Axe handler guitar stand DIY.

I needed some way to hold my guitar's neck off the ground while I'm working on it, and the Axe handler by Re-axe seemed like the perfect solution. And since it's not available in my country, I decided to make my own.

The model consists of 3 parts: 

A plastic core (printed solid to add weight)

 A silicone mold to encase the plastic core and make it soft, so it doesn't scratch the guitar and also to add some grip so it doesn't slip while holding the guitar.

An optional metal round stock to insert into the plastic core to make it heavier. The metal should be ~20mm diameter and 55-60mm long if you do add it. I used a part of an old stainless screw. The hole in the core is 20.3mm, so choose your stock accordingly. You can glue it in place later with a small amount of silicone, or you can leave it not glued in, the silicone should seep into the hole during casting.

All the models are oriented for printing and the fusion files are provided.

All screws are M3. You'll need 4 nuts, 4 bolts of any length for the two mold halves, and 3 bolts of 12mm to hold the core in place.

While assembling the mold, screw the core into the mold first from one side, leaving 6mm of space between the mold and the core with the screws, and then screw the second half of the mold to the core first, tightening it until all the screws are flush and the mold halves press together. Then screw the mold together with the 4 other bolts and nuts, and tighten the core screws again to make sure it doesn't move in the mold. The screws holding the core are screwed directly into the plastic, so be carefull not to strip the plastic threads.

With the mold assembled, first flush it out with water to make sure the silicone doesn't stick to the mold as much, and then cast the silicone. 200g should be enough, I used ecoflex 00-50, but you can use any silicone, preferably something with low viscosity to minimize the air bubbles.

After the silicone is cured, unscrew all the screws first, take off one half of the mold, then press a screwdriver or an allen key into the core screw holes to push the cast out of the mold. 

Then clean up the model and it's ready for use.

The entire holder should weigh somewhere around 400-500g, pretty close to the original product. It is 38mm instead of 32mm of the original, and as close as I could get with a picture reference (within 1mm). It should fit most if not all guitar necks (even 8 string guitars) and it cost about 200-300CZK (roughly $10-18) including the silicone.