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mjkm90
12-28-2005, 09:32 AM
Joe K. is building a bat rack like those I built for my office. Here are the instructions I put together if you would like to make your own as well.

Here are pics of the racks up close. I made them from poplar because it is a stable wood that is much stronger than pine and far easier to work with than oak. It also takes stain very well.

1. Figure out how long you want the racks to be.

2. Drill holes with a 1 1/2" hole saw (circular cutter you use with your drill). The holes should be 2 3/4" on center from each other.

3. Use a hand held jig saw or hand saw to make the cuts from the outer edge of the board to the edges of the holes.
note: I made a some slots a little wider for mushroom and fat handled bats.

4. Clean up the insides of the slots with a file and sand paper or a drill mounted drum sander (these are handy and inexpensive little sanding heads you can put in the end of your drill).

5. If you have a router, put in a 1/4 round over bit to ease all the edges. If not, just round over a bit by hand.

6. Make a cardboard template for the support brackets any profile you like. Cut the pieces you will use as brackets to length 5". I made a support to place every two feet of rack starting and finishing at each end. Before you cut them to the shape you like, prepare them for mounting (it's much easier to work with a rectangle than a curved bracket). I used what is called a key-hole bit for my router to hold the brackets to the wall. If you don't have a router, you can buy little metal key-holes for hanging heavy things at any home improvement center. To mount them, you drill and chissel out wood from the back of the bracket and place the key-holes over the removed wood.

7. Attach brackets to rack by pre-drilling holes through top of the rack into the brackets (I used a countersinking bit so I could fill the screw holes with a dowl, cut off the dowel flush and sand them smooth). Mount the brackets exactly the same distance from center of key-hole to center of the next key-hole (this will make measuring for mounting MUCH easier.

8. Sand smooth. Apply the finish you like. I used stain and polyurithane.

9. When using key-holes, you put screws in the wall that the key-holes slide onto. If you don't hit studs, use a Molly. Make your holes in the wall on a level line, whatever distance from each other they need to be based on your bracket spacing. Drill the holes, pop in the Molly's and screw in the screws with the head about 1/8" shy of the wall. Make sure the screw you use has a head smell enough to fit in the keyhole.

10. Just slide the racks onto the screws and load it with your collection.


GOOD LUCK!