[Sca-cooks] Flimsy pole... <WAS: Re: Books was Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery>

[Terry Decker]

Some of our closets came with iron gas pipe rods.  They've stood up well for 
the twenty years we've had them.  Looking at the connectors, I'd say they 
replaced 1 1/2 inch wooden ones.

Bear

> My personal woodworker-AND-blacksmith opines that a solid wooden pole is 
> likely to be stronger than almost any hollow tube of metal labeled "closet 
> pole" that you may find at the hardware store.
>
> Metal is maleable, and probably 99% of all metal closet poles we've ever 
> seen at the hardware store are both hollow and made of 
> not-intrinsically-strong types of metal (pot metal, aluminum, etc. -- 
> or unhardened steel) -- his test is, take the metal pole and hit an edge 
> with it -- if it bends under impact, it will eventually bend under load.
>
> One would want a hardwood pole, and those can be ... interesting to find 
> (hardwood dowel, fine; hardwood 1.5", not so easy to find!); and the 
> density of the wood needs to increase, the longer your pole is. Of course, 
> oak is also very "brash", so if/when it goes, there will be splinters... 
> probably the best idea is to ALSO include intermediate support pole(s), 
> depending on the width of your closet and/or the weight of what you're 
> hanging.
>
> cheers,
> chimene