I viewed a few marble drying racks during my recent travels in England, and decided to finally make some for my ArtStart studio.
Andy English in his studio in Ely, and a marble drying rack overhead holding some art.
First step making large holes using my small drill press.
With the final shape of the openings drawn with a pencil I used a jigsaw to “rough” out most of the wood.
Here is my laminate router and template setup that produces the finished 12 shapes cut out of each board.
Before the template is clamped on, the hole is aligned as well as the bottom.
After the routing, getting a smoother and consistent opening compared to only using a jigsaw.
A hobbyist wire bender mounted in a small vise was used to make the bent stainless steel rods that keep the marbles in place.
It took a while to get the bent rod shapes consistent. First step bending the two ends, second step the right angle bend.
Next up precise hole drilling for holding the bent rods & assembly of the 4 marble racks. (I used the routing template to mark the holes.)
The new marble racks in use, hanging just inked prints back to back I can now dry 96 prints (and not use up all my tabletop space.)
And finally editioning my wood engraving of a pine cone.