Early on in my ceramic journeys, I realized that I needed a lot of storage: caddies for tools, boxes for brushes and applicators, bins for sponges and ribs, nooks and crannies for glazes and clays, shelves for bisqued and finished ware, and of course racks for drying my newly-made tiles, hot out of the molds. I scrabbled and scrounged, and cobbled together a mismatched assortment of second-hand storage containers, anything I could find from wooden Clementine orange crates (stackable and great for storing small bottles of glazes or raw materials), to old cigar boxes (brushes and miscellaneous items). An old bookshelf has found a new life as my glaze shelf, and I was able to unearth an actual two tiered, spinning tool holder from the attic for my growing collection of clay-related implements.
Finding a home for drying my greenware, though, took a bit more thought. Really, I was searching for something along the lines of wire shelving. The evenly-spaced wires would provide support for my tiles, while allowing ample air circulation to the bottom of the pieces. As ceramic artists like to point out, clay has a “memory”, and greenware, especially flat items like tiles, has a tendency to warp while drying. In order to combat some of this deformation, I employ two weapons: slow drying and even drying. Wire shelving would provide even drying since the air can reach both the top and the bottom of the tiles. Of course, I could have just bought a wire shelving unit in the beginning, but as a ceramic artist who has not yet made a name for herself, I was on a budget. Plus, I wanted something made to my specifications that I could modify or expand if necessary once completed. And that left building one myself. Yeah, adventure!
Greenware Drying Rack made of PVC and wire shelves.
Project:
Greenware Drying Rack
Alphabet Knot Tiles drying on the drying rack.
Materials:
For each Shelf:
(Multiply the PVC pipe, PVC tees and wire shelf amounts by the number of shelves needed on the completed rack. I decided on 8 shelves: 32 feet of pipe, 64 tees and 1 wire shelf.)
I briefly toyed around with the idea of building the shelf frame out of some sort of metal, but ultimately decided on PVC for a number of reasons. The PVC pipes and connectors are readily available inexpensively at home improvement stores, they are easily manipulated (the main benefit over metal), the finished rack will be study enough (as long as I don’t build it too tall), and PVC is easy to clean (ceramics is a messy business!).
- Measuring Tape / Ruler
- Sharpie
- Hand Saw and Miter Box –OR- Jig Saw / Miter Saw
- Clamps
- Bolt Cutters (optional)
For each Shelf:
- 4 feet of ½-inch PVC Pipe (Schedule 40, 600-psi)
- 8) ½-inch PVC Tees (Schedule 40)
- 1/8) 8-foot x 12-inch Wire Shelf
(Multiply the PVC pipe, PVC tees and wire shelf amounts by the number of shelves needed on the completed rack. I decided on 8 shelves: 32 feet of pipe, 64 tees and 1 wire shelf.)
I briefly toyed around with the idea of building the shelf frame out of some sort of metal, but ultimately decided on PVC for a number of reasons. The PVC pipes and connectors are readily available inexpensively at home improvement stores, they are easily manipulated (the main benefit over metal), the finished rack will be study enough (as long as I don’t build it too tall), and PVC is easy to clean (ceramics is a messy business!).
Step 1: Cutting the PVC
Pieces for assembling a shelf: wire shelf (1′), PVC Tees, cut lengths of PVC pipe.
♦ Using a hand saw and miter box OR a jig saw (or other power saw), cut the PVC pipe in the following lengths for each shelf:
Since I had decided on an 8-shelf rack (a total of 96 cuts), I dusted off my handy jig saw and used that to cut the PVC pipe. (The thought of making close to 100 cuts with a hand saw and miter box was quite unappealing.) Looking back, a power miter saw would have been even faster than a jig saw. I also found that clamping down the pipe made the sawing much easier, especially since at its full 10-foot length, the pipe is quite unwieldy.
- 4) 1-inch pieces
- 4) 2-inch pieces
- 2) 10-inch pieces
- 2) 13.5-inch pieces
Since I had decided on an 8-shelf rack (a total of 96 cuts), I dusted off my handy jig saw and used that to cut the PVC pipe. (The thought of making close to 100 cuts with a hand saw and miter box was quite unappealing.) Looking back, a power miter saw would have been even faster than a jig saw. I also found that clamping down the pipe made the sawing much easier, especially since at its full 10-foot length, the pipe is quite unwieldy.
Step 2: Adjoining the PVC
And we’re already ready to assemble the frame of the rack, like playing with strangely-shaped Legos, or maybe a poor game Tetris! The written instructions can get a bit confusing with all the pipe segments and the tees, so lots of pics!
♦ Attach a PVC Tee to each end of both of the 13.5-inch pipe sections.
♦ Attach a PVC Tee to each end of both of the 13.5-inch pipe sections.
PVC Tees attached to each end of the 13.5″ pipe sections.
♦ Attach each 10-inch pipe to the two Tees on the ends of one of the 13.5-inch pipes. Then, attach the other end of each 10-inch pipe to the Tees on the second 13.5-inch pipe to form a square.
Attaching the 10″ pipe segments to the 13.5″ pipes.
♦ Insert a 1-inch pipe segment into each of the outside ends of the Tees.
1″ pipe segments attached to Tee ends.
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Close up: 1″ pipe segments attached to Tee ends.
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♦ Attach a Tee to each of the 1-inch pipe segments, aligning the Tee perpendicularly.
Tees attached perpendicularly on each end of the shelf.
♦ Insert a 2-inch pipe segment into each of the top Tee ends. These pipe segments act as connector pieces to attach the next shelf to the rack. The top most shelf in the rack does not need these pieces.
2″ pipe segments attached to the top openings of the Tees.
♦ Repeat the above steps for the rest of the shelves.
Step 3: Assembling the Wire Racks
Fully assembled shelf with 12″ wire rack.
♦ Cut the wire shelves into 1-foot sections.
Some home improvement stores will make the cuts for you in-store. But, if they complain about the seven cuts (some store policies only allow for one cut per item), then the wire shelves are easily cut at home using a mid-sized bolt cutter.
♦ Place a 1-foot wire shelf on each of the PVC shelf frames.
And that’s it! The drying rack is complete and ready for greenware. Easy, peasy.
Bonus Tips:
♦ The final dimensions for my 8-shelf rack were approximately 28” x 14” x 12”, and the entire rack easily fits underneath a folding table.
♦ The total cost of the 8-shelf rack was under $50, with the breakdown as follows:
Some home improvement stores will make the cuts for you in-store. But, if they complain about the seven cuts (some store policies only allow for one cut per item), then the wire shelves are easily cut at home using a mid-sized bolt cutter.
♦ Place a 1-foot wire shelf on each of the PVC shelf frames.
And that’s it! The drying rack is complete and ready for greenware. Easy, peasy.
Bonus Tips:
♦ The final dimensions for my 8-shelf rack were approximately 28” x 14” x 12”, and the entire rack easily fits underneath a folding table.
♦ The total cost of the 8-shelf rack was under $50, with the breakdown as follows:
| Item | Quantity | Price Each | Total Price |
| PVC Pipe (10-foot piece) | 4 | $2.00 | $8.00 |
| PVC Tees (10 pack) | 7 | $4.00 | $28.00 |
| Wire Shelf (8-foot) | 1 | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| Total | $46.00 | ||
♦ In order to dry my tiles a bit slower, I throw a vinyl shower curtain liner over the entire shelf to limit the amount of air flow and retain a bit of the moisture. I have also been known to wrap each shelf individually in a plastic bag for an even longer drying time (porcelains and ungrogged clay).
♦ Since I am drying mainly tiles, I have spaced my shelves close together to maximize the drying area to rack volume ration. If the pieces to be dried are larger, increase the length of the 2-inch connector sections to increase the shelf height.
♦ I chose the 1-foot length for the shelf so that there would be no flexing in the middle. Longer sections of both the wire shelving and the PVC pipe allow for more flexing, though experiments with longer shelves are definitely an option.
♦ My final 8-shelf rack is fairly compact and sturdy. It can easily support a full load of tiles, however, I have noticed that there is a bit of rotational play in the shelf. This is not a problem with my 2.5-foot high rack, and I would also feel secure building it a bit higher. However, as the rack height increases, the space between shelves increases or the shelf length increases, I can see the rack becoming less sturdy due to the flexible nature of PVC. Therefore, while a 4-foot by 1-foot by 1-foot shelf may be sturdy enough, I would not use this method for an 8-foot tall shelf.
♦ One drawback to the wire shelves: if the greenware is not dry enough, the wire of the shelves can leave an impression in the bottom of the piece.
♦ Since I am drying mainly tiles, I have spaced my shelves close together to maximize the drying area to rack volume ration. If the pieces to be dried are larger, increase the length of the 2-inch connector sections to increase the shelf height.
♦ I chose the 1-foot length for the shelf so that there would be no flexing in the middle. Longer sections of both the wire shelving and the PVC pipe allow for more flexing, though experiments with longer shelves are definitely an option.
♦ My final 8-shelf rack is fairly compact and sturdy. It can easily support a full load of tiles, however, I have noticed that there is a bit of rotational play in the shelf. This is not a problem with my 2.5-foot high rack, and I would also feel secure building it a bit higher. However, as the rack height increases, the space between shelves increases or the shelf length increases, I can see the rack becoming less sturdy due to the flexible nature of PVC. Therefore, while a 4-foot by 1-foot by 1-foot shelf may be sturdy enough, I would not use this method for an 8-foot tall shelf.
♦ One drawback to the wire shelves: if the greenware is not dry enough, the wire of the shelves can leave an impression in the bottom of the piece.
Fully assembled drying rack with drying greenware tiles.
Epilogue
My PVC drying racks have seen thousands of hours of happy greenware drying time, and are still in the same condition as when I first constructed them. But, in the interest of full disclosure, I also ended up purchasing a custom commercial wire shelf from The Shelving Store, built to my specifications. It turned out to be wonderfully sturdy and a perfect purchase, however it did run me a couple hundred dollars!
Greenware tiles drying on a piece of drywall.
Also, over time I have moved away from drying my tiles directly on a drying rack, and instead sandwich them between two sheets of drywall. The drywall wicks the moisture from both the front and back of the tiles so that they dry evenly. The weight of the drywall also helps to keep the tiles flat. So, my drying racks have also begun to double as racks for bisquware. Since the shelves are removable, once glazing time rolls around, I can just slide a shelf of bisque from the rack, and start glazing!
