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How to make a hockey-stick coat rack
Maybe it’s not Olympic calibre, but a pickup game on a frozen lake can be every bit as heated as a gold-medal final. And where there are keen players, there are old sticks, too worn for the game, but ideal for this coat rack.
What you’ll need
:
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7 hockey sticks
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#8 x 1 3/4" wood screws
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Clamps
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Drill
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Mitre box and saw
It doesn’t matter if the logos are scuffed or the blades are scarred: War wounds only prove the retired sticks were used by players with heart. If you really want to, you can paint them.
1. Choose four hockey sticks, with blades that are intact and have smooth edges, for the centre post. Remove excess tape from the shafts—a layer or two is fine, but a knob of tape at the butt-end of the stick will get in the way. (As well, the knobs can absorb sweat; you don’t want that toxic stink floating up into your best cottage dinner jacket.)
2. Cut the four legs and four crosspieces. (If you don’t have enough old sticks, use clear 1x2 pine.) All the angled cuts are 45°; use a mitre box or mitre saw. Drill pilot and countersink holes, then secure each leg assembly to one of the centre-post sticks, as in the diagram above, using 1 3/4" screws. Take care—inaccurate cutting and positioning will result in a rack that wobbles.
3. Bring the four stick assemblies together. Using rubber bands to hold them temporarily, adjust their positions so the rack stands up straight. Clamp the shafts together.
4. Drill pilot and countersink holes for the screws that hold the post sticks together, being careful to offset the screw holes slightly to avoid mid-shaft collisions. You’ll need four 1 3/4" screws near the top and four a few inches from the bottom.
5. Add store-bought hooks near the top of the post if you like.
—Martin Zibauer
Published in the Winter 2009 issue of Cottage Life magazine.
