Mug rack from boat-dock cleats
If you've ever pulled a rotten dock and saved the cleats, this is the project for them. Cast aluminum boat cleats, screwed to a piece of cedar, mounted on the wall under the coffee station. Mugs hang from the horns. The rack looks like it was always there. If you don't have salvaged cleats, the marine-supply store sells them for ten dollars apiece - they're worth it.
Materials
- Four cast-aluminum boat cleats, four to six inch
- Cedar 1x6, 24 inches long
- Eight stainless #10 wood screws, 1.25 inch
- Two keyhole picture-frame hangers
- Sandpaper
- Spar varnish or tung oil
Tools
- Drill with countersink bit
- Mitersaw or handsaw
- Speed square
- Pencil
- Tape measure
- Random-orbit sander
Build it
Cut and sand the backboard
Cut the cedar to 24 inches. Sand to 180. Round all four corners by hand with the sander - cedar that has been outdoors for a few seasons will already have rounded corners, so match the look you want.
Lay out the cleat positions
Mark four cleat centers on the cedar, evenly spaced, about five inches apart, centered top to bottom. The cleats need enough room between them that a coffee mug hung from one cleat doesn't bump the next. Five inches is the minimum for standard mugs - measure your favorite one and add an inch.
Drill mounting holes through the cleats
Most cast cleats have two through-holes already cast into the base. Use them as templates - clamp the cleat to the cedar at its mark and drill pilot holes through the cleat into the wood. If your cleats don't have through-holes, drill new ones through the cleat with a metal bit before mounting.
Mount the cleats
Drive a stainless screw through each cleat hole into the cedar. Snug them down - cast aluminum cracks if you over-torque, so stop the moment the cleat sits flat against the wood.
Add keyhole hangers and finish
Screw two keyhole hangers to the back of the cedar, four inches in from each end. Apply two coats of spar varnish for a damp cabin or one coat of tung oil for a dry one. Mount the rack with two pan-head screws into wall studs. Hang mugs.
Tested on my own porch.
Things that go with this build
A short rail of cabin-adjacent finds. Not the tool list - this is what to look at after you've finished and you're sitting on the porch.
Ebern Designs Versatile Sofa Bed, Modular Sofa, Free-Combined Sofa w/ Two Storage Racks, Comfy Sofa Chenille in Brown
EBERN DESIGNS
$534 source
Joss & Main Idina Outdoor Rectangular Lumbar Pillow 12.0 H x 24.0 W x 6.0 D in blue/navyPolyester/Polyfill/Sunbrella® | 12" x 24"
JOSS & MAIN
$73 source
Ultimate Textile 552 Piece Napkin Set 20.0 H x 20.0 W in indigoPolyester in Plum | 20" W X 20" L
ULTIMATE TEXTILE
$809 source
Red Barrel Studio® Rozella Tufted Platform Bed 44.3 H x 75.6 W x 53.9 D in Upholstered in Black | Full
RED BARREL STUDIO®
$129 source
Lark Manor™ Areefa Polyethylene (PE) Wicker - Person Seating Group w/ Cushions Polyester in Gray | 6 | Outdoor Furniture
LARK MANOR™
$1596 source
Sand & Stable™ 24" x 26.5" Outdoor Deep Seat Chair Cushion Set w/ Welt, Polyester in Canvas Spa | 26.5" W
SAND & STABLE™
$171 source
Ebern Designs Kitchen Island Rolling Trolley Cart w/ Adjustable Shelves & Towel Rack Rubber Wood Table Top in White
EBERN DESIGNS
$114 source
Braxton Culler Cambria 97" W Square Arm Sofa w/ Reversible Cushions Crypton®/Boucle/Revolution Performance Fabrics®/Cotton/Polyester/Other Performance Fabrics
BRAXTON CULLER
$1867 source