Towel Rack

The towel rack in our bathroom broke so I figured I would keep with the theme I seem to have started and make a new one.

I had an 8"×8" piece of pine and a 1" dowel. I also used 1/8" dowel for the pins and a big roll of duct tape to trace the curves. I just used the length of the old towel rack so I cut the dowel at about 30".

I cut the 8x8" pine diagonally to give me the biggest pieces possible. I drew out a shape using a big roll of duct tape to make my curves and played with it a bit until I liked the way it looked. I then used 2 way tape to tape the 2 pieces together, cut them out on my scroll saw and sanded the edge. Since I'm using 1" dowel, I measured 2" from the rounded point and drilled a 1" hole with a forstner bit. I have 1/8" dowel for the locking pins so I drilled a 1/8" hole about 1/2" from each end. To get both holes fairly close to parallel, I stuck another 1/8" bit into the first hole I drilled and turned it upright before I drilled the second hole. Now pull the 2 ends apart and finish sanding. I sanded to 120 grit and eased the edges a bit. Finish with 2 coats of summer oak and 2 coats of polyurethane. I used my router and routed keyhole slots and set the screws as tight as I could. Once I put the towel rack together, it tightened up pretty good. I'm happy with the way it turned out.