Do it yourself making Stilts from electrical conduit

Do it yourself making Stilts from electrical conduit.

Do it yourself project making stilts from electrical conduit. This is a fun little do it yourself project to do with the kids.  It does require the use of power tools.  This is a big plus for you Tim Taylor types out there. Stilts have been a stable toy around my house for years. It does take a little time and practice to get the hang of them though.

First go to Lowe's and get some conduit. Pick a size the will hold your stilt walker up. We use one inch normally. It comes in ten foot sticks, so two sticks will probably be enough. Now drive home with it sticking out the window, or hack saw it in half in the parking lot to fit it in the trunk. Before you hack saw the conduit into pieces consider about how long the main part of your stilts need to be.

Measure how tall you want your main body or stilt handles to be. We normally cut them to five feet just because that is the middle of a stick. Once the kids get a little older and taller you have start measuring from the floor to the top of shoulder the stilt handle has to be longer than that measured from the foot peg to the top of the handle. That is to say when the kid stands on the foot peg the handle should extend out from the back of his under arm above his shoulder.

The next step is cutting the foot peg pieces to length. Bending the conduit before you cut it is a good idea because it gives you better leverage. Bend it to a gently curved ninety degree angle with about six inches of conduit for the peg and six inches to mount. You need two of these.

Test fit where you will mount the foot pegs. Mount them about a foot from the bottom of the handle. Once you have made sure the bend is good and will mount to the handle. Mark the position on the handles for later reference. Drill two or three hole in the part of the foot peg that will be attached to the handle. Then put the foot peg back on you measured and pre marked position Take nail or marker and mark the drilled holes onto the handle so when it is drilled it will match up. Now drill the holes in the handle.

Once the holes are all drilled, bolt the foot pegs to the handles. Duct tape around all the bolts and the top of the conduit to cover any sharp spots. Sometimes we duct tape the foot pegs for traction.