I was browsing Pinterest the other day and came across a similar horseshoe towel rack.  I clicked on the link had a quick look and then carried on browsing.  Next thing I know my Newsfeed is flooded with horseshoe towel racks.  So I took it as a sign that I should build one and give it my own unique touch.

I had an idea in my head that I wanted to try and add a horse design using pyrography (Woodburning). But when I tried it, I failed miserably, my arthritis hands could not hold the burner. So I will show you a technique that I found that will allow you to get the same effect with no skill needed.

How to Make a Horseshoe Towel Rack

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Cleaning the horseshoes

Because I like to build all my projects from recycled material, I asked a friend who has horses for some horseshoes.  We did a trade; he gives me the horseshoes and I will give him the shelf once completed.  I had no use for the shelf, so for me, it was a bargain.  The horseshoes that he gave me were so rusty, so I had to clean them up first.

I have used this method before to clean up old hinges and doorknobs, so I gave it a try.  You will need to use a plastic bowl, I have ruined a metal and a ceramic one in the past. Place all the horseshoes in the bowl and cover them with undiluted white vinegar and soak for a day.

I still had to use a brush to get all the compacted mud from inside the grooves in the horseshoes.

Dry the shoes with a cloth and add a coat of primer.

You can now paint them; I would recommend painting both sides for a nicer look.

Making the shelf

The wood I used for this project was an offcut from an old tabletop. So, I did have to do some prep work before I could start.  The size of the wood for the base was 1000 mm x 250 mm x 20 mm. To clean up my wood, I used a wood planer to remove all the old stain and varnish.  A few passes through this machine and my wood were good to go.

For the 3 smaller shelves the wood was 180 mm x 130 mm x 35 mm.  I went for thicker wood for the shelves to make it more stable and to allow more room to attach the horseshoes.

For a softer look, I used a router with a round-over bit to curve all the edges.

Next, I used an orbital sander so smooth out the wood. I started with 120 grit sandpaper through to 240 grit.  To use the scorch pen you need a smooth surface of at least 220 grit.

Attaching the shelves

Mark out where you want your shelves positioned and drill pilot holes into the base.  The idea is to have the pilot holes in the centre of the small shelves.

Countersink the holes so that the screws will sit flush with the wood.

Next, you can add some glue to the small shelves and clamp them into the correct position. This makes it easier to then flip the shelf and screw it into place from the back.

This is how the shelf should look so far.

Adding the graphics

I came across this scorch pen awhile trying to teach myself to do woodburning, and it is a game-changer.  You do not need any skill in woodburning, all you need is a stencil or a decal.  I wanted to keep the horse theme for the shelf so found some images on Etsy that I liked. If you want to make your own designs, you will need to have a Cricut vinyl cutter to make the decal.  This machine is so amazing I use it in most of my projects.  So, if you are in the market I would highly recommend it.  I added my graphics to Cricut design software.

Load your vinyl into your cutter and cut out the design. Using a craft knife or weeding tool remove all the excess vinyl so you are left with a decal that looks like a stencil.

To get the decal on the wood you use some transfer tape.  Transfer the decal onto the wood and remove the transfer tape.

You are now ready to colour in your decal.

Using the scorch pen

To activate the flow from the marker you need to push the point down onto some paper towel.  This will allow the liquid to come to the point.  Start at the top of your design and colour in all the areas of wood exposed.  I found it easier to start at the top and work my way done.  The wood will turn a light orange colour from the scorch pen.

A tip for using the marker, don’t colour around the edges straight after pushing down to release more fluid.  The recess fluid can bleed under the decal. If you look at the image below you can see the areas that have been missed because they are still white.  Touch up any areas like this.

You can now remove the decal. It does look like the fluid has already dried, but it is still there.

To activate the scorch pen you need to add some heat.  In my test run, I tried a hairdryer and heat gun, and the heat gun won hands down.  The downside to the heat gun is you could scorch the surrounding wood if you hold it to close.  The instructions say you can also use a blow torch.

Once you add the heat it is not an instant result, it does take a few minutes.  Don’t be tempted to move the heat gun too close once the colour starts to come through. Keep moving the heat gun around, staying in one spot will cause the wood to burn.  Below is how it will look when it first starts to burn, it has a yellowish colour. You will also notice the bleeding I mentioned above in some areas.

When the burning is complete you can leave it as it is, or you can smooth out the surface with a scouring pad.  This will remove any slight scorching around the design.

To seal the wood and make the graphics stand out you can seal the wood with 2 coats of clear polyurethane.

Adding the horseshoes

This was the worst step for me and took the longest to do, I could not believe how hard horseshoes were.  I thought I would just drill some holes in the horseshoes for the screws and attached them to the wood. NOT!!  They are so hard to drill in just one hole I broke 2 drill bits. So, for this step, I can’t offer any other solution other than horseshoe nails. I went back to my friend and asked for some nails, which he generously gave me.

I would recommend that you drill pilot holes for the nails first.  My first attempt the nail went in great at first but bent at the end.

Because I had some small horseshoes, I thought they would look good attached to the sides to hang wet towels on.  The small shoes were already sort of flat on the bottom, but they did not sit flush with the wood.

To remove the overhang, I used a benchtop sander and sanded it down a bit. This did work well but it got really hot and burnt my hands, so use a cloth to avoid blistered hands. lol

And that was my shelf completed.  Because it is not going in my house, I just used wire on the back to hang it while taking the photos.  If I was going to fit it, I would use an interlocking metal hinge.

More great projects

Do you have any empty wine bottle laying around at home that you want to recycle?  Why not give them a mixed media makeover.

This headboard was made using recycled kitchen cupboard doors.

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