Towel Rack

Origins

At the request of the customer (aka Debbie), I made a custom towel rack to fit precisely in a bathroom space. Working with round things is always a bit of a nifty challenge, as it was here. There were some funky angles to work with and some odd shaped pieces.

Cool Tool: The Shaper Origin was used here. The angled pieces could have been cut by hand I guess, but the accuracy of the Origin is far superior to that.

Under Construction

Sketchup for Towel Rack

Sketchup

I designed the rack in Sketchup to make sure it had all the right dimensions. Sketchup is a cool tool for modelling 3d things digitally. It takes a bit of getting used to, but there are a lot of Youtube videos out there on how to get started, and if you have worked with any CAD type software before, it will come more easy to you.

Once you have your 3d model, export the parts to the Shaper Origin and you are off to the races.

My Good Side

Poly Poly Poly

I was a little worried about moisture affective the piece, since it was going to be installed in a bathroom and subject to lots of humidity, and also damp towels directly on the rods.

So…I heavily lathered everything with 6 or 7 coats of poly, making sure the rods got an extra dose.

Up Front

Maple Rods

The rods are solid maple, picked up at Lee Valley. Pretty strong and with all that poly, they should resist any moisture.

In Position

It’s been in use for over a year at this point and no issues with warping or bending so far. Fingers crossed.

In the Bath

Materials

• Maple from KJP Select Hardwoods
• Polyeurethane finish
• Festool Domino for joinery