simple oak towel rack end-piece

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Rando
Posts: 757
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:24 pm
Location: Boise, ID
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simple oak towel rack end-piece

Post by Rando »

All:

Another quick project. Somehow in moving, I managed to rent a 4BR house that had zero towel racks. Not in the bathrooms, not in the kitchen, no where. Strange but true.

The obvious choice, of course, is to go to Wall-Mart/Home-Depot/Lowes/Target/... and get a bunch of cheap metal ones.

But, I have two 12-foot pieces of red oak 2x6 (actually 1.5 x 5.5) that have been in the garage, waiting to be used for something like 5 years.

So down came the oak, with about 5 feet chopped into 10-inch chunks, yielding one pair of ends in each.

The design was done in AutoDesk Fusion360, with the toolpaths generated through BobCAD v29. One thing I really love about doing CNC work is that, as long as it doesn't hugely complicate the fabrication, things like the outside profile of a part is essentially arbitrary. So, taking that for the creative freedom it offers, I asked myself over and over "what ELSE have I ever wanted a towel rack to do?" Some of those answers were:

1) Hang a hanger on either end, so that it doesn't fall off or get out of balance.
2) Hang a BUNCH of hangers in that same location, without them coming off and sliding down the towel.
3) Hang "intimate" clothing items like a t-shirt, the wife's bra or similar without falling onto the floor when the towel is removed.
4) Hang yet another coat hanger (do you get the idea hangars always seemed to appear on the towel racks in the past? ;-) )
5) Have TWO towel rods, with enough space for towels to dry, but not so much it sticks out, and have them offset in height.
6) They need to be STRONG, and won't just fall off the wall like those metal ones do (when not installed properly).
7) They need to be STRONG in the internal structure. For this, I rotated the parts in the wood so that the grain goes straight down the arm.
8) The towel rods are to be 3/4" diameter lucite (plexiglas). They might not be perfectly rigid, but mold does NOT grow on them :D.
9) The rod-holes should go all the way through, as an extended rod can provide space for hanging yet other things, like a washcloth.

With those expectations, I took a little time to design something fun. Below are some images of the Fusion design, and two of the ways it's intended to be used: normal through-rods, and open-ended rods.

The Fusion 360 design:
Fusion design
Fusion design
Mounted, in a bathroom, but lacking stain and the hole plugs yet:
Not stained, and missing the hole plugs.
Not stained, and missing the hole plugs.
Just for fun, I decided to see if there was a useful configuration for a kitchen towel rack...
a two-rod kitchen rack, using just one bracket.
a two-rod kitchen rack, using just one bracket.
Cheers!

Thom
=====================================================
ThomR.com Creative tools and photographic art
A proud member of the Pacific Northwest CNC Club (now on Facebook)

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Kayvon
Posts: 552
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:46 pm

Re: simple oak towel rack end-piece

Post by Kayvon »

Brilliant! It never occurs to me to do stuff like this until I see someone else post it. Great design!

Beans2toot
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:54 am

Re: simple oak towel rack end-piece

Post by Beans2toot »

You made Towel racks that allow a towel to dry and pretty enough for the wife, good job and thanks for sharing.
I have another "organizational " problem to solve, and you are the person to ask.
I rebuilt my bathroom and wanted to make more room, but I would have had to take down a small wall that would take out a hall closet. I lost that battle and now have a small bathroom.
The fun part is that I get to make that work.
Her hair dryer, curling iron, etc. are hanging all over, even on the toilet paper rod. What to do? Ask someone like you is the answer.
Have you ever put together a wall mounted organizer like what I need? Or have you seen something that exists?
Don't feel obligated to answer if you don't understand them either. HaHa!
Gordon

Rando
Posts: 757
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:24 pm
Location: Boise, ID
Contact:

Re: simple oak towel rack end-piece

Post by Rando »

Beans2toot wrote:You made Towel racks that allow a towel to dry and pretty enough for the wife, good job and thanks for sharing.
I have another "organizational " problem to solve, and you are the person to ask.
I rebuilt my bathroom and wanted to make more room, but I would have had to take down a small wall that would take out a hall closet. I lost that battle and now have a small bathroom.
The fun part is that I get to make that work.
Her hair dryer, curling iron, etc. are hanging all over, even on the toilet paper rod. What to do? Ask someone like you is the answer.
Have you ever put together a wall mounted organizer like what I need? Or have you seen something that exists?
Don't feel obligated to answer if you don't understand them either. HaHa!
Gordon
Oooh...sounds like a fun challenge. Some questions:

1) Does she want them all plugged in at once (but only one on at a time!), or is she okay with the unplug/replug cycle?
2) How many items are we talking here that she actively uses right now? 2? 5? If there were more than one woman using the room (not simultaneously, just with different "tools" they use), would there need to be more slots? No matter the number, if it's less than 5 we'll give one spare, and if it's more than 5 we'll give 2 spare slots. Trust me, it's always unsatisfying to completely use up all the slots, even if you never really use that one extra; just having it there gives a peace-of-mind to a product design that you just don't get otherwise.
3) What are the chances an item would be put into the rack either a) hot but cooling down, or b) still turned on and idling, like when you put down a blow-dryer for just a moment because you want both hands, but don't want it to stop or cool down.
4) I'll assume 16" center-to-center for wall studs, but what is the available space in the area you're thinking?
5) Any chance there's a cabinet already nearby an organizer/rack could be tucked into?
6) What is the "hardware" and overall style of the bathrooms being done? Nickel-silver hardware? Red oak? Blue with yellow duckies and chickens? Faux-Gold plating on everything?
7) What are the range of options for how "far away" the rack/cabinet might be, versus the place where she'd actually be using that appliance? I guess it comes down to is this a "distant storage place", or an "active-use organizing rack". I tend to prefer the second, if it can be neat and tidy, always having the tool/thing right at hand. Saves the constant getting-out and putting-away every time in order to achieve a tiny bit more "tidy". :D

My initial thoughts, from simplest to most-complex, are:

a) A wall-mounted rack that just has generically-sized pegs/cutouts to drop the appliances into
b) Like a, but with individual hold-points custom made for the specific appliances to be used
c) A rack with simple hooks, on which hang "standardized" holders that are each attached to the appliance cords.
d) A pull-out or swing-out rack holding the appliances in a "deep-ish" nearby cupboard/cabinet
e) Like c, but with a purpose-bought/built cabinet holding it all, so it just mounts on the wall.

Let's keep the ideas coming; I'm always up for a new project! You can also contact me directly at
tee ayech oh emm at tee cee tee randolph dot com, or a PM here if that's easier.

I'll give a provisional okay that it might be possible...but that's all I'll commit to right now :D.

Regards,

Thom
=====================================================
ThomR.com Creative tools and photographic art
A proud member of the Pacific Northwest CNC Club (now on Facebook)

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