My Magnetic Knife Rack...erm...Pipe Stand!

[balkisobrains]

Someone on the internet posted their re-purposed magnetic knife rack as a pipe stand. Theirs was pretty fancy, which was cool, but I wanted to do one for under $75. Really I wanted to do one for under $50, but you know how that goes. I found the rack on Amazon for $35. You can pick real, solid, walnut, maple, or oak, and they are well-built here in the USA. I didn't like the color of the waxed natural walnut when sitting on my pipe cabinet, so in a nutshell, I stripped the wax with Palmolive and a scrub brush, knocked down the standing grain with sandpaper, hit it with brown Fieblings alcohol dye, washed it again briefly with Palmolive and a tooth brush to clear the grain of excess dye, and then sealed it with Minwax spray urethane. The grain is pretty open so you can see some crevices, but it is all laid-down and sealed. Then I put some thin rubber pads on the bottom, and some 3/4" medium-duty felt pads on top. Finally I bought some 1/2" spherical neodymium magnets on ebay, 2 four-packs for $20 shipped, and set to work arranging some pipes on my new knife rack. Er, pipe-stand. I put this together a while ago, but I just got rid of the 3/4" pads and went to 1" medium-duty (not heavy duty, they are too thick) felt pads, as the additional adhesive on these should be less likely to lift around the edges due to the pressure in the center, while the additional felt should also provide a little more friction on the bottom of the pipe. (The pipes like to "steer" a little, like a compass needle, if the magnets and the pipes are not positioned right where they need to be on the pads.)
These pics are pretty crappy. Flash-on, you can see the felt under the pipes, and the "no-slip" rubber pads under the bottom of the stand. These are not really visible in reality, which is nice because the pipes appear to be floating above the stand, and the stand appears to be floating above the surface beneath it.

Flash off. This is closer to how it appears in reality.

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[Chasing Embers]

So altogether, you have a magnetic stand for five pipes for $55? Looks great! I have one of Neal Yarm's pieces, and it only holds three pipes. Was lucky, and scored it on eBay a while back for under $50 unused, but retail on those is ridiculous! Bravo brother! :clap:

 

[cossackjack]

Very nice Champagne Rack on a Beer Budget, so to speak. Well done.

May try one for a few of my display-worthy pipes.

 

[jvnshr]

Nice.

 

[balkisobrains]

chasingembers

So altogether, you have a magnetic stand for five pipes for $55? Looks great! I have one of Neal Yarm's pieces, and it only holds three pipes. Was lucky, and scored it on eBay a while back for under $50 unused, but retail on those is ridiculous! Bravo brother! :clap:

I was looking at the basic Yarm 5-pipe magnetic stand at P&C on sale for $125, but they never came back in stock. They have 3-pipers now for $100 though.
I probably ended up spending closer to $85 if you include buying the wider felt pads after buying the smaller ones, plus the dye and the urethane spray, but I did buy the dye for something else already, and the color-change is optional, so it's possible to exclude those from anyone elses total, and they should just go for the 1" felt pads from the beginning.
I just looked up what I bought from these guys "Tastywood" on Amazon, and it is on sale right now for $19.99 and free shipping on orders over $49. Seems like they only have walnut in stock though. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018EU3HYI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I paid $35 for the knife rack, but one could get it for ~$20 right now.

The 1" felt pads I ordered on ebay because I could not find 1" in medium duty thickness at home depot, but they were ~$6 shipped for an 8-pack.

The 2"(?) circular rubber pads on the bottom were probably $5.

The 8 magnet balls were $20. I had to buy two packs to get 5.
So someone could do what I did, minus the dye and the sealer, for right around $50, or $40 if you want to get one pack of magnets and run four pipes. The spacing might get odd. While the magnets in the knife holder are bar magnets end-to-end, the fact that the balls are also magnetic prevents you from putting them just anywhere you want along the bar magnets. You could probably space four out fairly equally though.
It's got keyholes on the bottom, too, although I wasn't going to put screws into my tobacco desk to anchor it down, so I have to hold this thing down with my finger when I pull a pipe off. I'm not sure if I would trust my 1/2" magnets in a wall-mount situation either, but the keyholes are there.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Though I paid under $50, the tag read $300! 8O So with a brilliant feat of repurposing, you did an amazing job at a fraction of what some are selling for.

 

[balkisobrains]

Thanks Duane! That's a nice setup you have there too.
Here's a full parts list (excluding the dye and the urethane spray sealer) if anyone else wants to do this.
Knife holder:
Tastywood 12" Walnut Magnetic Knife Strip / Wooden Knife Holder ($34.99, $19.99 on sale now, possible to get free amazon shipping)
https://www.amazon.com/Tastywood-Walnut-Magnetic-Wooden-Holder/dp/B018EU3HYI/ref=lp_13558828011_1_1?srs=13558828011&ie=UTF8&qid=1478025860&sr=8-1
Magnets:
1/2 Inch Strong Neodymium Rare Earth Sphere Magnets N48 (4 Pack) ($9.99, free shipping)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-Inch-Strong-Neodymium-Rare-Earth-Sphere-Magnets-N48-4-Pack-/161762870913?hash=item25a9d18681:g:qpcAAOSwa-dWjrwa
Felt pads:
Stanley S845-315 1" Round Medium Duty Self Adhesive Brown Felt Pads Pack Of 8 ($4.49, free shipping)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stanley-S845-315-1-Round-Medium-Duty-Self-Adhesive-Brown-Felt-Pads-Pack-Of-8-/141855408482?hash=item21073dc162:g:3b4AAOSwnH1WZdt6
Rubber pads:
Everbilt 1.5" self adhesive pads, non-skid, pack of 8 ($2.48 bought locally at Home Depot)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-1-2-in-Self-Adhesive-Anti-Skid-Surface-Pads-8-per-Pack-49970/203661152

 

[Chasing Embers]

Just bookmarked this page. I feel a project coming on!

 

[ejames]

Nice piece ! I like the magnetic pipe racks and the way the pipes sit on them. After seeing some of Neal Yarms work I made one from some scrap lumber I had laying around.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Just bookmarked this page. I feel a project coming on!

I'm thinking the same thing. I've wanted one of Neal Yarm's stands for a while, but until then, this will work. :D

 

[balkisobrains]

Took a pic of the bottom. Originally, I started off with the circular non-slip pads, and then added the quarter-circle pieces after I realized that the stand would rock forwards a little when holding it down with a finger while removing a pipe. It would be better to have thinner material that is one piece covering the whole bottom, so maybe someone else can come up with a better solution there. Sorry, I can't get the second pic to go right-side-up, despite attempting to rotate/save it twice in two different programs.


Here's a pic of the felt pads on top. Best thing to do when sticking these down is to leave the paper covering over the adhesive and position them with the pipes and magnets in place. Once you have them all set up where you want them to be, remove a pipe and stick a pin through the middle of the pad and into the wood. Then you can remove the pad and take off the paper, push the pin far enough through so you can see the end to re-locate it back into the mark in the wood, and then push the pad home. You can see how the two pads on the right for my 602s are further towards the back edge than the rest. All of the pipes line up fairly evenly across the front though. As I had hoped for, these 1" medium-duty pads stick a lot better than the 3/4" ones after a pipe has been sitting on it for a while.

Plus, I found that a creature had moved in!

He's a lapel-pin that I found on the ground one day. Cheap metal with plating and a black wash, and green glass eyes. The pin-part is steel, the magnets hold him in place. If you pull him towards the edge, he will slowly slide backwards, back into place.


Has anyone else done one of these yet? I've been pretty happy with mine.

 

[montalslog]

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I just came across this - I love it!
I have limited square footage, and this would work perfectly mounted on a wall near my desk.
So if I'm understanding correctly, you just plop the spherical magnet in the bowl, and by nature of its strength, it holds the pipes through tension against the pads?
I've never liked 95% of pipe stands I've seen, but this seems like just the thing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[balkisobrains]

Thanks montalslog, I still like my stand a lot too! They still seem to be in stock, but $25 bucks now. (Still cheaper than what I paid.)

If you are hanging it on a wall, you might want to go with these 1/2" sphere magnets. These are N52, rather than N48, so they have a stronger field.

I don't know if there are any more powerful 1/2" spherical Neo magnets out there, but if so, the "N" number will be higher.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/222301791089?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
I just checked with my stand, and with the 1/2" N48s that I have, the pipes stay put when the stand is held "on edge" vertically, but they seem like they want to slide down, so things like vibrations from footsteps or doors closing might cause them to slip off. So I'm not sure if I would trust my magnets in the vertical plane. You would probably want more powerful magnets, or implement an extra felt lip on the bottom edge of the felt pad in hopes of providing a stop.

 

[balkisobrains]

I was thinking about this a little bit today, and what you might want to do if you are going to try and hang it on the wall, is use thin 1" rubber non-slip adhesive discs where the pipes will go, instead of the felt. Possibly cut out and attach a narrow "smiley face" shaped piece of adhesive felt on top of the 6'o'clock area of the rubber disc to act as a stop. Also I'd probably still go with the more powerful N52 1/2" sphere magnets. If you can find even more powerful 1/2" magnets that that, maybe even go with those instead. Just remember that they are powerful and it's easy lose your handle on the magnets and to get two bowls stuck together or have a magnet connect itself to the side of another bowl, or have it fly into the wood of the stand. In addition, I would still go with the rubber pads on the back side, since you might get some vibration dampening that way and still be able to attach it firmly. If they turn out to be a problem, just peel them off and adjust the screws down a little. I would test it one pipe at a time with some lighter pipes that you don't mind slipping onto the floor.

 

[alexnorth]

Well done sir! Personally, even if it cost me roughly the same amount as a new one I would still prefer to have one made by my own hands. That sure adds some personal value.

 

[balkisobrains]

I went back over to the Tastywood site on Amazon about a month ago, and he had four or six different types of wood available, so I made a mental note of it. I went back very recently to buy one, and I think that he may have gone out of business.
=(
That is too bad, because these were very good quality products.
If anyone else has adapted these as I have, post them up with your pipes on them, I would like to see how they look!
:puffpipe:

 

[craiginthecorn]

I saw similar racks at the Chicago Pipe Show and had thought that one day, I might make one myself. The only thing is, I'm beginning to think I need to build a cabinet with "museum glass" to filter UV light in order to protect my vulcanite stems from oxidizing. I'm hearing good things about how Obsidian Oil and a product called Blue Magic Plastic Polish dramatically reduces oxidation. Maybe that's good enough. Still one of these to hold a few pipes for short-term display would be cool in any case.
Thanks for sharing the idea!

 

[balkisobrains]

All of my stuff is plastic, so not a worry at this point. Look like I'll have to post some pics, no thanks to gosuckit.

 

[balkisobrains]

Here's an older pic of what it looks like.

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