October 31, 2011
Nation's Building News

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Tips and Techniques
Builders’ Tip: Creating a Simple Drying Rack for Freshly Painted Balusters

  
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Here’s a simple drying rack I created for hanging freshly painted balusters. It’s made with a couple of sawhorses and 8-foot-long 2x2s.

Here’s what I did:

  • I cut dovetailed slots in the 2x2s, drove drywall screws into the balusters and hung the balusters by the screw heads in the slots.

  • I cut the slot on a table saw, starting with an angled kerf down the center of a 2x2, as shown in the accompanying drawing.

  • Then I turned the 2x2 end-for-end and ran it over the blade again, cutting an opposing angle.

  • A third pass with the blade brought back to 90 degrees cleaned out the slot, which supported the shoulders of the drywall screw.

  • Next, I drilled a couple of access holes for screw heads (1/2-inch diameter) into the dovetailed channel.

  • Before painting, I drove a 2-inch screw into the end of each baluster.

  • After painting, I slipped the balusters into the slots to dry.

By the way, the screws are really useful when I’m handling the freshly painted pieces.

— Brian Everest: Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
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