My friend is an avid fisherman and has quite a collection of rods and
reels. He asked me to build him some sort of storage rack for all his gear and this
is what I built for him.
This project was made using ½" and ¾" plywood. There are two
sections: a lower section to support the fishing poles store the extra reels, and an upper
section to hold the tops of the poles. The lower section is 29½" wide by 13" tall.
The top of the box has 17 holes to hold the bottom ends of the fishing poles.
I cut these holes through a piece of ¾" plywood using a 2¼" hole saw in my drill
press. Then I attached another piece of plywood beneath it to create the flat-bottomed
holes. I rounded over the edges inside the holes with a ¼" roundover router bit.
The storage box was an afterthought. After I had finished the
project (I thought), my friend asked if I could put a storage box with a door underneath
the lower section. So, I extended the sides, and added a bottom and a door.
The box is 9" deep so there is plenty of room for extra reels. The door is
held in the closed position with 3 pairs of magnets along the top edge of the door and
case. The magnets are recessed into the wood so they are flush with the surface.
The upper section of this rack is 29½" wide by 6" tall. I cut
these holes through a piece of ¾" plywood using a 1¾" hole saw (slightly smaller than the
holes in the lower section) in my drill press. I rounded over the edges of the
holes, on both the top and bottom sides, using a ¼" roundover router bit.
My favorite part of this piece is the door handle. I cut the handle
on my bandsaw out of 5/8" thick poplar. I drew the fish shape myself. I stained
the handle with a polyurethane Red Oak stain. The handle is mounted on a small ½"
plywood riser so that it sits up off of the door.
The whole project was finished with one coat of clear polyurethane just
to give it some moisture resistance.