A New Paradigm Rack for Garden Tools

We do not have enough garage wall space to store my wife's garden tools, especially not in the traditional manner where each is flat against the wall and next to one another. 

I took my inspiration from the poster display frames I have frequently seen in discount stores. Each poster is in a steel frame back-to-back with another. Each frame is hinged. The viewer can flip them side-to-side, like pages in a book, in order to see all of them. The garden tools on this custom rack are perpendicular to the wall. Their supports swivel left to right and vice-versa. I made  a couple of extra hanger sections so my wife can add more tools as time goes by, if she needs to do so.

Materials

• 20 feet of 3/8 inch steel concrete reinforcement bar
• 3/16 inch rod
• 82 inches of angle iron 
• #10 or greater sheet metal screws for mounting to the wall
• Various piece of scrap wood
• Grinding wheel and grinder (unless you wish to use the angle head grinder)

Tools

• Angle head grinder and cutting wheel
• Electric drill and bits for steel
• Measuring rule
• Welder
• Square
• Screwdriver
• Level

I like concrete reinforcement bar because it is very available, cheap to buy, and welds easily.

I cut a low-profile acute triangle to be used as a form for cutting pieces of reinforcement bar uniformly and tack welding for repeatable results. The ruler in the photo gives an idea of scale. The exact dimensions are not critical. Make them suit your needs. When finished tack welding, remove the wooden triangle form and finish the welds.

The cradle for each pair of tools begins with two pieces of reinforcement bar 4 1/2 inches long each. Center them on the base of the triangle and weld them with a 2 inch gap between the pieces of rod. As much as possible, keep the two pieces level and on the same plane.

I added short vertical pieces of 3/16 inch rod to the ends of the cradle pieces and welded them in place. When finished with this step, use a grinder to smooth any sharp or rough edges. 

I used two pieces of angle iron from a discarded bed frame for the mount. My garden tool rack uses 6 hanger sections. I chose to space them 7 inches apart. I also chose to have 3 inches extra at each end. I cut two pieces of bed frame 41 inches long each. 

Here you see the angle iron pieces back-to-back. They are clamped together. I placed a piece of masking tape at the approximate location of each swivel hole. Then I measured more precisely and made marks on the masking tape for drilling holes. These holes will be a bit more than 3/8 inch in diameter. 

After drilling swivel holes, I removed the clamps and inserted the hanger sections into the holes in the angle iron. 

Reinforcement bar has irregularities on its surface. I ground some of these smooth so the ends on the opposite side of the triangle can fit into the holes and move easily. Here you can see some of the hanger sections swiveled to the left and some to the right.

The hanger sections can bind with one another, which makes it difficult to square the assembly. I placed scrap pieces of wood under each hanger section to allow freedom of movement for alignment before welding the assembly permanently. 

I two cut pieces of reinforcement bar to fit between the angle iron pieces and welded them in place. After finishing that, the assembly is permanently welded together.

Locate studs in the wall. Drill mounting holes in the top member of the angle iron frame. Screw the garden tool rack to the wall. Hang your tools on it.

I will take this garden tool rack down and paint it. 

When my wife needs to remove a garden tool, she can push those next to it away to one side or the other and have good access for removing it from its hanger.

This rack is versatile and solves the problem of not enough wall space for all of the tools to be hung. It takes a little longer to build, but it is worth the extra effort.