Wooden Ukulele Wall Hanger

It's been so long since I've written an Instructable so cheers to being back!

As you can see I have a lot of things on my wall. Some of them I've bought, some of them I've made, all together they make my desk/workspace a place I love spending time. In my quest to add to the wall I noticed a spot that was perfectly fit for my ukulele and as makers do I got to work designing a ukulele wall hanger. This is an easy and quick project for the weekend, enjoy!

Materials:

• 3/4 in. wood at least 7in. long (I used red oak from home depot)
• 1&1/4 in. wood screws
• Hanger Template (pdf included)
• Wood glue
• Sandpaper (60, 80, 100,150, 220, 400)
• Stain of your choice
• 2 plastic drywall mounts

Tools:

• Jigsaw or scroll saw
• Drill
• 3/8in Spade bit
• Clamp
• Dremel/Rotary Tool
• Files
• Sander

The hanger is designed to fit a soprano ukulele, in total it's 3in long and 2 3/4in wide, but also to fit in the space I wanted it so know that you can make it to fit the feel of your space as well. I designed the template in InDesign and have included it as a pdf for your convenience.

So to start I printed, cut out, traced the template onto a piece of 3/4in thick red oak wood. I then marked the back piece to be 3 1/2in by 2 1/2in

A scroll saw is probably better suited to cut out the hanger part but I don't have one and so instead used a jigsaw. One thing that helped me was drilling holes (bigger than the blade of the saw) where the direction changed to allow me room to readjust the direction I was cutting.

Using the jigsaw gave me a rough shape but it needed to be cleaned up so I used some files and my Dremel to get it looking right. I also opted to give it rounded edges because I like how they look but of course you can also do straight edges.

My initial plan was to attach the hanger to the back piece with a screw but eventually decided to use wood glue instead. It's up to you if you want to attach via screw.

Otherwise drill two pilot holes 1/2in. centered from the top and bottom of the backing piece. Then grab your 3/8 spade bit and drill the mounting holes

DISCLAIMER: I forgot to do this before attaching the hanger to the backing piece so I did it after but make sure to do it before so you don't have to re-sand.

I chose to sand with grits 60, 80, 100, 150, 220, and 400. I hand sanded the hanger piece just because it was easier, but used an electric sander for the back piece.

If you opt for the screw attachment go ahead and do that now. I used some wood glue, initially using some painters tape to hold it in place while I got the clamp on and in the right place. Now let it set for a day.

Same story here as before, I used the grit 60, 80, 150, 220, and 400 to get rid of the excess glue and do some touch ups. Then I gave a nice coat of Polyurethane finish and let it dry for 24 hours. I put a screw back into the original hole that I drilled to hold it while I was staining. Remember to use gloves while staining, you don't want chemicals on your skin. Your skin is a permeable membrane and these chemicals will be absorbed through the skin.

If your attaching this to a stud than this isn't necessary, but if not grab two plastic drywall anchors and drill the holes to fit them. I started by doing one hole, attaching the mount via that one hole and then drilling the other screw through the mount and into the drywall so I knew exactly where the screw anchor needed to go. Then I took the hanger back off and installed the second anchor.

Once the stain has dried all you have to do is screw it into the mount and you're good to go. I put both screws in and poking through so I could easily put them in the mounts without scratching the wall. Now all there's left to do is enjoy! :)

I thought about using some eva foam as padding on the hanger but I didn't like the look of it so opted not to use it but if you want to take that extra precaution with your instrument you can.