Our first winter back in the snowy Northwoods, I installed a long Shaker peg board at the bottom of our basement stairs. With a water-catching outdoor rug beneath it, it gives our icy outdoor gear a place to defrost and drip dry.1 But, despite years where we've seen snow as early as October 12, or as late as May 17, we do have a portion of the year where we can put the snow gear away and use this space for other things.
I've always wanted to use it for motorcycle gear. That gear spends the winter Tetris'd into a tiny hall closet. The jackets and pants hang just fine on the pegs, of course, and boots can sit on the floor below. But helmets just don't fit. Even if I were willing to trust an S-hook through a D-ring to prevent a five-foot fall onto a tile-over-cement floor, two helmets side-by-side would align one of them for occasional smacks from the basement door.
And so, and idea based on the rest of Shaker furniture was born. While many of us think of these peg boards as coat hangers, the Shakers would hang other furniture from these pegs. Chairs, candle stands, even shelves.
This project included quite a bit of something I really enjoy: making something out of "leftovers". The only "new" wood in this project is the helmet shelves themselves. Everything else came out of the scrap bin. Primarily, the long slats are extras from my toboggan. It just happened that their curve was perfect to allow them to lay flat against the wall, and also land in the crook of the pegs.
But the piece is full of nested scraps of scraps as well. Look closer at the glove holders. The base of three of them are offcuts of the long rail supporting each helmet shelf, and the curved bit sticking out is a segment of the rest of the toboggan curve. The shelf on the top is also rimmed by offcuts of the shelf-support rails.
Weight? No, I'm not that worried. The whole unit is maybe ten pounds. Spread across three pegs, it will be fine. I've been hanging Aerostitch Darien pants on one peg for years without issue. The peg board itself is also anchored in wall studs. It's not going anywhere.
Scratching the wall? Also no worry. The reason it looks like it's not sitting flush against the wall is that it's held off 1/8 inch by cork pads adhered to several spots on the back.
Notes
1 I don't remember thinking it at the time, but this is probably where the idea for my guitar stand came from.⤣
Categories: Woodworking Motorcycle
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