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| by:
Paul Lewis
photos: Roger Yip
illustration: Len Churchill |
STRAIGHTEN YOUR TIES |
| A
project for the dad who's fit to be tied come Father's Day |
Earlier this year, two Cambridge University physicists, Thomas
Fink and Yong Mao, completed their ground-breaking research
into why we knot ties the way we do. Fink and Mao used mathematical
models to shed light on the flips and folds of these 400-year-old
fashion staples.
If it was my research project,
I would have figured out how to uncoil the snake’s nest of slippery
silk found in the deep recesses of even the most diligent tie-wearer’s
closet.
That said, here’s how to build
a simple pine rack that swings up—to choose the perfect match
to that single-stitched oxford—and down, keeping everything
out of the way until the next tie day. The rack portion even
lifts off the bracket, allowing closer inspection of your prized
collection.
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| Rack ’Em Up |
Start by laying out all the pieces of your pine. Use a quarter
to mark the radius on the wall bracket. Cut out all the pieces
and sand the edges smooth. If you want to reinforce the pivot
point on the top of the tie bar, plunge a #10 biscuit halfway
through the top, and sand it flush when it dries. This measure
will put some cross-grain support at the point that gets the
most stress.
Mark and drill all the holes
being careful to keep them straight. Any error here will be
magnified when the dowels are installed. A drill press guarantees
success. Now make two cuts to complete the slot at the top of
the tie bar. Finish the assembly by gluing and clamping the
wall bracket together, and sliding the dowels through the support
arm. A dab of glue will hold the dowels in place.
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| Finish it Off |
When the glue is dry, give everything a final sand and stain.
I used Behr’s Belgium Walnut and purposely left some brush strokes
in the finish to strengthen the light grain of the clear pine.
Then I sprayed the whole thing with a couple coats of Flecto’s
aerosol Varathane. This is much easier than fiddling around
all those dowels with a brush.
There is something of value that
woodworkers can take away from Fink and Mao’s research into
tie knotting. These are the factors that mark proper tie knots:
aesthetics, strength, rhythm and balance—criteria that all woodworkers
should observe when building their next project. |
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You
Will Need |
| Tie
dowels |
5/16"
dia. x 4 1/4" |
10 |
| Pivot
dovel |
3/8"
dia. x 2 1/4" |
1 |
| Support
arm |
1
1/4" x 12" |
1 |
| Wall
bracket |
3"
x 3" |
2 |
| Bracket
spacer |
3/4"
x 1" |
1 |
| Ties |
fashionable
width |
20 |
All
parts (except the ties) made using 3/4" pine. Click on
the diagram on the left to enlarge it.
Rumour has it that Canadian
Home Workshop’s art director
Paul Lewis owns a tie, but never wears it when operating
power tools. |
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