Magnetic key rack

Creative DIY ideas made of wood

Author: J.P. Radeke, Sulingen

Online since: 22/03/2012, Number of visits: 209417

Table of Contents

Magnetic key rack with leather lining

Plan the design and cut the wood

First, I thought about the outline for my magnetic key rack. The final design was based on a fish. The crosses with the circles indicate the positions for the super magnets from which the six keys will hang. You can choose any shape you like; the fish design simply serves as an inspiration for your own homemade key holder.

Next, I had to saw the actual "board" for the key rack. I copied the outline from the template to a wooden panel and used a jigsaw to cut it out. The material is 8 mm thick just like the magnets to keep everything flush. Thereafter, I sanded down the sharp edges.

Drill the holes and glue in the magnets

Then I drilled eight holes with a 15 mm diameter into the wood and sanded them down. Now I could turn to the super magnets. I used 8 disc magnets S-15-08-N.

I glued them into the holes with a strong adhesive. It is important that the magnets are 100% flush on the front side. It may be necessary to work on the holes with a file.

When everything is dry, the wooden board needs to be checked and worked on if needed. There must not be small holes or any other unevenness. It is best to hold it up in the light to inspect. Small holes can be filled with putty that needs to be sanded down afterward.

Cover the key rack with leather

Before lining it (meaning: cover the wooden board with foil or leather), dust needs to be removed with compressed air or a wet cloth. Then I sprayed adhesive on the board and the red leather that I chose. After letting the adhesive dry a bit I reactivated it with a hairdryer. Once the leather and the board were nice and warm, three friends helped me stretch the leather over the wooden board. I used the hairdryer to remove creases from the leather. Then I let the adhesive dry well.

To ensure that the fish also looks good on the side, the leather had to be stretched over the edges and fastened in the back. To achieve that, I sprayed adhesive on the edge and the leather and let it dry a bit. Piece by piece I warmed up the leather and stretched it over the edges. Then I could cut off the extra leather and staple it onto the wood.

Screw on the wall bracket

I had the metal fish for the key rack lasered based on a template. To protect the fish from corrosion and to improve the visual appearance I had it sanded and chrome-plated. Once the steel fish was done I fastened it to the lined wooden board. Be careful not to damage the leather!

Then I removed the wall mounting from our old key rack and screwed it on my new key rack. This allowed me to use the available screws in the wall and keep the familiar position and height.

Mount the key rack

Finally, I simply hung the finished board on the screws. Supermagnete.de enclosed 10 additional cube magnets W-05-N as a gift. I used them to turn my metal fish into a family noticeboard.

The whole thing became a great, high-quality, and above all, homemade designer key rack with a pinboard that works wonderfully for our family.

Note from the supermagnete team:
Nowadays, most keys are no longer magnetic. Here too, as is the case with other applications, it’s the iron keyring that sticks to the hidden magnets, not the keys themselves.

Magnetic key rack with shelf

Addition from customer A. Zieseniss from Sils-Maria (Switzerland):

To keep my many keys organised I just built my own magnetic key rack from wood with an additional shelf on it.

Needed materials/tools

Nutwood (60 x 15 x 4,5 cm)
9 disc magnets with a hole CS-S-27-04-N
Countersunk head screw galvanised, 4 x 16
Threaded bar M8 (+ 2 screw-in nuts)
Brass wall plug M8
Drill (30 mm centre bit und 8 mm wood drill)
Rotary hammer drill (10 mm masonry drill)
Cordless screwdriver
Hacksaw
13 mm combination wrench

I sanded down the wooden board and then treated it with spoon butter.

I used a power drill and a 30 mm centre drill for the 4 mm deep indentations on the bottom side for the magnets. Then I screwed the magnets with the countersunk head screw into them.

Drill 2 holes (8 mm) on the backside for the threaded bars and into the wall in the exact same intervals as on the backside of the board.

Insert rawlplugs and screw in the threaded bars with 2 nuts. Once the bars are far enough in you can remove the nuts. Then hang the board on the threaded bars.

Due to the magnetic field, avoid placing wallets on the shelf!

As you can see, it's not the keys themselves that adhere to the magnets but only the metal key rings. Small keys, such as the ones for the mailbox are often magnetic.

If you don’t want to make a key holder yourself, then you can also purchase decorative magnetic key racks in our shop:

Go to key racks

Articles used

S-15-08-N

Disc magnet Ø 15 mm, height 8 mm, holds approx. 6,2 kg, neodymium, N42, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	2,66 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	2,33 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	2,04 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	1,90 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	1,77 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 350 pcs.

Available: 51 178 pcs.

W-05-N

Cube magnet 5 mm, holds approx. 1,1 kg, neodymium, N42, nickel-plated

	10 pcs.	0,46 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	0,38 EUR ea.*
from	80 pcs.	0,35 EUR ea.*
from	160 pcs.	0,32 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 950 pcs.

Available: 746 400 pcs.

CS-S-27-04-N

Disc magnet Ø 27 mm, height 4 mm, holds approx. 8 kg, with countersunk hole, N35, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	3,44 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	3,06 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	2,72 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	2,55 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	2,40 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 500 pcs.

Available: 39 308 pcs.

CS-S-23-04-N

Disc magnet Ø 23 mm, height 4 mm, holds approx. 6,5 kg, with countersunk hole, N35, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	2,38 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	2,10 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	1,85 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	1,73 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	1,62 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 500 pcs.

Available: 62 921 pcs.

UHU MAX REPAIR

magnet glue, waterproof, without solvents, shelf life of 24 months, 20 g tube
To glue on super magnets

1 pc. 7,95 EUR ea.* (397,50EUR/kg)

Available: 2 346 pcs.

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