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I'd like to mail this coat rack (about 6 ft high) but would like to split it into 2 pieces by cutting thru the staff. That would make it easier to mail, but then I need a way for the recipient to put it back together. I was thinking about putting neo magnets on both sides of the cut, but I don't think that would be strong enough. Any ideas?

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  • The real issue here I think is not putting the two parts back together strongly — I can think of three methods off the top of my head and there are likely others — but in doing it and assuring correct alignment. If you feel the orientation of the lowest branch relative to the foot is important you need to use a joining method that (pun intended) locks in the orientation of the upper and lower pieces. Regrettably, those double-threaded screws will not provide this (they're used when the 'clocking' of one piece relative to the other doesn't matter, as when joining two parts of a curtain rail).
    – Graphus
    Jan 16 at 8:10
  • I doubt magnets would hold the rack itself together. I highly doubt they would hold up to someone tossing a heavy winter coat on it.
    – FreeMan
    Jan 16 at 18:47
  • Love that tiger! I need one of those...
    – gnicko
    Jan 17 at 20:29

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Have you considered mailing it with a carrier that allows large items?

There will be people in your country selling things like skis, tile trim strips, bicycles etc - and they'll probably be happy enough to tell you who they ship with if you ask nicely.

There's a cost premium for mailing items that can't go through an automated sorting system, but they'll still get there - and why cut up the coat rack to save $20 on mailing costs?

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    Agree 100%. This needs to go in a big box (one that could be made of several smaller boxes taped together), stuffed with a lot of cushioning material, then shipped whole. Cutting it in half would only result in disappointing results.
    – FreeMan
    Jan 16 at 18:47
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You could cut it where you want to and use a dowel screw to attach the pieces afterwards. You'd drill appropriately-sized holed in each section and tighten them onto each end of the screw.

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This would allow the two pieces to be disassembled/reassembled as needed.

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  • Ah, that's an idea, thank you
    – Sheetmet Aldoc
    Jan 16 at 1:01
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    OP, please note that if you go this route you must saw the shaft as close to a perfect 90° as possible or the two pieces won't be able to spin into each other enough to create a tight joint.
    – Graphus
    Jan 16 at 6:58
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    @Graphus That's not entirely true I believe? Even if he saws at a 45° angle, you'd still be able to just spin it sideways. As long as the cut is straight. What truly is important is that the dowel screw is drilled in at a perfect 90° angle. Because if this one is a little off, then you'd get the problem you are describing.
    – Opifex
    Jan 16 at 8:45
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    @Opifex, not really. You know when you insert a screw you're sort of at the mercy of the threading in terms of where 'tight' happens? Think of the difficulty of clocking screws (and that's even when there are actually two OK orientations). Here, think about what that results in — they'll tighten at some random rotation relative to each other, and a non-square cut means this automatically results in an arbitrary joint angle. As I later realised, even a dead-square cut may or may not present a problem for the OP, but either way I doubt a canted joint would be acceptable to anyone.
    – Graphus
    Jan 16 at 15:22
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    But truthfully, my money is on ‘ship it in one piece’.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Jan 17 at 1:17

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