GE 7.5ft Monster Flake Mount

thingiverse

I made this mount to help support my Gilbert Engineering 7.5ft Monster Flake. The design consists of a center mount, which straddles the first 2 rings of pixels. It provides for a 1/2" PVC support pipe. Then there are arm bases which also accommodate 1/2" PVC. I printed enough for 3 sets of arm supports, but ended up only using 2 per arm (1 at outside end and 1 half way to center). You will have to drill holes for zip ties to secure to the flake. Next I used 1/2" PVC pipe vertically to a 90deg adapter on the outer edge, T in the middle, and a 3d printed center support. I used 1/2" PVC to 1/2" EMT bushings that can be found at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3901150. The center support allows for the EMT going across all 6 legs and has a 1/2" PVC to connect to the mount on the flake. I ran 1 full length EMT pipe and then (4) half length to support the other arms. I used 10-24 x 1.5" machine screws/nuts to secure everything in the PVC and some #8x1/2" metal screws on the outer 90deg PVC through the EMT. Just a note that the EMT 6 way should be flipped so the PVC stem faces upwards to eliminate the need for support. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The center mount had 1 hole that did not line up and I had to file it a bit to get the pixel in (holes in prop were not exactly at 60deg). Since this is going on my roof, I created a PVC base to help prop it up a bit for better viewing. I utilized PVC fittings with the EMT bushings to create it. It feels pretty stable. Hopefully I can secure it well enough so it doesn't fly off with the wind. It's big.