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Display and Store up to Six Blankets on this Stylish Rack
If you’re like most people, your family heirlooms are precious to you. Such was the case with the author’s daughter when she wanted to display one of her great, great grandmother’s antique quilts for all to see. The project began with a sketch of the idea. The final result was a red oak frame with simple lines and easy-to-construct plans.
In the case of this particular project, what makes it truly unique was the source of the wood used in its construction. Several years ago, the author’s family church replaced their old, red oak pews. He decided to buy several of them…not really knowing what he was going to do with them at the time. Then came the quilt rack request from his daughter, and a “mission” was launched. All of the pieces of this project (except for the dowel stretchers) were cut from the pews, giving them a new life that will be passed on from generation-to-generation.
The wood you use for yours, of course, probably won’t come from old church pews, but that won’t make much difference. It’s a project we’re sure you’ll enjoy building, so let’s get started.
Helpful Items
Turning the Legs
Since some of the areas of the Legs (B) are to remain square, your stock needs to be cut, planed and sanded smoothly to size before turning. Start by sizing your turning stock to 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ x 30″, as per the Bill of Materials. Follow our design for the legs as shown in drawing “B”, or create your own design. Just remember that the areas marked “leave square” must not be turned to allow for the attachment of the stretchers, as shown in the diagram. As with the Top Caps, there are two ways you can go about turning these Legs:
The first is to turn each Leg freehand, following our diagram and using a set of Outside Calipers to periodically check your diameters at various points along the length of each Leg.
The second is to create a hardwood template for your design…or to turn your first leg and use it for your design to duplicate your other three legs using a Lathe Duplicator. Using this second approach will help ensure that all four Legs match perfectly.
IMPORTANT TURNING TIP: Extra care must be taken when forming the tenons on the ends of your legs. These tenons must be exactly 3/4″ in diameter to fit into the mating holes on the Top Caps (C) and Bases (A). If you mess up and remove too much stock (resulting in a tenon that’s less than 3/4″ in diameter), you can often correct this by hand-planing a 1/2″ wide shaving of straight-grained hardwood about 3″ long. Then, glue and wrap the shaving around your tenon and allow it to dry for about 24 hours. At this point, you can either re-turn your tenon or simply sand down the shavings carefully until the tenon fits snugly into your hole.
Assembling and Finishing
The only remaining pieces to be made are the Stretchers (D). In our case, they’re simply 1″ diameter oak dowel rods, cut off to a 30″ length.
The final step is assembly. Begin by dry-fitting all the parts together just to be sure everything fits properly (see the exploded view drawing). If everything fits as it should, disassemble, then glue and clamp the components together, being sure to check each step for squareness as you go. Be sure to use a damp cloth to wipe away any excess glue as you go so your stain coats evenly.
Depending on the type of wood you decide to use, you may want to use a sanding sealer before you apply your final finish. This will seal and make all surfaces uniform, helping you achieve the even-looking stain coverage you want. When the sealer has dried thoroughly, lightly sand everything with 400-grit or finer sandpaper. Use a tack cloth to remove and dust, then apply your choice of finish. We used a clear oil finish to bring out the rich red color of our oak Rack.
Getting Started
Since you won’t need a lot of wood for this project, it should be fairly inexpensive to build. And, if you get started and discover that some of the thicknesses you need are either not readily available or just too expensive, you can always glue-up thicker pieces from thinner ones. IMPORTANT: When working with glued-up stock, it’s always a good idea to allow the glued-up pieces to dry thoroughly for 24 hours or so before machining them. Un-cured glue-ups could separate during machining, causing injury.
Making the Bases
Let’s get started with the Bases (A). Begin by cutting the two Base blanks to size, according to the Bill of Materials. As mentioned earlier, if 2-1/4″ stock is not readily available, just glue-up three pieces of 3/4″ to 1″ thick stock to make your 2-1/4″ blanks. These glued-up pieces will actually be stronger than a single piece of 2-1/4″ stock, plus you’ll get an attractive end grain pattern that you wouldn’t get with a single piece of stock. Once your pieces are glued-up, be sure to wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth before it dries.
After the glue has dried for 24 hours, cut your bases to 3″ x 17″, then use your Jointer or Thickness Planer to thin them down to 2-1/4″, if necessary. As shown in the diagram, the Bases have a 3″ long chamfer that slopes down 1/2″ at the ends of each side. There’s also a peak in the bottom, starting 1-1/2″ in from each end that rises and meets in the center, 3/4″ up from the bottom. Mark these lines on your Base pieces and cut them using your Bandsaw or Scroll Saw. Sand all areas smooth, then use a 3/4″ Brad Point Bit to bore two 1/2″ deep holes for the leg tenons, as shown in the diagram.
Making the Top Caps
The Top Caps (C) need to be cut with extreme care. Start with two pieces of stock 1-1/2″ x 6″ x 12″. If you’re unable to make them from solid stock, glue-up some stock from thinner pieces, just as you did for the Bases. Once the glue has set-up for 24 hours or more, there are two ways you can go about marking and cutting these pieces:
The first is to either make a template from the diagram or use a pencil compass or set of dividers to mark two half-circles with 4″ and 6″ radii… then simply cut them out, using your Bandsaw.
The second is to use your Bandsaw with the Bandsaw Circle Cutter to cut the curves. NOTE: If you decide to use this approach, you’ll have to start with blanks that are 6-1/2″ to 7″ wide instead of 6″ wide, so your Circle Cutter has a place for its center to “seat” on your workpiece.
When cutting the Caps, don’t forget to stay OUTSIDE your lines by 1/32″ to 1/16″ to allow for sanding down to the finished dimension. Use your Disc Sander for the convex (outside) edges and your conventional Drum Sander or Contour Sanding Drum for the concave (inside) edges.
As an added touch, you should rout decorative edges on the curves of the Top Caps. In our example, we used a hand-held router and a 3/8″ rabbeting bit to create this detail. However, you could also use your Shopsmith Router Package and a Roman Ogee, Chamfer or Beading Bit to accomplish the same task. It’s your choice.
