Woodstove Drying Rack

John's not only our good friend, he's also the "father" of our cabin. He almost single-handedly built it from the float up. It isn't the first one he's built, nor will it be the last. But if you ask us, it's the BEST!

John is a wizard at making something out of nothing. Our woodstove drying rack is a case in point. We first met John after purchasing the cabin when he stopped by to meet the "fool Americans." As he walked around the deck, he pointed out several features that were unique or special. When he came to the woodstove, he pointed to the rack on top and said, "You never know when you might need to dry a pair of gloves or socks." And he was right, we just didn't know it at the time (it was the middle of summer and we were city-folk extraordinaire).

Here's what he did. He went to a junk yard (or one of his brother's houses) and got an unwanted oven rack. The rack was exactly the right size to sit on top of the wood-burning stove. The metal projections below that once secured the rack in it's baking position made perfect legs to keep it about one inch above the stove's surface. He used a hack saw to make two cuts on one side so he could bend a portion of the rack up to allow it to wrap around the stove's chimney pipe. In his wisdom, the now vertical section protects objects from touching the hot pipe.

So with a little effort, and probably no cost, he made a valuable tool that we use frequently during the winter to dry our wet gloves and socks, just as he predicted. But you still have to be careful! Constant turning prevents burning. Wayne has a melted pair of slippers to prove that! -- Margy