Make a Zen Garden Rake for your Ashtray

This is how to make miniature Zen Garden Rake for use wherever. I was planning on raking some public ashtrays and leaving them for others to rake it.
If you wanted you could also use these in your own tiny Zen garden or bring them with you for a quick Zen fix anywhere that has sand.

Step 1 What you need

1/2 in. dowel
1/4 in. dowel
1/8 in. dowel
Wood Glue
Pencil
Measuring tape
Sandpaper

Comments

[SiouxzQzz]

We enjoyed making several of these little rakes yesterday... used all of our 1/4" dowel, and most of the 1/8". Now have several extras to give as gifts. We used a hand saw and handheld drill (centering the crossbars in the groove of a ruler to keep it steady.)

One note is that this produces a good sized rake, not a tiny little thing. As such, we felt the minimum garden size it works in to be about 11" x 17" or so.

Thanks for sharing a fun project the entire family enjoyed!

[Breann, yo.]

Funniest darn thing I've seen in awhile.

[woelfwynde]

Nice idea. However, I would hate to go through all that work just to have someone with less talent and sticky fingers to walk away with all my hard work. Hmmmm.

[Azayles]

I love the idea of leaving the rakes in public places like ashtrays for others to use, kinda like open source zen gardening! Brilliant!

[b1russell]

Great constructions - thanks!  But how to manage without the completely-tooled shop?!?!?  (I have NO power tools!)  Wooden barbecue skewers work great for the teeth - maybe the handle, too?  Ooh, ooh!  That broken tapestry dowel now has a re-purpose!

Thanks again!  Many thanks!

[headlessbubble]

I made my own version of this from toothpicks and a chopstick
good instructable!

[drummonkey92]

a while ago i made a mini zen stone garden and it looked realy nice.....but i had to use a plastic fork as a rake which realy took away from the cool wooden frame i made. now iv seen this im definately making another one! awsum instructable and idea!!! also,i realy like the idea of using them for ashtrays

[shireinthecity]

my first thought when I saw this was "I've always wanted one of these," but for a nice catbox-sized box for my action figures and sweet sweet serenity.

[GorillazMiko]

Wow, great job! My dad would definitely love these, the other day, me and my brother just destroyed (not completely) his rake... sparks look really cool, especially from rakes! Nice job, +1 rating, excellent job.

[inquisitive]

I am making a desk Zen garden (out of an old picture frame or ashtray) for my cubicle cell at work to keep my cool when the crazies are calling in. I think those public ashtrays should come with one of these chained to it, but the smell may distract from the Zen.

[Sergeant Crayon]

EXCELLENT instructable! However, you should never cut cylindrical stock on a scroll/band saw! Safety first! (I love being a tool)

[Karel Jansens]

I never got these Zen garden rakes.

Truly, real Zen gardening should be with no rake, yes?

[mrbob1000]

im making one... the glue is drying... also. to keep the teeth straight. LIGHTLY clamp in a vice...