DIY Project Two: Ski Coat Rack

Since spending time in Mansfield, my interest in re-purposing has come to the fore. So, when Barto mentioned a couple of old pairs of skis, I suggested they’d make a good coat rack. In my favour, Barto was too attached to the skies to let me mess with them, so he took charge of the design and labour. Anyone who knows my husband will be aware of his meticulous nature. This ski rack was in good hands.

We wrote a shopping list and headed to Bunnings (American friends, think Home Depot).

2 x 1700 mm lengths wood
2 x 260 mm lengths wood
2 x 70 mm lengths wood
16 dowel joiners
8 hooks
4 adjustable screw feet
16 screws
1 bottle wood glue
1 tin estapol

At the last minute, Barto opted to keep one of the pairs of skis as rock hoppers (to use in light snow when there’s a good chance of scraping the bottom of your skis), so off we went to the Mansfield Vinnies Centre (op shop) to find another pair for the project. It was autumn, so snow gear wasn’t in stock, but the manager kindly took us to their warehouse, where we found the perfect skis for $20.

My role in assembling the rack comprised providing snacks, but this was Barto’s process:

Step 1: Make two wooden crosses using halved joints. To make a halved joint, you cut matching notches in two pieces of wood. If the dimensions of the wood are LxWxD, the notch width should be D and its length should be 1/2W. The two pieces of wood then slot together.

Step 2: Taper the edges of the criss-crosses to match the angle at which you want the skis to stand.

Step 3: Attach the smaller wooden cross to the top of the long length of wood using dowel joints, and the larger wooden cross to the bottom. To make a dowel joint, drill holes in the two pieces of wood to be connected, the diameter of the dowel and the depth of half the length of the dowel. Put glue in the holes and attach with the piece of dowel.

Step 3: Attach skis, facing outwards, to long lengths of wood using screws.

Step 4: Attach adjustable screw feet to bottom of long lengths.

Step 5: Screw on hooks.

Step 6: Estapol woodwork.

Voila! One functional coat rack.

Next time: the first in a series of interviews with Mansfield locals, Jennifer Harrold’s Mansfield Tree Change
Next Mansfield interview: Produced in Mansfield gives a list of local Mansfield producers.