Alright folks, so I got this old volleyball stand my granddad built years ago. Solid maple, you know? Thing’s been through it. Today was the day I finally tackled fixing that wobbly monster.

First off, I dragged it out of the garage corner where it was hiding under a dusty tarp. Man, it looked worse than I remembered. The main horizontal beam where you hang the net? Yeah, that bit. Ends were splitting right open, looked like it got chewed by a beaver or something. Whole thing leaned to the side like it was half-asleep. I’m thinking to myself, “Man, this needs serious help, but gotta keep the maple.”

So, I rounded up my tools. Nothing fancy:

• The half-decent workbench clamp
• Wood glue bottle that wasn’t entirely hardened
• Random screws and bolts from my granddad’s rusty coffee can stash
• My trusty (and slightly blunt) saw
• Sandpaper rougher than my morning stubble
• Couple of those metal angle brackets leftover from assembling cheap furniture ages ago

The Messy Part

Started by clamping the split beam back together. Had to wrestle the wood, I tell ya. Maple’s tough. Got glue smeared everywhere – fingers, tools, workbench. Pretty sure the cat got some in his fur later. Left that clamped up tighter than my jeans after Thanksgiving dinner while the glue set up. Took hours, drank way too much coffee.

While that glue dried hard, I eyeballed how crooked the whole stand was. Needed to shorten one of the legs to level it out. Grabbed the saw and took a couple attempts – cut a bit off, stand it up on the driveway, squint at it, cut a bit more off. Yeah, it’s not perfect, but good enough for backyard volleyball! Sanded the rough cuts and the glue squeeze-out spots. Sawdust city. Made a mental note to breathe less next time.

Then came the bracing. The wobbly base needed muscle. That old coffee can yielded some serious bolts and nuts. Threw those metal angle brackets on like emergency band-aids, bolting them into the legs and the now-solid main beam. Drilled the holes myself – wood shavings flying everywhere. Tightened everything down as hard as I could without snapping the bolts. Wiped sweat, mumbled about “structural integrity.”

Final Check and… Victory?

Unclamped the beam. Glue held strong! Stood the whole repaired monstrosity back up in the yard. Gave it a solid shove. You know what? It stood its ground! Had a tiny wobble left – let’s call it character, yeah? But nothing like the death wobble before. Slung the old net back on there.

So yeah. Fixed the maple volleyball stand. It ain’t winning design awards. Got glue stains, the patina is shot to hell, and my cutting job was… enthusiastic. But it works! Saved the old wood. Feels good to beat the wobble. Ready for some shaky net action!