Homemade Ball Rack/Plant Stand

My boys are obsessed with balls. Our garage is scattered with all kinds—basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, and even more basketballs!

They’ve taken up a lot of space on my garage floor, which isn’t ideal. In this guide, I’ll show you how to build a ball rack to keep them organized. Let’s get started!

By the way, the same design can also be used as a plant stand, offering the same modern and elegant look. The choice is yours!

Tools For This Project:

1. Table saw
2. Miter saw (optional):
3. Jig saw
4. Drill/impact driver
5. Clamps
6. Forstner Bit Set
7. Router (optional)
8. Straight Router Bit (1/4”):
9. Plunge Router (optional):
10. Sander/sandpaper (optional):

Materials:

1. Plywood (3/4” thickness): 1 sheet
2. Wood glue
3. Screws (#4 1” or 3/4”)
4. Bungee Rope (1/4” thickness)
5. Caster Wheels (3”, optional)
6. S-shaped Hooks (optional)

The rack's structure consists of a bottom disc, 3 rings, four dowels, bungee ropes, and four caster wheels.

We started with cutting the disc and rings.

To achieve this , we can either use a jig saw, or a router plus a circle jig.

I chose to use a router with a circle jig because it produces better results. I started by building the circle jig using ¼-inch plywood, cut slightly wider than my trim router and long enough to accommodate the largest circle I needed to cut.

Next, I drilled holes to mount the router onto the plywood and added a hole for the center pivot of the circle.

Once the jig was made, I then started cutting the circles. My design minimizes material waste by allowing each ring to be cut from the leftover material of the previous one.

Note:

If you prefer to build a plant stand instead of a ball rack, simply cut discs instead of rings.

There are several ways to make dowels: 

1. you can purchase them from your local hardware store, 
2. make them with a lathe,
3. follow the method I shared in a previous Instructable, or, 
4. as shown in this video, use a rounding router bit.

I chose the router method for two reasons: first, I haven’t tried it before, and second, I wanted to build a simple router table for future projects.

This is probably the simplest router table you’ll find on the internet, but I want to show you that not everyone needs a complicated, fancy setup. A simple table like this gets the job done just fine.

The router table is made from a piece of plywood with holes drilled to mount the plunge router, along with a simple fence. To use it, just clamp the fence in place, and you’re good to go. It’s that simple!

The next step is to drill holes in the disc and rings. There are two hole sizes: the larger ones allow the four dowels to pass through, while the smaller ones are for threading the bungee ropes.

One important detail when drilling the larger holes is that, since the dowels will pass through the rings at an angle, drilling the holes straight and exactly the same size as the dowels will make assembly difficult. Instead, drill slightly larger holes than the dowel thickness, and if possible, drill at a slight angle. I achieve a slight angle when drilling the holes by placing a ½-inch scrap piece of wood under one end of the ring.

The next step is to test the assembly and ensure everything fits correctly. This is crucial because if the pieces don’t fit, you may need to adjust the thickness of the dowels or drill larger holes.

Once we’ve confirmed that every piece fits correctly, we can assemble them together. I found that using clamps to hold the rings in place is very helpful. Be sure to use a tape measure to check the distances and ensure everything is level and plumb, so the rack stands upright.

Next, use screws to fasten the dowels to the rings, taking care not to strip the rings. Once the dowels are secured to the disc and rings, attach the caster wheels, and finally, thread the bungee ropes.

Interestingly, the day after I finished the build, I came across a ball rack at the supermarket when I was doing grocery shopping. It had a simple design made entirely from PVC pipes! The only downside I can think of is probably the shape, as it’s limited to a square design.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully built your own homemade ball rack. Now it’s time to fill it with all the balls.