I am looking to create a rectangular tent frame, roughly about six feet
wide, four feet deep, and six feet high. I need the top to be flat.

I was thinking of purchasing tent frame, which I believe is usually narrow
diameter aluminium or plastic tubing, and then connect this tubing with
3-way joints. The joints would need to allow three tubes/poles to connect at
right angles.

The simplest plan would look like a frame of a table: I'd use four poles to
make the roof frame, and another four poles as supports. This structure
would only require four of the 3-way connectors. If this turns out not to be
strong enough, I could add a floor frame with another four poles at the
bottom; this plan would require a total of 12 poles, and 8 of the 3-way
connectors. Should be fairly cheap and easy to make, right?

Well, I spent some time at Home Depot, but I was unable to find any 3-way
right-angle connectors (which I found a bit odd.) I also went to a local
Eastern Mountain Sports, but there too I was unable to find anything. All I
could find were complete kits for tents, none of which allowed for a flat
top, and were of the wrong size. I've done a bit of searching on the web
through Google, but not knowing the precise terminology, my searches turned
up far too many hits. I looked at a couple of dozen sites, but didn't find
anything suitable.

Could someone suggest where I could purchase materials needed to construct
this rather simple frame? (From stores or websites.) Any help would be much
appreciated.



Thanks,

Robert

Robert wrote:
Well, I spent some time at Home Depot, but I was unable to find any 3-way
right-angle connectors (which I found a bit odd.)

There's PVC conduit/piping/tubing in both the plumbing and electrical
departments. The 1/4" and 1/2" in each department is a little different
based on codes for those uses, but if you're just using it to make a frame
for something, you can interchange the parts. (Some may be gray and others
white, but that may not be a problem for you.)

In addition to finding a different collection of joints and connectors in
each department, you'll also notice the long segments cost differently, and
may come with bulb or without bulbs at one end to eliminate connectors.

--
Warren H.

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