Project Information
When the wife asked me to paint the bathroom recently I got the idea to replace our old hard-to-get-off-the-wall accessories with home built ones. She agreed. I had a design in mind which would include copper pipe. I will admit that I did some Googling to finalize the toilet roll holder. The idea I originally had was way over complicated.
With the exception of the glass/toothbrush holder each piece is basically the same, just of different lengths. Here's how I made them. You'll get the idea.
[Above] I used pine for this project. Luckily I had some planed down pieces of wood which previously had been part of an end table. All of these are nominally 3/4 inch thick. First I ripped enough pieces to 3 1/2 inches. Then I cut the pieces for the arms to 3-3/4 in.
[Above] On the arms I drew out the shape I wanted. I measured 1 inch from the centerline on the end, connected the dots and added curves by tracing the rim of a washer. I made one, cutting and sanding it to shape, then traced the outline to all the other necessary pieces. I cut them out on the band saw and sanded the curves on my little disk sander.
[Above] I cut a rabbet in the ends of the backer boards to hold the arms. The rabbet is deeper than usual, but I wanted to add some holding surface for the glue.
[Above] For the toilet roll holder I cut stopped dadoes in the arms. The arms for the towel bars got holes to hold the pipe. The backer pieces also got mounting holes at this time.
[Above] Then everything got sanded.
[Above] Each one gets glued together the same. Two arms get glued to the back piece. The towel bars get glued with the copper pipe in place, then they are taped off for spray painting. The cup holder is just glued in place between two arms, centered.
[Not pictured] I cut a bevel on the edges with the router to add some distinctiveness and remove some of the clunky look. This could not be done until the assembly was complete. Another sanding and then everything is spray painted, in this case, gloss white.
[Above] Just as I began installing these, I realized they wouldn't sit flush to the wall because the hollow wall fasteners were slightly protruding from the wall. I solved this by drilling shallow wells around the screw holes in the back of each piece. What the eye does not see, the mind will not know.
With the exception of the glass/toothbrush holder each piece is basically the same, just of different lengths. Here's how I made them. You'll get the idea.
[Above] I used pine for this project. Luckily I had some planed down pieces of wood which previously had been part of an end table. All of these are nominally 3/4 inch thick. First I ripped enough pieces to 3 1/2 inches. Then I cut the pieces for the arms to 3-3/4 in.
[Above] On the arms I drew out the shape I wanted. I measured 1 inch from the centerline on the end, connected the dots and added curves by tracing the rim of a washer. I made one, cutting and sanding it to shape, then traced the outline to all the other necessary pieces. I cut them out on the band saw and sanded the curves on my little disk sander.
[Above] I cut a rabbet in the ends of the backer boards to hold the arms. The rabbet is deeper than usual, but I wanted to add some holding surface for the glue.
[Above] For the toilet roll holder I cut stopped dadoes in the arms. The arms for the towel bars got holes to hold the pipe. The backer pieces also got mounting holes at this time.
[Above] Then everything got sanded.
[Above] Each one gets glued together the same. Two arms get glued to the back piece. The towel bars get glued with the copper pipe in place, then they are taped off for spray painting. The cup holder is just glued in place between two arms, centered.
[Not pictured] I cut a bevel on the edges with the router to add some distinctiveness and remove some of the clunky look. This could not be done until the assembly was complete. Another sanding and then everything is spray painted, in this case, gloss white.
[Above] Just as I began installing these, I realized they wouldn't sit flush to the wall because the hollow wall fasteners were slightly protruding from the wall. I solved this by drilling shallow wells around the screw holes in the back of each piece. What the eye does not see, the mind will not know.