Folding Coat Hook

I've been wanting to make this folding coat hook design for a while, it's an easy build and in it's simplest form can be completed in a day.These two are made using pine but you could a range of wood and perhaps it would last longer than pine.

I have a YouTube video showing the process as well as a Skillshare class showing how to carve this particular font in much more detail where only bench or straight chisels are needed.

Tools :

- Wood Saw (general crosscut, ryoba, table saw, bandsaw etc.)

- Coping Saw

- Drill (hand or power)

- 1cm Drill Bit

- Square, Pencil and Rule

- Clamps

- Hand Plane or Sandpaper (or Sander, thicknesser etc.)

- Optional Bench chisels to carve the letters and a mallet

Materials :

- Pine board 8cm X 16cm X 2cm (that size isn't essential, you could adapt the design to all different sizes)

- Sandpaper

- 1cm dowel about 5cm long

- Wood glue

- Varnish (or whatever wood finish you'd like)

- Optional Paint for letters or whatever design you might want

I took a piece of pine and cut two squares from it to the measurements on the plans. I then used my Ryoba saw to cut one of those pieces into three sections, the middle section slightly wider.

After that I took each piece to my planing board and planed down the edges that would touch, making sure to keep each piece square.

I held the three pieces next to each other and lined them up, then I used a square to draw across all three. I followed that line around to the inside faces of each piece.

Taking the 1cm bit I drilled a hole all the way through the centre of the middle piece (the hook) and about 1.5cm deep into each of the outside pieces. I then cut a piece of wood 5cm long and 1.5cm X 1.5cm (just above the desired 1cm diameter) and shaved it down a little with my knife before hitting it through the dowel plate. You dont need a dowel plate you could just whittle the piece down or buy a piece of pre made dowel from a hardware store.

The dowel should go through the central piece with and equal amount protruding from each side, it doesn't need to be glued in but you can glue it if you want. It might be a good idea also to sand around the ends a bit so they don't catch onto the other holes.

You can then insert the dowel into the two neighbouring pieces. After that I laid these pieces on top of the other piece of wood and pointed the hook upwards so I could get a pencil in there to mark the position of the space that needed to be cut out. This cut out will allow the hook to not only bend out but will determine at what angle the hook stops. So when doing this piece, consider what angle you want the hook at before cutting.

I cut down this piece with a saw and then cut the piece out with a coping saw. I cleaned it up with a chisel though that's not necessary as it wont really be seen.

For the glue up I clamped the pieces together tightly at the hook joint and applied glue to the other two pieces to be glued to the back board. I left the hook partially up during the glue up to stop any glue getting on the hook.

Because I planed the hook pieces down a little, they ended up thinner than the back piece. In order to make it square (you don't have to, this was just this particular design) I planed down the edges with my hand plane.

I then decided to carve my initials with this particular font that requires no gouges or curved chisels. I have a Skillshare class showing how to carve this font with ordinary bench chisels that you may already have or that are cheap to purchase. You can have a look at the class here - How to Carve Letters into Wood

I thought the hook would be better with a slight curve to it so that it was not only easier to hold when opening but also more gentle on whatever you hooked on it. I probably should have done this before hand though. I also painted inside the letters, once again totally optional.

This step is kind of optional depending how you want to fix it to wherever it's going. For these hooks I drilled two small holes with a 3mm drill bit and screwed them to a wooden wall. I also tried another design which was made to look more like a pebble or stone.

I applied black paint to the "rock" hook and sanded it a away a bit before varnishing both hooks with an interior varnish. I deliberately made the fit of the hook tight but you may want to have it a little looser for ease of use. You could also go with a more loose fit and maybe try adding magnets to keep the hook upright when not in use.

Thank you so much for having a look at this Instructable, please have a look at my YouTube channel or come and chat to me on Twitch where I'm live and woodworking from Monday to Friday.