wall mounted ski boot and glove dryer

These things are ridiculously expensive online. So I designed my own.

Each box holds 4 pairs of gloves or boots and has finished dimensions of 29" wide, 22" tall and 3" deep. This is about the smallest box that you can comfortably fit adult size ski boots side by side and on top of each other. Boxes are 1/2" plywood and you can easily get two boxes out of a single sheet. I divided each box into two chambers so that there are two fans per box, one fan per 4 brackets. This frankly is overkill and you could probably have just one fan per box. I doubled up the sides, top, bottom and divider to be 1" thick. Use a hole saw to cut holes for the fans and brackets in the front panel. Lots of glue and brad nails to put the box together. You need to mount the fan from the inside, so the the rear panel is oversized and split into three pieces to allow the middle section to be removable. I used some silicone to seal the inside as well as some foam packaging material on the back panel seams to make the interior as airtight as possible.

The brackets and end pieces are sized for 1" schedule 40 pvc pipe. You can cut the pipe to your choosing but I found 10.75" for the boots and 7" for the gloves to be the right lengths. Because the boot end piece requires proper orientation, the bracket contains a slot/key which requires a 1/4" groove be routed in one end of the pipe, about 2 inches long. Use a router table and a 1/4" spiral upcut bit set to a smidge more than 1/16" above the table. Use a single clamp with a head that will fit inside the pipe, and put the pipe against the fence and handle of the clamp against the table. This will keep the round pipe from rotating as you push through to cut the slot. Then hit the sharp edges on the ends of the pipe with a roundover bit. I drilled a few extra vent holes in the non-slotted end of the pipe and glued the end pieces in with e6000, then spray painted black. The slotted end of the pipe should fit snugly into the bracket allowing you to swap the different pieces depending on whether there were more gloves or more boots to dry.

The fans are mounted from the inside. Use centrifugal fans as they have higher static pressure than axial fans. I tested the fan linked below, and the included control pod is adequate to power two fans from one control unit. Since I have two fans per box, I wired them in parallel so that one control pod (mounted on the outside of the box) controls two fans. The fan grille is mounted from the outside with wood screws, as are the brackets. For giggles, I used some silicone under the bracket to get as airtight as possible.

I hung these on the wall using a french cleat screwed into the studs. I also placed a metal L-bracket behind the box which attaches the bottom to the wall so the unit can't be accidentally pulled off the wall.

All pieces printed with PETG. The brackets were printed with 6 walls and 25% infill (there is not much infill). The end pieces I printed with 3 walls. Only the boot end pieces require supports.

Retail price for units like this is $1000+ range but you can make two boxes for about $100 in materials. Maybe at some point I will experiment with a heating element, but for now, this easily dries sopping wet gloves in a couple of hours. Good luck!

Fan == https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CG1S1HGC/?th=1