In an effort to continue to organize my work space I decided to build a drying rack. I really needed a way to store my projects while they were drying from glue up or paint. I had researched a lot of different options for buying a rack, including bakers racks and backing pans. But these options really didn’t suit my needs. Most racks were either made for painting and paper artwork. The bakers rack idea was just too tall and too expensive. Also I need to make the best use of every inch of space in the garage. So I settled on building something myself. I mean why not, this is what the my brand is all about, making what I need and showing how to do it.
Something to keep in mind, I bought the wood for this project long before prices started to skyrocket. Also I repurposed some Halloween flats to cut up the trays that hold the parts. So All in I am looking at about $60 (pre price gouging) for the plywood, pine boards and casters.
Parts List
- 1 sheet 3/4″ Plywood (1/2″ will work in most cases.
- 1 sheet of 1/4 underlayment plywood
- 2-3 1×4 pine boards
- locking casters
- 2″ wood screws
- Wood Glue
Building the Rack
To start I cut the 3/4 plywood into four 2’x4′ panels. Cut one of the panels in half to use as a top and middle shelf. For my build I used 2x4s for the bottom instead of plywood so could save one of the panels for another project. But you can cut a third shelf to serve as the bottom of the rack.
Next I ripped the 1×4’s down to 1″ x 20″ strips to create the rails. Cut enough for the number of shelves you want to make. For my drying rack I have 11 shelves, so I needed 20 rails. Remember one of my shelves is permanently mounted in the middle for stability.
Cut your 1/4 plywood into 24″ squares to serve as your removable working shelves.
Assembly
Now that everything is cut I measured out the spacing for the shelf rails. I decided that I would go with 3″ between each shelf. If I need additional height I can always remove trays. With the spacing for the rails marked I used a brad nailer and glue to evenly space the rails. I mirrored the other side leaving space for the middle shelf. using 2″ screws and glue I attached the middle and top self, then repeated with the other side panel. I then cut the 2×4 cross braces to fit the bottom and attached the casters.
After flipping the rack over I attached some extra rails to the outside of the rack to finally give me a place to hang clamps. That about wraps this build up. Maybe I will probably use the other side for storage of gloves, paper towels and foam brushes. But that is a build for another day.
Supporting My Simple Builds
If you found this information useful and would like to recreate it, I have added some affiliate links in the parts list. Also there are some suggested links below that you might be interested in.
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