I've wanted a hanging pot rack for some time and saw one at a friends house a year or so ago that I really liked. It was made of steel hanging from some chains, so I did an inventory of tools and materials, and found I had most of what I needed at hand.

Step 1: Materials

what I used was old bed rails that I got from the local freecycle community (check them out at freecycle.org). and some 3/16 rod from the local steelyard some number 2 straight link chain and some J hooks from the hardware store. for tools I have a small wire feed welder received as a christmas gift a few years ago and dewalt angle grinder purchased at the pawn shop along with the usual measuring and marking tools.

Step 2: Measure and Cut

measure twice and cut once, good rule to live by. my bed rails were 3in shy of 72 and I wanted my pot rack 18in by 3ft so I had to cut and weld a 3in piece to get 2 three foot pieces.... or so I thought I could have saved a little time and material (grinder disc and welding wire) by just cutting a 3ft and 18in piece from each bed rail. Oh well better luck next time.

Step 3: Welding

OK I'm no welder, I'm much better with a grinder than a welder but sometimes I do an ok job but most all of my welds get turn with the grinder so as long as I get good penetration I can clean it up

Step 4: Paint and Hang

I used rustoleum multicolor textured paint to give it a nice dark gray color and texture to hide my rough work. overall I'm happy with the result and I've got my first project of the year done.
I started on the second and finished and hung on the third day of 2009.