Repurposed Coat Hanger Rack

• 5 coat hangers
• a 950 by 110 length of plywood
• a length of rope (colour of your choice)
• a hand saw
• a pair of pliers
• power drill
• broad knife
• drill bit set
• strong wood glue
• sand paper
• power saw
• jigsaw
• wood stain and paint brush

I don't own any big fancy tools, so I made do with what my dad owns. Most of these tools could be upgraded to something better so these instructions don't have to be followed to the letter, just enough to get the finished product.

the coat hangers that I already possessed had a piece of dowel across the two arms of the coat hanger. For the purpose I was using these hangers for, that piece of dowel had to go. To do this I first snapped the dowel in the middle and then pulled it out at both ends. Although it worked there was a little nail left in the hangers so I removed them with a pair of pliers, repeat this for the rest of the hangers.

In my coat hanger rack I wanted five hooks and so I planned with the 950mm length of plywood that I had. It worked out to be 100mm from the end and 187.5mm in between each hook. I then went to measure the coat hangers, where the ply and the hanger met I wanted there to be a 90 degree angle and there to be a 30mm distance between the ply and the join in the coat hanger (make sure to leave an extra amount on the coat hanger for the thickness of the ply, mine was 18mm thick).

using a hand saw cut the other arm off the coat hanger paying attention to the markings and measurements. On the plywood first drill a hole as close to the edge as possible, then using a jigsaw make two cuts towards the top of the markings for the coat hanger. then using numerous diagonal cuts clear out the area made by the vertical cuts. repeat this on the other side to clear out the full area for the coat hanger. Do this for the other four coat hanger markings.

The pins in the coat hangers must be removed in order to make it easier to sand and paint later on, to remove the pins just twist it back and forth as you pull it out at the bottom of the pins is what looks like a thread, instead its just rough metal compared to the smoothness of the rest of the pin designed so that its harder to pull out. Do this for all of the coat hangers.

Sanding is by far the most time consuming activity I have ever done, considering I only had a piece of sandpaper. But it is necessary to remove the cheap lacquer used on coat hangers, I also sanded the plywood that I had just to get rid of any dirt and or stains that it had accumulated over the years of sitting in my garage. If you possess a electric or belt sander, use that wherever possible.

Because I liked the idea of an inlay so much, I decided to include one in my instructable. First I marked two parallel lines the width of the rope in between the edge of the ply and the hole for the coat hangers. Then using a power saw again the width of the rope, I cut out the area inside the markings. After cutting out the top I then set the power saw the full width of the plywood and cut a small length into the ply from the side so that the rope wraps around the ply.

gluing is the step where this project starts to take shape and begins to look like the finished product. After placing the wood glue into the glue gun I applied glue to both the coat hanger and the hole in the ply. Then I just placed one into the other and used the broad knife to scrape away excess glue. To get the different coat hangers all level I constructed a temporary stand to rest the coat hangers against, they then have to be left there until the glue dries.

To make this project look better I decided to give it a coat of stain and varnish. Painting is really self explanatory, just give the coat hanger rack an even coat of varnish and wait until it dries. The bottom of the groove doesn't necessarily need paint on it because the rope will go there. Depending on the amount of glue used there might be excess glue on the bottom of the plywood. To remove the excess glue I used sandpaper although a chisel could be used.

To finish the coat hanger rack the rope needs to be glued in the groove cut earlier and the metal hooks need to be glued back in. Apply the glue to the bottom of the groove then simply place and or squash the rope into the groove and wait for the glue to dry. With the coat hanger hooks press the base of the coat hanger into the nozzle of the glue and then press the hook into the wood of the coat hanger. Using an old rag or a piece of newspaper clean the excess glue off the protruding end of the hook.