For anyone who's interested, i've sketched up what it would take to make a stand like i described. hopefully the drawing will be more clear than my prose. you can see the drawing here:
http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/images/c/c0/Bike-part-stand.jpg
Ingredients:
2 drop handlebars 2 road stems that fit the drop handlebars 2 BMX forks with the dropouts cut off squarely one top or other tube with the same inner diameter as the outer diameter of the BMX forks 2 bmx stems 2 bmx handlebars, approximately the same size as one another. 4 axles with 2 nuts and 2 washers apiece a few old inner tubes.
Tools: drill drill bit slightly larger than the axles wrenches for all nuts and bolts used
Optional: wrap top handlebars with inner tubes to protect frame of bicycle being worked on, and/or bottom handlebars to protect the floor from scratches.