I threw this key holder together in a couple weekends. I wanted a place to put keys that’s near the garage door, so if I’m working outside and my shoes are messy, I can grab my keys without having to take my shoes off or put down a towel and sliding it across the kitchen floor with my feet. It’s oak with 1/4" copper tubing, #8 copper wire, and copper screen. Finding the copper screen was the hard part. At one point I gave up and cut some pieces of thin plexiglas to fit into each panel. Making the curves by melting it with the torch was very tricky. I had all the pieces done, but couldn’t find a good way to hold them in place. Silicone doesn’t stick to it and I couldn’t find any epoxy that dried clear. I also didn’t like it because over time the keys would scratch it up. I almost gave up looking for the copper screen and was going to make my own by wrapping wire around a board, weaving the perpendicular wires in, and soldering it together. Then I tried a craft store called Michaels and they had it!

I had to go out a buy and butane microtorch because the propane torch was too hard to control and simply disintegrated the screen. There are also a couple places where I burned the wood a little, but this isn’t a prominent piece in the house, so I don’t care. What I should’ve done is make two bottom pieces—one from oak and one from scrap playwood. Then I could’ve used the scrap piece as a jig without worrying about burning it. Or maybe soaking the wood in water for a couple hours might’ve prevented it? I doubt it.