Swinging Rack Adds Wall Space to Garage
The double-car garage door severely limits wall space in my garage/woodworking shop. So I created a 4-ft. by 5-ft. swinging tool rack for hanging hand tools, clamps, and accessories. Mounted in the corner of the front of my garage, it can stay against the garage door until I have to get in or out that way. The rack does not interfere with storage on the adjoining wall.
I made the rack out of 2×4 and 2×2 lumber. Two heavy-duty fence hinges are bolted to two 10-in.-wide stand-offs to hold the rack away from the wall. The stand-offs, which can be any length, are lag-screwed into a stud in the garage wall.
The outside vertical member of the rack is a leg that ends in a locking, swiveling caster, which provides needed stability.
I could have built the rack out of 3/4-in.-thick plywood but decided to use it as an exercise in making haunched and pegged mortise-and-tenon joints. The joints are quite strong, without a nail or screw in sight.
I also built two 4-ft.-long caddies, one for each side of the rack. I used 3/4-in.-thick pine for the sides and 1/4-in.-thick Masonite for the bottom. One caddy holds gluing supplies, and the other holds my palm sander and other small sanders. To maximize storage space, I guess a guy could build a rack for each side of the garage, but that is for another time.
Drawings by Jim Richey.
Drawings by Jim Richey.
Fine Woodworking Recommended Products
Woodriver Rechargeable Desiccant Bag
WoodRiver Router Bit Storage Case
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in