I have an assortment of light modifiers for my studio strobes and speedlights, including a variety of different-sized umbrellas. Because more often than not they would end up on the floor in a pile that was just begging to be stepped on, I decided to bring by woodworking skills into play and build a caddy that would hold the umbrellas and other tall, thin equipment at the ready, while keeping them off the floor and away from clumsy feet.
I cut two pieces of plywood approximately 16 inches square, and glues them together at right angles using yellow wood glue. If you want to strengthen the joint with angle brackets, you are more then welcome to do so. I used rabbeted joints which prove to be very strong.
While the wood was drying, I cut 1.5" tall rings from a length of 3" PVC pipe. I sanded all the edges of the PVC rings smooth using fine grit sandpaper.
Using special PVC cement designed specifically for use with this pipe, I glued all the rings together in the arrangement shown below and clamped them using a band clamp, which clamped all the pieces together at one time.
Let the PVC stay clamped according to the directions on the cement container. When the cement had fully set, I sprayed the rings with a couple of light coats of white spray paint, to cover the mess that the purple PVC cement had left behind.
When the wood was fully dried, I sanded it with fine grit sandpaper and stained it, then covered it with several coats of polyurethane. Because I never do things only half-way, I used 2 coats of cherry stain, and 4 coats of polyurethane, lightly sanding between coats to give it a very smooth finish. Does this matter? No. But it's a curse that I make myself do things like this.
When the polyurethane was dry, I attached the set of rings to the vertical piece of plywood using screws and nuts, with washers on the back side.
When in use, the caddy keeps umbrellas, monopods, and any other tall, thin equipment out of the way and standing at the ready, whenever they are in need.