Wooden Freestanding Bag Stand

This project started because my study was looking messy where I had hand bags and tote bags piled up in one spot. As space is very valuable in an apartment, a bag stand was another way we could optimise and organise our space. I considered different designs that were already on the market, including streamlined ones are similar to what I have built, open bookcase styles, metal and plastic stands. There are also interesting wooden coat stands to draw inspiration from.

This design is fine for handbags, hats and a few tote bags, and takes up minimum floor space. I also prefer the warm, homely feel of a quality wooden stand. I'm happy overall with this bag stand; the streamlined look, beautiful wood grain, smooth feel, and the space looks clearer.

Aspects of this build that you might want to consider improviing are stability; it has a slight wobble, possibly because the bottom is not perfectly straight and/or because it is top heavy. Ways of improving this could include designing a sturdier base, allowing for heavier bags to be placed onto the stand without risk of tipping it over. I also placed felt floor protectors under the base which has helped. You may also want to consider revising the design to allow for greater storage.

Woodworking Equipment:

• Woodworking Bench
• Table Saw
• Surface Planer (Jointer)
• Planer Thicknesser
• Band Saw
• Drill Press
• Belt Sander

Safety Equipment:

• Eye protection (safety glasses)
• Hearing protection (ear muffs)
• Safety footwear (steel cap boots)
• Dust mask
• Fitted, high strength disposable gloves

Tools:

• Hand Held Router
• Flush Trim Bit
• Round Over Bits
• Biscuit Joiner
• Biscuits
• Drill Press
• Hand Held Drill;
• Drill Bits
• Coutersink Drill Bit
• Electric Orbital Sander
• Woodworking Clamps - small, med and large
• Putty Knife
• Computer
• Calculator
• Ruler
• Pencil and eraser
• Paper

Supplies:

• Wood;
• European White Ash wood (or similar);
• Rough
• approx. 1 x 1720mm x 65mm x 65mm (stem)
• approx. 1 x 330mm x 330mm x 40mm (base) - you can glue 2 pieces together if required
• approx 320mm x 160mm x 40mm (hangers)
• Woodworking glue - quality, fast-drying, for interior use (small amount)
• Woodfiller (in a colour that matches the wood, e.g. 'natural')
• Cardboard - scrap - equivalent of 2 boxes
• Hardwax oil - high quality, non toxic, colourless - small tin
• 3 x Sanding sheets (electric orbital sander) - various grits
• 4 x Sanding sheets - (hand-sanding) - various grits
• 1 x 400 grit Wet & Sandpaper - 1 sheet or small roll.
• 1 x Sanding block (this can be made by cutting a bit of spare wood into a rectangular block)
• 1 x Sandpaper piece- wet and dry - 400 grit
• 1 x Sanding Block
• 1 x large Screw (to attach base)
• 4 x 50mm round floor protector pads
• Masking Tape (small amount)
• Rags (clean)
• Small waterproof container

Source good quality wood from a timber supplier - I used European White Ash. Start with a rough wooden boards to be able to make 1 x 1720mm x 65mm x 65mm (stem), 1 x 330mm x 330mm x 40mm (base) and approx 320mm x 160mm x 40mm (hangers). For the base, I glued 2 pieces of wood togther (with biscuit joints).

Select wood boards based on their quality, including colour, wood grain, straightness, and consistency (lack of chips/damage).

Put wood boards through the planer and thicknesser;

• Smooth one flat surface into each piece of wood with a Surface Planer (Jointer).
• Reduce the thickness of the rough wood and smooth wood using a Thickness Planer. Use the flat surface that you created in each piece as a reference surface while passing it through the thicknesser. The final thickness of each piece of wood should be;
• stem: 50mm
• base: 35mm
• hangers: 30mm

• Using the table saw, cut 2 pieces of wood - 310mm x155mm x 35mm.
• Join the two pieces together with 2 biscuit joints and wood glue.
• Clamp and leave overnight to dry.
• Mark out a circle on the wood with a 300mm diameter.
• Cut out the circular shape using a bandsaw - leaving a bit extra that will be neatly cleaned off with a router;
• Smooth off the sides with a hand-held router with a flush trim bit.
• Create the rounded edge on the top outer circle using a router and round over cutter.
• Create the smaller rounded edge using the appropriate router bit.
• Note: avoid burn marks by moving reasonably fast on final pass.
• Sand the base with an electric sander, then do the fine detail by hand - including the curves on the top of the base.

• Mark out the position of the hangers on the stem;
• After making a cardboard model, and seeing what was on the market, it made more sense to have 2 'clusters' of hangers, leaving adequate room for bags to hang.
• The upmost hanger is 100mm from the top, then the 3 hangers below are on each of the other sides, 30mm lower than the last.
• The 2nd cluster of 4 hangers starts 900mm from the bottom of the stem, and follows the same pattern.
• Mark out on the stem and 8 hangers where the biscuit joints will go.
• Using the biscuit joiner, make holes in the stem and 8 hangers.
• Do a dry run - attaching the hangers to the stem with the biscuit joints (without glue).

• Use a router to round off the edges of the stem and hangers (following appropriate safety precautions - especially when handling the hangers).
• Use a belt sander to round off the ends of the hangers.

• Attach the 8 hangers to the stem using wood glue. For each hanger;
• Add only a small amount of glue to the hole, add in biscuit, add a small amount onto the side of the hanger.
• Attach biscuit into hole.
• Wipe away any excess glue.
• Use masking tape if needed to make sure the hanger drys fully attached.
• Leave overnight to dry (as per glue instructions).

Connect the base to the stem of the stand;

• Measure and mark out the centre with a pencil.
• Use a drill press to drill a hole through the centre of the base.
• Turn the stem upside down, measure and mark the centre.
• Use a handheld drill to drill a smaller hole into the centre of the base of the stem.
• Drill in a large screw into the base and stem of the bag stand.

If needed, use filler in gaps between the hangers and the stem. I used Timbermate Woodfiller.

• Use gloves, the woodfiller container recommended a using putty knife, I found that it was easier to manipulate using my index finger.
• Use good quality (painters) masking tape - to protect the wood surrouding the gaps to be filled.
• Fill in the gaps using a small amount of filler and remove excess.
• Remove tape straight away (while filler is still wet), to give clean edges and surfaces.
• Leave to dry (follow instructions on filler bottle).

Add the three layers of hardwax oil to the bag stand (do the stem and base seperately);

• Use a a clean rag to apply finish.
• Wipe off excess.
• Leave each coat to dry overnight.
• When dry, sand each coat lightly with 400 grit Wet & Dry Sandpaper roll.