Classical Guitar Pegheads-shaped Display Rack/coathanger

Hello everyone! What I have for you today is a display rack for my brother's concert passes, shaped like the machine heads of a classical guitar. As I mention in the title, this project could be very easily converted to a coathanger if done with sturdy enough materials.

Since its main purpose in my case was to hang a few light objects, I did not put much attention to the pegheads. I actually made the entire project with scrap wood from other projects and a few other materials... and I didn't have any big wooden dowel!

Since I used only scrap pieces I had laying around, I really cannot make a precise list of materials, but I'll try (here's the list of what I used).

Supplies

- A long wooden board (I used a 10cm wide, 0.9cm thick board)

- The same wood for the gears and for a few other bits

- Thin plywood for the tuning caps

- Thick plywood for the hanging mechanism

- Cardboard tube

- Pvc pipe

- Wallpaper with marble texture

- A sheet of black foam

Step 1: Drawing and Cutting the Inlay Design

Here you actually have full freedom, because no peghead is equal to another. I took a reference photo from the internet and used it to trace the design you see in the pictures. I used the full width and almost the full length of the board I had.

To make it symmetrical, you can draw half of it, fold the paper and then cut it and trace it onto the wood. The inlay design may be traced onto the wood with copy paper.

Once you're happy with the inlay design, you can carefully cut it out with a scalpel. I recommend using a soft wood and making not too deep cuts (they will be highlighted later with darkening paint).

Don't forget to leave some space to fit the gears.

Step 2: Cutting the Board and the Gears

After the inlay is finished, you can cut the board to its final shape. For the closed loops I made a hole with a drill and then used a fretsaw.

You may also use some sandpaper now, because we will soon paint the board. I used finer and finer sandpaper up to 240 grit.

Step 3: Making the Helical Gears and Pegheads

First, you have to make a few small rectangles of the same wood of the board and glue them to it as shown in the first picture. They will have to be big enough so that the helical gears can fit in.

For the helical gears I used a cardboard tube wrapped in black foam, with a thin strip of the same material to make the teeth of the gear, as you can see in the pictures. You have to make three of them.

You also have to cut the pegheads out of plywood and glue the marble-textured wallpaper onto them. A good method would be to glue the front, make many little cuts around the edge and then fold them. Do the same on the other side and then glue one last strip of wallpaper all around the peg.

Cut some more cardboard tube and fold it as shown in the last pictures, pasting it to the marble peg. I recommend to cut out a few plywood circles and inserting them into the cardboard tube (see last picture) in order to make it easier to glue on the final product.

You may want to change this whole step in case you want to make a coathanger. I would recommend to use a thick wooden dowel instead of cardboard, and securing it with screws.

Step 4: Darkening the Wood (optional)

This step is optional, but I think it gives the piece a bit of contrast and it makes it a lot nicer. I used two layers of "antique walnut" paint and a clear coat (after I glued the wooden gears). In the second picture you can see a preview of the mounted mechanism.

Step 5: Making the Wall Mounting Mechanism

You now have to cut 3 equal pieces of pvc pipe (I also wrapped them in black tape) and 4 matching circles of thick plywood. Make sure to align 3 of the circles to the back of the 3 wooden gears and then glue them. You can now glue the two pvc pipes on the left and on the right, but make sure not to glue the middle one: this one is different.

The pvc pipe in the middle will have plywood circles on both ends:

- you can now glue the plywood circle to end that will face the wall. Make a hole in the middle to fit a fischer screw.

- the other end will have two small holes in the sides (see picture). These will be used to lock everything in place once the piece is mounted on the wall (it won't be glued, so you can take it off the wall whenever you want).

Step 6: Gluing Everything Together

The display rack is almost finished. You only have to glue everything together. In the pictures you can see a few details of the finished piece.

Step 7: Wall Mounting and Done!

You only have to mount the middle pvc pipe (the one closed on one end, with a hole) to the wall using a fischer screw (and a washer, I'd recommend). Then, you can fit the middle plywood circle that was pasted on the back of the board in the previous steps right into this pvc pipe, then put in the small screws on the sides. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of this step, except afterwards...

The giant machine heads can be mounted as you can see in the picture or upside down, depending on your taste :)

Thank you for your attention and let me know if you build one yourself! Follow me on instagram @fabcolella if you want :D