Pickleball Paddle Rack

This pickleball paddle rack holds up to 4 sets of paddles for when the courts get crowded, although it can easily be expanded or shrunk to hold more or fewer sets. The frame uses 1" square aluminum tube screwed together with gusset plates and self-drilling screws for very light-weight, very sturdy construction. It can be free-standing, or if placed along a chain link fence, I've included some optional TPU bungee straps to secure it to the bottom rail of the fence. I printed this out of PLA Tough+ for indoor use, but you should use something like ASA if used outdoors in the heat and sun.

Materials Needed:
1"x1" aluminum tube, 1/16" wall
    top rail 32"
    cross rail 17"
    legs 28" (2x) – can make taller if desired
    feet 9.75" (2x) – make longer if free-standing
#10 x 5/8" long self-drilling screws (56x)
#10 bead chain 34"

Assembly:
1. Mark out on the top rail where each of the paddle “fingers” go. For each set of paddles, there is a right side and left side with a 3" gap between the sides. The gap between one paddle set ant the next is 9".  Slide all of the fingers onto the top rail but do not screw them in place yet. (Note that there is 1 right finger and 1 left finger with a closed cap that go on the very ends to seal off the ends of the tube.)

2. Start with the feet and legs putting a foot gussed plate on each side of the foot/leg and temproarily hold everythign together with a spring clamp (or a friend). It is important to have the pieces clamped while inserting the self-drilling screws to keep them from walking around. Press the caps onto the front ends of the tubes.

3. On each leg mark the place for the lower gusset plates about 6" up form the bottom. Again, clamp one gusset plate to each side of the leg/crossbar and screw into place. Repeat for the other leg and the other end of hte crossbar.

4. Place the top rail with the fingers on top of the legs, place a gusset plate on each side of the top rail/leg joint and hold wiht a spring clamp. Slide the fingers towards the center as necessary to give yourself clearance and then screw the gusset plates in place. 

5. Press one end of the #10 ball chain into the back of the NEXT marker and press the other end into the little mounting piece as shown in the photo above. You can use a drop of superglue on the end beads to keep them from pulling back out. Undo one of the screws on the top gusset plate and use it to screw in the little mounting piece. This tag hangs on the hook on the left finger for each paddle set and gets moved along to the next paddle set as people grab their paddles.

6. If strapping the rack to the bottom rail of a fence, you'll need the two extra little pieces on the Foot Gusset plate that have 2 hooks on them. They get screwed to the front of the leg about an inch above the foot. These hooks are anchor points for the optional TPU bungee straps. If you don't want to bother with the bungee straps, you can just zip-tie the legs to the bottom rail of your fence uing heavy-duty zip ties.

Design by LoboCNC on MakerWorld (license: BY-SA).