What you’re building
Two 32-inch rails held 1½ inches apart by three short spacers. The gap between the rails is the rack: a hammer handle drops in from the top and the head rests on the rails. The spacers divide it into three bays, each just over 10 inches, so a heavy framing hammer doesn’t slide into the finish hammers. Squeeze clamps, mallets, and anything else with a head wider than 1½ inches hangs the same way.
The rack is 32 inches for a reason: studs in most walls are 16 inches apart, so a 32-inch rail lands on three of them. Screwed into three studs, it will hold whatever you put on it.
Pick the board
Straight matters here more than pretty. A bowed back rail won’t sit flat on the wall. Sight down the board and choose one that lies flat on the floor.
Cut
Two rails at 32 and three spacers at 3½. Cut the rails first; the spacers come from the remaining piece. The spacers can be a little off; the rails should match.
Mount the back rail
Find three studs and mark them. Hold the back rail against the wall, 3½-inch face flat to the wall, at the height you want; put a level on it. Drive one 3-inch screw through the rail into each stud, countersunk. Do this before the front rail goes on, since afterward you can’t get at the back rail.
Add the spacers
Set a spacer flat against the front of the back rail at each end and one in the middle, flush at top and bottom. A dab of glue holds them while you put the front rail on. If you’d rather have four bays instead of three, use four spacers spaced evenly; the plan has enough board for that.
Screw on the front rail
Hold the front rail against the spacers, flush at the ends and top, and drive two 3-inch screws through the front rail, through each spacer, and into the back rail. The screw passes through 3 inches of wood to reach the back rail, so 3-inch screws just bite it. If you want more, use 3½-inch screws.
If something goes wrong
- A handle doesn’t fit. The slot is 1½ inches. Some framing hammers have thicker handles near the head. Hang it in the end bay where it can lean, or make the end spacer two spacers thick.
- Screws hit the back-rail screws. Offset the front screws an inch from where the stud screws went in.
- Rack sags off the wall. You missed a stud. Pull the screw and find the stud; drywall anchors won’t hold a rack full of hammers.