To be honest, I was not very sure what I wanted to do for my upcycling project until yesterday. What I struggled with the most was narrowing down the ideas I had because the project has almost no restrictions or guidelines; we can do almost anything we want.
Two weeks ago when we first were introduced to the project, I wanted to use shotgun shells because I like shooting and shotgun shells are all over the place in the shooting range. However, the idea of using shells got stuck in my head and I was not able to think out of the box without using shells. I could not be creative because I had the thought that I am definitely going to use the shells, even though I had no idea of how/where to use them before.
I asked around for some inspirations and luckily, I got a great idea, I think, which is to make a coat hanger with the use of shotgun shells. Basically, the hanger does not have a lot of parts but it requires some wood work and precision. I have made a 3D assembly model to show how it should look like once it is fully assembled.
As shown in the images, the coat hanger is made out of wood that I am going to look for in the machine shop in the ITLL. The wood plate is going to be tilted 30 degrees to give it a more complex and aesthetic look. Further, I decided to drill out 5 holes and insert two shells facing each other in each hole for more strength, symmetry, and aesthetic. In addition, the shells have a slightly larger end in diameter, so inserting 2 shells opposite to each other would make the part stay in the hole in case it got loose. Moreover, to make the hanger more functional and look nicer, I have decided to add another plate of of wood that is going to be in the middle of the tilted piece. This will also support the entire assembly against the wall. Finally, I am thinking about grabbing some wood screws or drywall screws from the project depot in the ITLL to fix the hanger on the wall through the 4 through holes at the top.
Potentially, this is what I have for now. I am thinking about adding an engraving to the wood pieces, but that is a decision that can be made later because it does not require any extra material. Further, I might add some functional or beautification features along the way if I got inspired. Feel free to suggest something, it can make the project look better!
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Thank you for the great suggestions, I really like the idea! I did not think of engraving something related to guns but I will definitely look into that. I really like the engravings on old guns and will probably try to do that.
Great job with the design! This is a very creative use of the materials you have. I appreciate that you put in the time to do some of this design with CAD. Do you have an idea as to how you’d like to finish the wood? That might be a good idea to help match the aesthetic you are going for and will help protect the wood when the project is done.
Thank you for the reply! I am not very sure about how the wood finish will be, but I am thinking about either painting it or engraving something on it. I don’t think I can do both because you cannot engrave on paint and cannot paint engravings because they will not be seen anymore.
This is a very unique idea and I am a huge fan! As someone who also likes firearms I think that this is a very cool way re-use spent shells. Have you considered engraving your favorite gun manufacturer onto this? I also think you could engrave designs similar to what is found on older sporting shotguns if you are interested in ideas!