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Look! Copper Tubing Makes Great Pot Rack

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Better than store bought. At a good friend's for dinner last night, we loved the way they hung their pots from a built-in pot rack made of copper tubing. Turns out the previous owners built it and wanted to TAKE IT WITH THEM when they sold the apartment. Despite being nutty since this is bolted to the ceiling, it does speak to the fact that they really loved it.
 
 


To build one of these is tricky but everything can be bought at your local hardware store or lumber yard. Copper tubing gets cuts to size and inserted together (preferably welded with a light weld), and then screws are mounted into the ceiling to hold it. With sheetrock a simple expanding screwhead should do the trick, if you take it from a number of points. Though pots are heavy, 10 points of contact should be more than enough. (Thanks, George!) MGR

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Comments (14)

That looks REAL easy to do. All you need is your materials, a mini pipe cutter, a tape measure, a drill, screwdriver, and ceiling anchors (butterfly is best), but I'd definitely try to screw into a ceiling joist or something really solid. A lot of pots and pans could tear out the drywall, and you could have pots and pans landing on your head. Cast iron skillets hurt, we know this from Tom and Jerry cartoons.

posted by Aaron on 2005-04-28 15:53:58

Forgot to mention, you can just glue the sections together with epoxy, no need for soldering the joints.

posted by Aaron on 2005-04-28 15:55:50

Yeah, I wouldn't trust it hanging on drywall. Lots of toggle bolts through plaster and lathe - maybe. Screws into joists would be the best.

posted by Jon B on 2005-04-28 16:19:57

That is the coolest rack I've seen and it's expansive so it fits a lot of pans without crowding them.

Too bad I can't do something similiar.
I'm 5'3". If I had my husband build that sucker, he'd need to put it on pulley device so guests wouldn't be banging their heads.

Hmmmm.... Pulley system.....

posted by pantrygirl on 2005-04-28 16:46:01

I'm having a friend do this for me in a small room (8x8) that's my workroom/office. He's making me one that is almost the size of the room. I have all kinds of ornaments and birdhouses (which I love) that I got tired of keeping in the closet. I figure this way they don't take up valuable space and I can enjoy them all at one time, instead of rotating them around the apartment.

posted by mardi on 2005-04-28 19:13:43

They did a modified version this on the tv show where they redesign your house on the cheap. It was built onto the room divider, and screwed into the divider as well as the wall. They didn't solder it or epoxy it together, but rather used copper plumbing joinery. It looked super.

posted by Helena on 2005-04-28 19:29:33

Wow, I used 1/2" pipe as a drying rack in my kraptacular kitchen too. Copper tubing is cheap. And even though copper tubing bends easily, for use as a rack it's strong enough to hold a lot of weight without permanently deforming.

posted by kururu on 2005-04-29 07:53:42

HaHa, if you look at the pictures they didn't do a good job of planning when they built this. The pipe covers one of the lights in the picture. Good luck with changing that bulb. It does look good though.

posted by Jeff on 2005-04-29 10:22:17

Shortstuff- do what I did- mount it on the wall- thus you can reach it and no one will hit their heads on it. I have never had a kicthen big enough to have the rack hanging from the ceiling, but have been using wall mounted ones in several apts. Not only a space saver, but very pretty- that whole reddish gold color of nice copper.

posted by Max on 2005-04-29 11:00:13

to change the bulb they probably just slide the whole thing down six inches. it looks like it's only threaded through eyebolts on the side, not at the ends.

posted by Sadie on 2005-04-29 11:15:09

Maybe it's best seen in person, but I don't find it very exciting. Maybe it's just not my taste. However, everyone else seems to love it.

posted by Fiona on 2005-04-29 13:13:25

I love this idea. I used copper tubing to create a circular shower curtain rod above my claw-footed tub. I attached it to the ceiling with fishing wire. People like it even though it was just a quick fix because I couldn't find the real thing.

posted by Pietro on 2005-04-29 16:36:35

I agree fiona. Too industrial/unfinished for me. I would like it on a smaller scale.

posted by Cilla on 2005-05-01 01:48:42

I tend to disagree - Copper tubing DOES get expensive in the amounts used here. And overall aethestics considered, tubing and right-angle joints alone don't make a very versatile design, especially if you're looking for something with some curves or 'presence' to it. This looks just too home-made to me.

Better idea is to get a cheap $20 pot rack made of steel in a design you like, and paint it accent colors to your desired taste. The new hammered metal spray paints look identical to copper, gold or silver and you save a ton of $$ and time.

posted by Bob on 2005-06-06 16:15:06