Copper Bike Rack

By Ben Uyeda

SKILL
easy

This Copper Bike Rack is made from copper pipe fittings and a small piece of felt. I used an angle grinder to make two cuts along a 2" to 3/4" reducer T fitting. I soldered the cut T-fitting to a length of 3/4" copper pipe and then used a nut and bolt to connect the other end of the pipe to a 3/4" T-fitting

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Tools

  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 4-1/2" Angle Grinder/Cut-Off Tool
  • Stud Finder
  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 1/2" Drill/Driver

Accessories

  • 3 PC. 4-1/2" Metal Grinding Wheel Set
  • Black Fine Point Permanent Workshop Marker

Materials

  • 2"- 3/4" Copper T-Fitting
  • 3/4" Copper Pipe
  • 3/4" T-Fitting
  • Felt
  • Gorilla 2-Part Epoxy
  • Plumber's Torch Kit
  • Steel Wool
  • Tube Cutter
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Steps

Step 1

Cut the Copper Pipe I used my RIDGID Tube Cutter to cut the copper pipe.

Tools

Tube Cutter

Materials

3/4" Copper Pipe

Step 2

Mark the Cut Lines: I used a marker to mark two lines down the side of the 2” copper T. I made sure that the distance between the lines was wider than the diameter of the tubes that make the frame of my bike.

Tools

Marker

Step 3

Cut the Copper T-Fitting: I used my angle grinder with a metal cutting blade to cut along the lines that I drew on the T-fitting. I cut a groove along the line at first and then went back and cut through it with a second pass.

Tools

Angle Grinder, Metal Grinding Wheel

Materials

3/4" Copper Pipe
Copper cutting with angle grinder

Step 4

Clean + Prepare the Copper: I cleaned the copper with steel wool and used a wire brush to rough up the ends that are going to be soldered.

Materials

Steel Wool, Wire Brush
Cleaning copper with steel wool

Step 5

Solder the Fitting on to the Pipe I applied flux onto the joints of the pipe and then heated the copper with my torch. Once the copper was hot, I touched the solder to the joints. I soldered both sides of the joint.

Materials

Plumber's Torch
Soldering copper pipe.

Step 6

Sand the Cut Edges I used a sanding drum attachment on my cordless drill to smooth down the cut edges of the copper fitting.

Tools

Drill

Materials

3/4" Copper Pipe
Sanding copper with a drill

Step 7

Clean the Copper I used steel wool to clean up the discoloration from the soldering.

Materials

Steel Wool, 3/4" Copper Pipe
Copper clean up with steel wool

Step 8

Attach the 3/4" T. I inserted the pipe into the fitting and then drilled a hole through both the T-fitting and the pipe. I pushed a bolt through the holes and fastened it with a nut.

Tools

Drill

Materials

3/4" Copper Pipe, 3/4" T-Fitting
Attaching copper together

Step 9

Grind Down the Bolt I used my angle grinder with a flap disc to grind the bolt down, flush to the surface of the nut.

Tools

Angle Grinder

Materials

3/4" Copper Pipe

Step 10

Line It with Felt. I had Jessie cut some felt and glue it to the inside of the copper fitting. She used 2-part epoxy and held it in place with paper clips while the epoxy cured.

Materials

Felt, Gorilla 2-Part Epoxy
Attaching felt to pipe

Step 11

Install the Rack: I wanted to make sure that I was attaching the rack to one of the beams behind the drywall of my ceiling, so I used a stud finder to locate it. Then I screwed 3/4” copper loops on either side of the T-fitting.

Tools

Drill, Stud Finder
Drilling loops into the ceiling

Step 12

Hang the Bike: My Linus bike fits nicely in the rack and I really love how minimal this piece is.

Materials

Bike
Bike Hanging