DIY Clothes Drying Rack

What you will need:

• Meranti – 22×22 – 9m (I suggest buy it in lengths of 2.4m – easier to handle).
• 10mm dowels… depends on the number of hanger rails you decide upon. In my case I required 24 lengths, varying from 535 (the two dowels joining the unit together at the apex), down to 320 – the dowels used on the arm supports. In total 24 with an average length of 430 or so meant a total of just less than 11m (I suggest buy lengths of 1.8m).
• Wood glue.
• The finish of your choice – I chose a marine varnish to keep the rack dry when in use and avoid the glued joins being compromised (the glue I used is water-based).

*All materials are available at Selected Mica Stores. To find your nearest Mica and to enquire about availability, please go to www.mica.co.za, to use our store locator. If your local Mica does not stock exactly what you need they will be able to order or suggest an alternative product or a reputable source.

Method:

1. This rack looks complicated but in fact is relatively simple – all you are really doing is making a series of ladders, the hanger rails (akin to the rungs of a ladder) being 10mm dowels. The real skill comes in ensuring that the holes for the hanger rails are very carefully lined up so that they are exactly parallel and each ’ladder’ is ‘squared up’ – in other words, that the angles are all exactly 90º.

   Measure off the legs and bevel the feet at 10º, as shown here – so that they rest flat on the surface. Ensuring the feet are lined up, mark the positions for the holes for the lower rails – these reinforce the legs and reduce flexing.



2. Drill each hole to a depth of 16mm – I use tape to set the depth.



3. An easy way to ensure the holes are all the same depth is to insert a bolt into the hole and turn it down as far as it will go.



4. Then turn the nut down to where it just meets the surface.



5. And measure – 16mm. Simple.



6. Drill 11mm holes right through for those dowels that will be free-swinging – namely the single dowel at the apex, and those allowing the arms and the leg brace to move.



7. To create the half circle recess for the arms supports to engage the dowels clamp the support arms between two pieces of scrap wood, as shown, and use a 16mm spade bit to drill right through their junction.



8. This creates a half-round seat for the support arm.



9. Here are some of the pieces laid out prior to being assembled.



10. You then need to create the 16mm cut-out at the end of the leg brace, and you do this in the same way, except the 16mm spade bit now cuts into the scrap wood…



11. This is how the end of the leg brace fits over the dowel, locking the legs in their spread position.



12. This is the leg brace assembled and ready for installation. You need to ensure that you assemble this part first, as it slips on to the one leg before that leg is glued. It tends to upset one when you realise you have assembled the legs and they look great – and the leg brace is not on one of the leg and you appear to have omitted the arms as well.



13. So here goes, apply glue to the dowel holes in one arm of one leg and slip the leg brace on to the dowel as shown.



14. I then assembled the rack arms, (ensuring the support arms were slipped on first) and then clamped the central link horizontal, as shown here. (the link has two dowels at 50mm ]centres – see diagram – but the one hole in each is 10mm, the other is 11mm – the former has glue applied to it to anchor the central link on one dowel. The latter is drilled right through and allows the one leg to move – so that the rack can be closed for storage.) Then I applied glue to one dowel only, to both ends, and seated it in the 10mm hole in each central link.



15. A close-up of the completed central link.



16. One of the support arms free to rotate on the third hanger rail in from the outer end of one of the arms.



17. The rack folded down for storage. You can see clearly here how the one dowel on which the rack can open and close is right through the central link via an 11mm hole; the other, which is glued into position, is seated in 10mm holes.



18. The completed rack.