Building a Coat Rack Using Wood Dowels
Wood dowels are an excellent, inexpensive way to create your own customized coat rack for your home. The rack would be made of a long board with a series of pegs, made from wood dowels. The materials you will need to create this hanging rack include: wood dowels, a board that is the length you would like the rack to be, wood glue, a wood drill, a small saw to cut through the wood dowels, a measuring tape, and a marking pencil. Wood dowels are long pieces of cylindrical wood that come in a variety of lengths and widths. The thicker the wood dowels, the stronger they will be; therefore, for this item, it is wise to select thicker-sized wood dowels. Thicker wood dowels will allow you to hang weightier items, such as heavy winter coats, on the pegs without them splintering or breaking off altogether. You can usually find wood dowels for purchase at any store that sells hardware supplies. The first step you should complete in constructing the rack is to use the drill to place a series of holes in the long board. Begin by placing the long board on a hard surface that will not be damaged by the drill.
Next, select a drill bit that is the exact size of the width of the wood dowels you have and attach it to the drill. When drilling, place the holes several inches apart; preferably, the holes would be approximately six inches apart from each other. The next step you will take is to cut the wood dowels into several equal pieces; these will be used as the pegs on the rack. When deciding on how long each piece of the wood dowels will be, it is crucial that you take into consideration the width of the long board you are using as the base of the rack. For example, if you are using a two-by-four piece of wood, you will probably want to cut the wood dowels into pieces that are at least three inches long. This would allow you to slide the pegs into the board, and still have at least one inch remaining exposed, on which you would be able to hang the coats. Once you have decided how long you want each piece of the wood dowels to be, use your measuring tape and pencil to mark the wood dowels in exactly equal pieces; then use the saw to cut at each marking.
The final step is to assemble all of the pieces together, but before you do that, make sure you thoroughly read the directions on your wood glue. Using wood glue for creating a strong hold usually requires that the glue sets, undisturbed, for a few hours. Once you know how long to let the glue dry, drop a small amount of the glue into each of the holes on the long board, and apply a thin layer of glue on the end of each of the cut wood dowels. Then, firmly press each of the pieces of the wood dowels into each of the holes. Your coat rack, made of common wood dowels, will then be ready for you to hang on the wall once your glue has set and dried.