Scrap Wood Paper Towel Dispenser

[Jim Frye]

This paper towel holder is for the new laundry room cabinetry. I started with a piece of 3/4" maple veneer plywood and cut it to 6 3/4" square. Then it was edge banded with 1/8" thick maple strips. The commercial holders on the market have bottom weights to stabilize them in use. I bored eight 1 1/2" diameter holes 1/2" deep in the bottom. These recesses each received three teaspoons of #7 1/2 lead shot and were then filled with casting epoxy.


The center post is a scrap piece of 1" diameter dowel. I cut a piece to length and rounded the top end. A 1" diameter hole was bored in the center of the top with a Forstner bit until the center point just broke the surface of the bottom. The dowel was glued into the hole in the top of the base.

The commercial towel holders often have a spring loaded arm that presses against the roll of towels to allow one handed dispensing. I couldn't figure out an easy way to spring this and didn't have any springs in the shop suitable anyway. I decided to try a weighted arm and pressure pad instead. The pressure pad has weight in the bottom half and the pressure arm has weight in its upper half. The idea was to cause the arm to lean in towards the roll and the pad would hang vertically to press against the roll of towels. I took some maple scraps and ripped them into the sizes needed. I then resawed the arm and pad pieces in half. I used a Forstner bit to create 1/2" wide by 1/4" deep recesses in the halves. The recesses were filled with the lead shot and epoxy. Then the halves were glued back together encasing the lead shot. A bit of shaping and the parts were ready for assembly.



Everything was varnished and I used two small decorative hinges from the junk hardware box to complete the pressure arm. I glued a scrap piece of vinyl shelf liner with the nubby side down to the bottom to give the holder a non-slip base in the cabinet.

[LCHIEN]

My scrapwood paper towel holder for the shop (left) vs the store bought one in the kitchen, right

Piece of 2x6 base, it is heavy enough it generally doesn't go anywhere.

[LCHIEN]

Jim, A pair of springs on either side (one shown here) Might work. MOve the arm to the left and unloads tension, The slight angle will provide some force when the arm is loaded.
Two springs or maybe be better some small thin bungee cords.

[Jim Frye]

Yeah, would work, but no such springs in the junk spring box, hence the weights.

[LCHIEN]

How about rubber bands. or bungee cords? Use multiple ones to get bigger spring constant. Easy to hook over screw heads.

[jacobs]

Nice work on the custom paper towel holder, the lead shot and epoxy add great stability. If buying tools or supplies for projects like this from Lowe's return policy lets you exchange or return most items within a set timeframe, making it easier to adjust plans if needed.

[kevinbrooks]

Excellent post. I love it.

[d_meister]

Just a FYI. I 3D printed a center-post type towel holder, and it weighs next to nothing, just 4.2 ounces. It has no "tear-off pin", and I was surprised to find out that it works just fine if you tear the sheet down. I also have a premium, weighted vertical one with tear-off pin that weighs 3.6 lbs, and I have to use it with the same downward tear-off technique, or it goes flying. The pin is useless, mostly because the roll end always floats back behind the pin, but these things both work fine with the right tear-off process. Come to think of it, the same technique adjustment is necessary on a horizontal holder.
I checked $Tree for a paper towel holder for the shop, thinking they might have a cheapie under counter plastic one, but they only had a vertical wire one that also has no weight to it. When I saw it, I thought it was a vertical chicken roaster
Just mentioned this in case someone wants to make an attractive center-post towel holder but is daunted by engineering concerns. Scrap wood Christmas presents, anyone?

[LCHIEN]

I find the side post on these vertical paper towel holders keeps the loose end from flopping all over the workplace. see my pics in post #2 in this thread.

[dbhost]

Not a paper towel dispenser, but are you guys familiar with those stuffed scarecrow on a stick dolls that are I guess about 18" Tall? I think they are supposed to be stuck in flower pots. When my wife was alive she had me slice up about a half dozen or so and rounded them all over to match, and center bored for the stick to fit. She painted them in an orange and brown leafy pattern and used them as decor in her office when she worked in the NASA TV office... Nothing quite like making a slab of scrap 2x6 useful.