Simple Coat Hangers Made From Wood & 3d Printed Parts

I was on a mission to create a coat hanger for a wall niche I have in my house. I like working with wood, so initially I was searching the internet for "wood coat hanger" but then ran into this cool video on youtube that showed a coat hanger made of wood and simple 3d printed parts, which really excited me!!
(This was the original video that inspired me)

I don't have many woodworking tools (most importantly a table saw) so I didn't do it exactly like in the video. Also I wanted to try my own version.

I ended up doing something really similar, and very simple to make. Hope this helps spread the inspiration :)

Supplies

1. A few slabs of 10cm pine wood
2. A woodworking router - If you're getting into woodworking or even just do something small once in a while, you really should get a router. This is the most versatile tool for a woodworker.
3. A power driver or hammer drill - I attached this to a cement wall in my house so I used a makita hammer drill.
4. 3d printer - I printed these on a Prusa MINI, but basically any 3d printer will do.

(Some of these links are affiliate links. It's just a convenient way of me getting a little back, without affecting you in any way.)

In addition, you'll obviously want some screws to attach to the wall and possibly some sandpaper to smooth the wood. I wanted the 'pure' natural look of the wood so I didn't cover it in any lacquer or oil, but you can if you want to protect the wood or give it a nice stain.

Step 1: Preparing the Wood

I matched the length of the wood to look good in the niche I was hanging it in. I was making 3 pieces, so 2 of them came out to be 40cm long and the one in the middle a little shorter. I decided on the length just with my eye.

I cut the wood with a jigsaw, but you can use a hand saw, circle saw, or anything else basically.

Now you need to make 2 grooves on the edges of the slab. This was the trickiest part for me, since I just never done this kind of 'cut' before. I lent a router from a friend for this, but after that decided immediately that I need to buy one myself. This is by far the most versatile tool you can get for woodworking projects.

The measurements of the wood - length, width, size of the grooves you make all don't matter that much, because you can adjust the plastic piece to fit your wood slab. I didn't decide on exact measurements of the groove, I just made what looked good/reasonable, measured it, and then designed the matching plastic part in fusion360.

I don't suggest you trying to make the same exact size as I did, since you're bound to run into minor differences that will be hard to fit.

Using the router -

I chose a straight router bit, cause I wanted to make a square cut. I adjusted the routers guard to make sure the depth of it will be consistent, and then started making the groove with the router.

If this is the first time you're using a router, then take it slow. Even though pine wood is relatively soft, I went over the edge of the wood a few times until i reached the guard i put in place. You don't want to take off a lot of wood with each pass. Doing so can damage your wood.

Final preparation -

Now I drilled 3 small holes in the wood for where the screws will go. This is important for 2 reasons:

1. To mark the exact spots of the holes to drill in the wall for hanging.
2. Making a small hole will guide the screw in the right direction.

Step 2: Designing & Printing the Plastic Parts

Designing a piece like this in fusion360 should be fairly simple, but if you're not familiar with fusion360, then I really suggest watching some of their online free guides. Their more than enough for designing a piece like this.

I started by sketching the profile of the wood piece I prepared in fusion. No need to turn this into a 3d model, since it's only for sketching around this.
Then I sketched the shape of the plastic that will wrap around the wood. The places that 'wrap' the would should have a small buffer, so the fit won't be too tight. I added ~0.6mm on each part that wraps the wood, so it will slide on/off easily. I wanted to have the ability to also change colors, or change the design in the future if I want to.

After sketching the profile of the plastic, I extruded it by 2cm. Added some fillets and chamfers for rounding corners, and that's about it.

Once done designing this in fusion360, I wanted to test if the size was good before printing one, so I sliced the model in PrusaSlicer, and printed the first 2 layers. Then I had a thin piece the same size of the plastic hanger to check on my piece of wood for size.
Once I knew the size was perfect, I printed a few 'full' plastic hangers.

Printed these all on my Prusa MINI with black PLA. I used 100% infill cause I wanted it to be solid, to make sure it's strong enough to hold a heavy coat or backpack I want to hang.

(If you're new to 3dprinting, I strongly recommend a Prusa MINII as a first entry level printer. If you're looking for something cheaper, then Ender3 are also good enough).

Step 3: Hanging on the Wall

Hanging them on the wall is really straight forward. The only thing you might want to think about before hand is how to make sure it's straight.

This is how I tackled this -

I made 3 holes to guide the screws that will hang the wood. I took the screws I will hang this with, and screwed them into the wood, so they would still out just a bit from the back of the wood.
Then I placed the wood on the wall where I wanted to hang it, put a level on top of it to make sure it's straight, and then pressed it against the wall with my hands. Since the screws were sticking out the back, they made a small dent in the wall exactly where i needed to drill.
I immediately marked these small dents with a pencil so I wouldn't lose their spot. Then drilled the holes, placed in dowels (cause my walls are concrete, you might not need dowels) and screwed the wood on the wall.

Step 4: Placing the Plastic on and Hanging Your Coat :)

Finally I printed a few more hangers, and spaced them on the wood how I wanted to.

Hung my coats on it, drank a beer, and enjoyed my work :)

Hope this helps you!

Comments

[shloime]

i love the look of your design, especially the shape of the hooks, and the contrast with the natural pine. plus the sliding hooks would be great for hanging different kinds of stuff.

but because i’m more comfortable working with clamps than with routers, i’d probably prefer gluing together a couple of smaller pieces of wood to make the back.

[GillyB2]

Gluing a couple of pieces of wood will definitely work as well. I actually thought of that too, since this was my first time using a router. In the end, I'm happy I tried the router and gained that experience as well.

Thanks :)
I actually thought a lot if I should cover the pine with some lacquer or paint but decided to go for the natural look. I doubt anything will damage the wood here and even if it does, it will be very easy to redo/replace.

[klatsky2014]

I really like your coat hanger. It's some what easy to build, and you could sell a lot of them. I know I would buy a few. I live in Massachusetts and we refer to your project as Yankee Ingenuity. Keep up the good work and stay safe. You coat rack is really nice in my mind. Thanks, Howard K.

[GillyB2]

Thanks for your kind words.
Not interested in selling them (at the moment at least), but i'm happy you like them :)

[s12079]

tuirifj

[NirL]

1) I love the final result! I really like combinations of different methods creating the best of both worlds. I also have just simple tools and finding a way to make them work is always a challenge. Well done!
2) I love that you gave that new YouTube channel the credit for the inspiration!
Thanks for sharing! :)

[GillyB2]

Thanks, and you're welcome!
Credit is always important!!