So I have a lot of keychains and am always looking for new ways to show them off at my house. While looking around some different designs for this hanger I saw a lot of designs that used offset cubes to create depth and add more room for keychains. I decided I would take my own spin on this and build one that used a mild version of Shou Sugi Ban to add detail to the wood and end up with this cool hanger.

Watch it be made on YouTube:

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Here is the list of the materials you will need for this project:

Here are all the tools needed to complete this project:

Table Saw
Propane Torch
Nylon Wire Brush
220 Grit Sanding Block
A Variety of Clamps
A Drill W/ Philips bit and Small Twist Drill Bit
Hammer

All links are to what I used for this project but there are many different materials you can use instead.

Step 2: Step 1: Cutting the Wood

Before I started cutting the wood for this project, I measured my other keychain hangers to find the number of blocks I would need. For my size requirements, I decided to have the hanger be 3 blocks tall and 10 blocks wide. This means I needed 30 blocks so I measured out blocks, which ranged from 1/4" to 1" in height, and cut the first 35 marked out. This gave me enough variability in the pieces to organize the blocks in the way I thought looked best.

Step 3: Step 2: Preparing the Blocks

Once all the blocks were cut, I took them inside and lightly sanded them on a 220 Grit sanding block from the dollar store. All I wanted to do was to clean up any wood spurs which would keep me from gluing the wood together and to smooth the front of each block down to have a more even texture to burn.

Step 4: Step 3: Gluing It All Together

Ok, so once everything is sanded, its time to layout the woodblocks to our liking. If you watch the video you will notice I didn't measure and started by making a layout bigger than intended, 4x15 blocks, which I quickly fixed. The biggest thing to remember when organizing your blocks is that you don't want to blocks of similar size next to each other. Once you know your arrangement, you can start by gluing all the columns together to make it easier when trying to glue everything together. Then you can proceed to glue the columns together to create your final piece. I did not have large enough clamps to do it all at once so I glued the hanger first in 2 parts and then those 2 parts were connected into one. Then everything was left to dry for 24 hours to make sure the glue was fully dried.

Note: To keep the seams between blocks clean you can use a rag or a small sponge brush to wipe off any excess glue.

Step 5: Step 4: Burning the Wood (And Also Sealing)

Then comes the fun part, burning the wood. This is the easiest step of them all, all you have to do, and in a safe/ controlled environment, use the torch to burn the wood. This is known as Shou Sugi Ban, a method of burning wood commonly to waterproof it. I decided to burn the wood for aesthetic and to bring out the texture in the wood. You can burn this as much or as little as you want, it all depends on personal choice. Then once the wood has been burnt, use the brushes to clean it off any excess ash and then apply polyurethane to seal it if you want to. I ended up not using polyurethane and it held up great.

Another Note: Be careful when burning the wood, if you aren't paying attention and the wood isn't properly secured or sprayed down with water every so often, your hanger can warp very quickly. I forgot to spray mine but was luckily able to avoid major warping.

Step 6: Step 5: Adding the Hardware

Now to the final stretch, the hardware. This is pretty easy to do and only takes about 10 minutes. You first want to start by turning over the hanger and figuring out which blocks are the best to drill into. These blocks will the ones on the outmost columns and will be able to fit the entire screw without it showing on the front. You also want to take into account that you won't be able to put hooks into these blocks unless they are very long. Then once decided, you want to use the twist bit to pre-drill a hole smaller than the screw to avoid cracking the wood and then drill in the wall hangers. Once those are done you can turn it over and chose where you want your hooks to be. Again, make sure that the woodblocks are long enough to fit the hook's screw without it coming out of the other end. Then we go again with pre-drilling holes for the hooks and then hand screw the hooks into place. Make sure the screw is in and secure before moving on to avoid a loose hook.

Step 7: Step 6: Hanging It Up to Showcase

And it is done, almost. To finish up this project, all you need to do is chose your final location and add wall hooks to hang the keychain hanger. I marked out the points where to add the hangers on the wall with a blue sharpie, hammered the hangers into place and hung the keychain hanger. Then just add the keychains you think best fit and that's it. Now just go sit back, relax, and enjoy your work and keychains.