I was hoping this was a post to tell where to get them cheap! LOL. I went to Home Depot this weekend and found them and they were $4.61!! I put them back and was hoping to find them for less elsewhere. Now I'm not so sure I will.
Maybe someone will post with an alternative they used that was inexpensive and still sturdy.

I've found the same thing, and the ridiculous prices of elbows kept me from making my trellis from conduit - they would double the price of the trellis, for a foot of pipe!

I did try a pipe bender on conduit, but it was too strong to do by hand, and I considered pvc elbows (still not cheap), but could not see a turnkey way to mate them well.

After considering using 2x2 to join the top of my conduit, I wound up just building trellises from the 2x2's.

I bought conduit and elbows today at Lowes. There were two kinds of elbows. One kind had square corners and was over $5 each. The other kind had a sloped removable corner plate for pulling wire through, and they were $3.34 each.

I'm going to use 2x4 to join my trellises at the top. Put a hole through it and pass the pipe through before joining the corners.

I bought 3/4 inch conduit and elbows, by the way. I wasn't sure what size most folks were using. The one inch size was much heavier, but I thought it was overkill. The 1/2 inch size seemed like it would work, but I wasn't too sure so I went with 3/4 inch, which seems pretty stout.

for the corners, find someone with a conduit bender, maybe on craigslist or a tradesman friend... the elbows will never be a solid joint.... they arent meant to hold weight, they have very little strength under load.

I was referring to just 6" sections of conduit with a 90 deg curve in them, that would be joined with straight connectors, tightened with a screw. Are those also not capable of bearing a load?

I'm putting a trellis along an 8 foot long section of my bed, which is raised 15 inches off ground level. My plan is to pound 4 foot sections of rebar two feet into the ground, then slip the conduit over that.

With 10 foot conduit sections, that will put the top of my trellis 8 feet 9 inches above bed level. Maybe that is too high? I'm growing okra as well as indeterminant tomatoes. Anyway, I could cut the risers shorter if it seems too high.

I have to connect the two risers on each end with a cross piece to form the horizontal support, and that is why I bought the corner connectors. Since my horizontal span is 8 feet, I figured I'd build a 2x4 vertical support at the four foot mark half-way between the ends. If that support and the corner fittings won't hold the weight of an 8 foot horizontal section loaded down with tomato vines, then I'll take those parts back to the store and try something else.

If you bend 3/4 inch conduit to avoid the corner connectors, wouldn't you still have to use a straight connector to join the bent horizontal section to the verticals?

It occurs to me that 1/2 inch conduit for the top section might work better since I'm using 3/4 inch for the risers. Then I could bend the end of the 1/2 inch conduit and (hopefully) stick it in the end of the 3/4 inch risers.

I also thought of using 2x4 for the entire horizontal section. Drill a hole at each end for the pipe to go through, put a clamp on the conduit near the top to keep the 2x4 from sliding down.

PVC pipe-covered rebar with welded 90 corners to slip into the risers might work too.

I'm building my trellis today, one way or the other.

I also went home empty handed after seeing the $5 price tag on the corners. The next day I went back and paid it. I went to Lowes and had to look long and hard in the conduit section for them, first I found one in the wrong place and then I found the rest buried under other stuff. They are easy to put together, they look nice and I don't have to spend it again unless I expand (and I will). If you can find them it's just easy.

The cost of parts strongly influenced my design of my new home SFG trellis. It's not the prettiest the thing to look at, but it does seem strong and would be easily adjustable if I would drill additional holes along the vertical supports...

Here is a link that might be useful: Supporting my Tomatoes: The Belt and Suspenders Approach

joe_blowe that trellis of yours looks good to me. It also looks quite strong. I wish I'd have thought of that, but now I'm committed to my all-conduit approach. I've already pounded in my rebar stakes and cut my pipe to length. Pics later today.

I used the conduit approach also. Yes, the elbows are exspensive, but they work great.
I had the same reaction you all did..."What!!!These little elbow pieces are twice as much as a 10' section of the pipe!!!"
They are in fact quite strong. My second year using the trellis with no problems.
I spray painted my conduit trellis with a textured spray paint and they turned out really nice.

Promised pics of my trellis, which is 90% done, in this other thread Built my trellis today. It was pretty easy to build, and I think it'll do the trick.