Having a problem... I made myself a piperack this past weekend.. finished drilling and putting together today.. and have a question as nothing I tried for forming the egg shaped curve the pipe rests in worked.
I do not have a router and I think that is the preferred tool to do this nicely...
I tried 3 differenct dremel tools, a later round sanding cylinder and a lot of sanding..
Any Ideas... except sanding for hours to get it right.. I'll be making some for family and myself out of the Wenge wood and leftovers I have.. I just want them to look nicer than the current one
I used a router and made a template out of plywood that I chased so all the notches would be the same.
I think you could do the same trick with a dremel though. Does your dremel have a collar that unscrews? Make a table for the dremel to rest on, put it over a template and use your dremel like a router.
You should spend some time looking at the racks created by Two Cousins or Ken Lamb. The basket or whatever you want to call it (where the heel of the pipe rests) you made is closer to Ken's, but the basket made by Two Cousins is a whole lot faster to make. Most of theirs are circular and can be cut with a forstner. The oval shape looks cool, but it is a pain to get right. If you leave it bare you have a serious sanding-fest to get through before you have a "finished" looking product. Unless you are in love with the oval basket, use a forstner bit in a drill press (1.25" or larger diam.). Find some felt/leather and maybe some really thin foam (extra cushion) at your local craft store to cover the basket/rest. That will help keep the pipes in the rack if it gets a minor bump. Good luck.
SchmidtN... thanks..the collar on my dremel does remove..and the idea of a template is probably a good idea.. as you see I didn't use a templace.. I have some left over sheet metal that I can place on a concave piece of plywood.. You'd laugh.. I have a round router bit that I placed in my drill press and tried that.. not a good idea.. thks
Andrew.. wenge is nice but the olive wood posts are a little off puttinng.. I might stain them darker so it matches some... I personally wanted the oval basket... I also looked at some that were drilled through.. but I think that isn't the look I'm after
Wayne.. wished I lived closer also.. would love to enjoy a bowl and a cup of coffee w/you to chat... and borrow your router attachment.. thier not that much.. I a business trip to Miami coming up in a few weeks.. I guess I'll look for a lowes or home depot and pick one up.. probably makes sense...
Enjoy the rest of your week.. I'm taking 2 days leave and get a 5 day weekend out of the holiday on monday.. so I'm really lookinng forward to some shop time tomorrow
