A Banana Holder

I had a small, very warped piece of beautiful bloodwood; so I decided to do a small project and make a banana holder for the kitchen counter. It ripens bananas with less bruising. You can also hang other lightweight kitchen items for easy access.

Any type of hardwood will work. I used:

3/4” by 1-1/8” by 20” bloodwood board for the stand

Two small walnut triangles

5” by 7” bottom plate from mahogany

Wood screws

Hook

Wood glue

Table Saw

Drill

Sander

A drawing with dimensions is attached.

Cut a 11” to 13” long board, 3/4” by 1-1/8”

Cut two wooden triangles from a 3/4” thick board, 15 degree angle as shown in the drawing.

Sand all faces to 220 or 320 grid.

Glue the triangles to the board as shown, centering them on the 1-1/8” wide side. I used spacers during the glue-up.

After the glue dries trim both ends at 15 degrees.

Cut a 6-1/2” piece of hardwood for the top crossbar. One end should be cut at 15 degrees to match the upright piece.

Glue the top crossbar to the upright as shown. When dry, sand the entire holder again to 320 grid.

On the top crossbar drill a shallow 1/8” pilot hole for a hook and fasten the hook.

On the bottom of the upright drill two 1/8” pilot holes to attach the holder to the base with screws.

Make a 5” by 7” base, 5/8” or 3/4” thick. I used a mahogany board I had. Round the corners to your taste, and sand to 320 grid. Now put a piece of blue tape on the bottom of the upright and mark the two drill holes. Then transfer the tape to the base, mark the hole locations, and drill two 1/8” holes through the base. I placed the upright about 1/2” from the rear edge of the base. On the bottom of the base either countersink the holes for wood screws, or drill a recess with a Forstner bit like I did. Then attach the base to the upright with two screws.

I finished the banana holder with 3 coats of Danish oil.

If you build your own feel free to tweak the dimensions and design a different shape for the base.