Skate Drying Rack

[Bill_S]

I'm planning to make a drying rack to let my skates dry out between sessions and over the summer. I've stubbed my toe too many times tripping over the skates on the floor.

Here's what I have in mind...



I'm going to make a circular piece of maple about 14 inches in diameter (light yellow in the pic) and mount some "shaker pegs" into it (dark brown in the pic) to support the blades. The backboard doesn't have to be that big, nor circular, but it am planning it "just because".

I'll report back (with pics) as I make progress. I've got three 4/4 maple boards glued up and planed for the backboard, and I purchased the shaker pegs.

Has anybody else made a skate storage/drying rack? Have photos?

[AgnesNitt]

That's a neat simple design. Maybe you could cut apart some old skate guards and fashion some rubber bumpers around the bottom peg.

[Bill_S]

Yeah, maybe I'll add some bumper material later. The pegs are maple too (to be stained dark walnut), so they should be plenty resistant to damage. But we'll see!

I'd probably slip some Tygon tubing over the pegs if it's a problem. Simple, easy, and cheap.

[jjane45]

That's neat! Is it good to hang skates by the blades though? Would it tend to loosen the screws?

[Bill_S]

It shouldn't bother them a bit. The screws will see shear forces, not tension. Even if the skates were hung upside down placing the screws in tension, the skate weight isn't enough to worry about.

Healthy screws won't have any problem with that.

[Bill_S]

I made some progress with my skate rack in the past couple days. I'll post some pics in case someone knows a friend who does some woodworking and wants something similar.

I glued up three maple boards to make the wide panel. After a couple days drying time, I planed the surface flat and planned the location of holes and cuts.



I bought some pre-made Shaker Pegs from a Rockler outlet store...



I drilled 1/2" holes for the Shaker Pegs part-way through the panel using a Forstner bit. The blind 1/2" holes have small through-holes in the center for some brass wood screws that will pull the pegs tight from the back of the panel. The pegs will be glued in too for sufficient overkill.




(continued in the next post)

[Bill_S]

After drilling all the mounting holes, I took the panel to the bandsaw to rough-cut the overall circular shape.



I needed to clean up the rough cut, so I used a Jasper circle jig on my router to do that. I went outdoors because of all the sawdust that would be generated.



I wanted to dress-up the cut edge, and considered roundovers vs. chamfers. I decided on a simple chamfer and used a router table to do that (mostly decorative) work...



After that, I spent a little "quality time" with sandpaper, and then wiped on a coat of a sealing varnish. It's getting close to being done, but it's going to take a few more coats of finish. At least I can see what it will look like when finished.

[Bill_S]

It's done now. I've included a snapshot of it holding my skates. I had to put some vinyl tubing over the lower peg to protect it from the sharp edges of the blades. It was immediately obvious that the sharp blades would make sawdust out of the lower peg if I didn't protect it.

It's my goal to have better air circulation to dry them inside and out after skating. In addition, I will be able to store the skates during the off-season without either tripping over them, or having the blade bottoms rust like they do when you store them long-term in soakers.

I attached the rack to the side of a filing cabinet that sits near my desk in the basement office. Looks like it will work just fine.

[MimiG]

Looks great!

[Isk8NYC]

It's beautiful, Bill!  Well-done.

[AgnesNitt]

So when are you opening skaterack.com?

[Bill_S]

Thanks for the comments!

Agnes...I actually thought of making and selling them - for about 30 seconds. It's not mass-production, so I'd either have to charge an arm+leg to cover my time, or send off to have them manufactured in China. I'm not doing that, so you guys are on your own! 

It might be something I consider when I retire (in 7 years!), but I sure don't have much spare time right now.

It's small enough at 14-1/4" diameter that I could easily experiment with exotic hardwoods (zebrawood, cocobolo, waterfall buginga, etc.) without breaking the bank, or try something as simple as painted MDF.

[Kat]

Bill, that's so cool!

[Isk8NYC]

YYou could probably cut the materials/production time by changing the backplate shape from a circle to a triangle shape.

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It wouldn't support the boots though - they'd touch the wall or cabinet behind, but they'd fit closer.

[Bill_S]

I know, but I like circles. I can skate in a circle, but can't skate a triangle.  

I have thought about making a rack similar in shape to the USFSA badges like the one shown in my avatar. I could even route some vertical flutes to represent the bottom half of the shield, although I'd have to spend some time for that intricate setup. Still, when there's no ice, idle hands...