If you would like to build your own, get the plans here.
I recently ran into a problem that I think a lot of woodworkers can relate to: I was working on a project with 60 panels that needed finishing, and my current drying rack just wasn’t cutting it. It was too clumsy and way too small. So instead of fighting with inadequate equipment, I decided to build myself a proper expandable drying rack. Let me walk you through how I did it.
Starting with the Right Material
I decided to build this thing out of poplar. Honestly, I only needed quarter-inch thick material, but I had this eight-quarter piece left over from a previous project, so I resawed it down to three-quarters and got it all milled up. Waste not, want not, right?
Making It Look Nice (Because I Can’t Help Myself)
Here’s the thing about me—I can never leave well enough alone. I had all my parts cut to length and width, but those square corners? They had to go. I wanted to round everything over and make it look nice. You know, just because that’s what I do.
So I made some jigs. I cut a piece of plywood the same width as my main leg, and since the swing arms were going to be about two inches, I matched that width on the other side. I also had a little support piece that needed rounding over.
The Layout Phase
Times like these, I really wish I had two band saws. The blade I had was kind of wide for cutting sharp curves, and I was feeling lazy about changing it out. But I pushed through and got to work on the layout.
I marked out where the decorative rounding would go on top, then laid out a slot that would be the moving mechanism—an inch and a half in. I also marked the midpoint for the mechanism and added another decorative curve on the bottom, plus a slot for the bottom bracket.
Routing the Grooves
I needed to cut a groove for the adjustable mechanism to slide in, so I pulled out my router. I mounted it onto my sled with adjustable runners that fit over the workpiece and lock into place. Pro tip: I put sacrificial foam board down so I didn’t cut into my workbench.
I marked out my start and stop points and took it in a couple of passes to make sure I didn’t bog down the router and create a bunch of tear-out.
Pattern Routing Made Easy
The jigsaw is a savage tool, and I only use it for the most barbaric tasks. Today seemed appropriate because I just wanted to hog out the big chunks to get close to the line. That way, when I pattern routed with my template and a pattern bit, it wouldn’t catch the end grain and blow out.
After I got the first piece done, instead of moving my jig around to each location, I just clamped the finished one onto the piece I still needed to route. Way more efficient—I could do it all in one pass.
Building the Moving Mechanism
For the cross brace moving mechanism, precision was key. I needed to make sure they were exactly the same length with holes drilled in exactly the same spots. This would ensure the mechanism wouldn’t bind up and would move freely.
I squared off one end of my cross braces and set up a stop at the miter saw so everything came out perfectly. I also rounded over the ends so those square corners wouldn’t get in the way as the pieces pivoted around.
Here’s a time-saving trick: I made one piece, drilled the hole, then clamped all the rest together to drill them. That way, the hole was in the exact same spot on each one, and I only had to do the layout once.
Creating the Knuckles
The knuckles are what the swing arms rotate inside of. I set up a dado blade with a jig to stand them up, clamped each piece in, and cut one side, flipped it over, and cut again. This guaranteed that the slot would be centered on the workpiece.
Yeah, I probably should have taken this cut in multiple passes because it was really big, but I just went really, really slow and did it in one pass. Then I flipped it around and did it again.
A Quick Fix for Blowout
I made a rookie mistake—I cut the slit before drilling the hole. This meant the material wasn’t supported and could cause a blowout when drilling. My solution? I just slid a piece of scrap material in there to give it support while drilling. Problem solved.
Assembly Time
This thing goes together like a sandwich: the back plate, then the center plate with the sliding notches, then the knuckles go between them, with boards on top and bottom. I needed to make two of them exactly the same so they’d pivot smoothly without binding.
Since this is just a shop fixture and not fine furniture, I sped things up by using my brad nailer instead of clamping everything. I made sure to stay on the outside edges when nailing—I didn’t want to drill through a brad later when adding the supports.
The Support System
I decided to use half-inch conduit as my support to lay material across while it dries. To build my drilling jig, I sacrificed an inch off one of the supports to use as a stop.
Here’s a trick I learned from my first job working in a bridge construction company’s fabrication shop: I made a jig with a pipe reference system. After drilling the first hole, I’d pick up the jig, slide it over, and drop it down over the pipe. This locked it in place for the next hole. I did this all the way down the line—no measuring or laying out each hole individually. Big time saver.
Adding Mobility
For the feet, I attached casters with a half-lap joint. And here’s where I’ll probably lose some people: instead of wasting money on threaded inserts, I just tapped the wood directly. Last time I showed this in a video, people lost their minds like they didn’t think it was possible or a good idea. But you know what? It’s worked out really well every single time for me.
Final Adjustments
After opening and closing the rack a dozen times or so, I noticed a flaw in my design. When I tried to operate it, the top part would start to close before the bottom, and the cross braces would get out of sync and bind up. Not every time, but enough to be annoying.
My solution? I installed a cross brace linking the two components together so that as one starts to close, it forces the other to close too. This took out all that slop, and now it operates nicely and smoothly.
I also had a concern about a weak spot where there wasn’t much meat going across the grain. Even though it hadn’t broken yet, I drilled a hole all the way through and cross-pinned it with a dowel. This added some blue strength and should prevent it from breaking if it ever gets stressed enough.
The Finished Product
The final result? An expandable drying rack that’s both functional and looks pretty darn good. You can put pieces on both sides, slide supports out for wider panels, adjust for shorter panels—tons of capacity. The top shelf is a bit of a stretch, but honestly, I’ve been wanting one of these for a long time, and it was worth the build.
If you’re drowning in panels that need finishing, I highly recommend building one of these for your shop. It’s made my workflow so much smoother, and now I’m actually looking forward to finishing projects instead of dreading the drying process.
I’m the owner of Benham Design Concepts, a mixed media art studio where I design and build custom furniture and other works of art using wood, glass, stone, and various metals.
In this blog, I talk about the art I create, my journey, and the things I learn along the way.