Towel hanger

Hi All,

My first post here so be kind! (actually, just be honest - I much prefer that). The other day I got annoyed that some of our towels were missing the strap to hang them from and consequently having them come off the hook. I quickly drew this in CAD and cut in on my laser. It works well. There might be one like it out there but I have not come across one for towels. I have a modified version drawn that is folded up from a piece of laser cut stainless steel. The wheel would be knurled and turned from stainless or brass. I’m considering having a few hundred made to see if they would sell. I know a friendly CNC turner and metal laser cutter so the outlay would not be huge.

Best regards,

Michael

Pretty clever little idea there! I haven’t scene anything like it either. I definitely think other materials would be something to look at. Obviously once in metal you can look at a number of finishes and likely could make it a lot smaller as well. From a pure aesthetic POV I think could you could iterate on it to make it feel a little more holistic, a little less DIY, but the core idea is very nice. A few hours sketching on a dozen aesthetic remixes and I think you would have something really nice. I could see you going for this kind of look: https://busterandpunch.com

That is a nice look, thanks for the link. Made from metal it would indeed be smaller and look less “homemade”. I can’t sketch freehand and am still trying to come to terms with 3D CAD. However I have a comprehensive selection of tools and machines so could relatively quickly make some prototypes. For development purposes it would suffice to have the sheet part CNC plasma cut which I can get done locally. I have a lathe to make the wheels on. I was actually visiting the guy I know who does CNC turning today. He suggested a diamond knurl on a brass wheel and a glass bead blasted finish on the steel might look nice. Alternatively it could be power coated (I have equipment for that). A brass wheel might look good against bright colours or stainless against pastels.

Let me know if you want to collar on some quick sketch looks. This would be a fun thing to sketch on a bit and make a public back and forth. But no worries if not. Just thought it would be fun to help.

MD

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Michael, thanks that would be great. My name is Michael as well BTW. It’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas off and being the only nerd in the village (population 520) there isn’t a lot of that going on.

I’m vacationing in Denmark at the moment so it might be a day or two before I can show you what I had in mind in terms of the stainless steel frame. I’ve been trying to learn Fusion 360 but too many projects around the house mean I haven’t used it for a while. I’m pretty fast with 2D CAD though which is what I use for my marble machine kits (http://www.bustedbricks.com). As you can tell I’m a rank amateur but I like doing simple designs.

Keno, the weight of a brass or steel wheel should make it one handed. I have the hole in the wheel slightly off center which will also help with the locking action. Metal wheel could be smaller and would still be a lot heavier. I like the look of the full wheel so will stay with that. Easier from a manufacturing perspective as well as it is just a bore, turn and knurl job. Fast on a CNC lathe and easy enough to do on a manual lathe.

I live a few hundred meters from the beach already but like the idea of retiring :wink:

Cheers,

Michael

Thumbs up!
I imagine a simple clothes peg-like item on the wall will also hold towels nicely.

Here is a sketch of the hanger frame. I would have it cut from 2mm stainless steel. This would be used with a D25x20mm wheel. It would have a section of T2 timing belt or similar bonded to it to create friction against the towel.

Cool. I’ll pm you my email and we can take it from there. I’m traveling in China for the next couple of weeks so I’m also a little out of pocket at the moment as they say.

I agree with Keno that this item can be much miniaturized.
Though, implementing the wheel gives it a unique aesthetic which fits the popular industrial interior styles of today, especially if you make the wheel out of copper or brass.
You can replace the timing belt with a torsion spring principle which leaves the beautifully machined wheel more visible.

I have brass in stock so the prototypes will use that for the wheel. There are many options for the frame in terms of finish. I would be brushed or glass blasted stainless steel or it could be powder coated or chemically blackened steel.

Seemed a familiar grip concept.

This principle also works very well but is dangerous to children’s fingers.