I’ve had a change of plans. This is the leg design that I was going for, like that of the planter. This is the underside of the planter.

The stand and pump are surrounded by the pond and plants on three sides so I’ll bring the legs straight down to save on labor and will make it more stable.

[Coop]

 

I cut the upper and lower 2x4 braces to length and then primed and painted, er uh, applied India Ink to all surfaces and attached the braces to the legs.

Today I went to Lowe’s for the best/cheapest side boards. I found their cedar 5.5” x 8’ pickets to be only 1/8” thinner than their dimensional 1x6 lumber at 1/3 the price and bought them along with the one 6”x8’ corral board for the top. I’ve spent the last 3 hours cutting the 56 cedar boards to length at the chop saw.

[Coop]

When applying a finish to both sides of a board, I use painters points and especially liKe Rockler’s Bench Cookies with their points that snap in place. At times, with a project containing many parts, I’ve had to improvise by using small strips of wood. With this stand, I decided to do something that I should have done before. I bought the straightest 2x4 that I could find and ripped two 90* pieces from it. 

And that was almost not long enough for all of the slats.

 

[Beechwood Chip]

I've used "Painters Pyramids", and when those aren't available, I'll just drive some nails through a board and set it down with the points pointing up.

Those triangular strips are a great idea for supporting a bunch of pieces. 

[Coop]

I use this for small parts. 

[Von]

 

On 3/16/2026 at 8:31 PM, Coop said:

When applying a finish to both sides of a board, I use painters points and especially liKe Rockler’s Bench Cookies with their points that snap in place. At times, with a project containing many parts, I’ve had to improvise by using small strips of wood. With this stand, I decided to do something that I should have done before. I bought the straightest 2x4 that I could find and ripped two 90* pieces from it. 

I've used pieces of 90 degree angled aluminum in similar situations.

For odd-shaped things, I use a piece of pegboard held upright by a hand clamp, with pegboard hooks and wire.

 

[Coop]

Out with the old.

 

And in with the new.

[roughsawn]

That's neat, Coop. Nice job.

[wtnhighlander]

That makes for a slick little fountain, @Coop! Taking inspiration from the mail box was a good call.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Nice work @Coop!

 

Might need a rubber ducky in it though!

[Chet]

On 3/23/2026 at 8:52 AM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

Nice work @Coop!

 

Might need a rubber ducky in it though!

All the rubber ducks are in his bath tub.

[pkinneb]

Nice! That looks awesome!

[fcschoenthal]

That's a huge difference. It looks great.