Wall Bowl Station
Setup and care. About ten minutes, and the only tool you need is a screwdriver.
In the box
- —The station, in one piece. It is printed as a single part: there is nothing to assemble, no screws to put in it.
- —Two stainless steel bowls, 140 mm (5½ in) across the rim.
- —Four self-drilling drywall anchors and their screws.
You will need a pencil, a tape measure, a level and a #2 screwdriver. No drill: the anchors bore their own hole in drywall.
Put it on the wall
1. Draw one level line
Decide where you want the top of the station to sit. Measure 46 mm (1¾ in) straight down from there and draw a level line. All four screws go on that line.
2. Mark four holes on it
Left to right, the gaps are 83 mm, 90 mm, 83 mm (3¼ in, 3½ in, 3¼ in) — 256 mm (10⅛ in) from the first hole to the last. Centre that group where you want the station.
3. Drive the four anchors
The anchors cut their own hole in drywall — screw each one in until it sits flush, then drive its screw, and stop with the head standing 4.5 mm (about 3/16 in) proud of the wall. The station hooks behind those heads: driven flush it will not go on, left too loose it rocks. If a hole happens to land on a wood stud, skip the anchor there and drive a #8 × 1½ in wood screw straight into it.
4. Hang it and let it drop
Hold the station flat to the wall and pass the four screw heads through the round part of the keyholes, then let it slide down 18 mm (¾ in) until it stops. That is the whole mount — no screws through the front, nothing to tighten.
5. Drop in the bowls
Each seat is a cone cut to the same taper as the bowl, so the bowl rests on a 10 mm band instead of on an edge — it will not wobble or wear a ring into the shelf. The rim stands 6 mm above the surface, which is what lets you lift a bowl out with two fingers.
Hitting wood? That hole needs no anchor
The anchors are for drywall. A #8 × 1½ in wood screw driven straight into a stud holds about ten times what an anchor does, so wherever you reach solid wood the anchor is the weaker of the two — leave it out. Studs sit 16 in (406 mm) apart and the four holes span only 256 mm, so at most one of them can land on a stud: the other three still get their anchors. On a solid wood or plywood wall, use four wood screws and no anchors at all — same spacing, same 4.5 mm standing proud of the wall.
Looking after it
Never put the station in the dishwasher
It is 3D printed in PLA. A dishwasher cycle is hot enough to soften the plastic, and the shelf comes out warped — it will not sit flat against the wall again. This is not a defect you can undo, so it is the one rule that really matters.
- —Wipe the station with a damp cloth and a drop of dish soap, then dry it. No bleach, no solvents, no abrasive pad — they dull the grain texture.
- —Keep it away from heat generally: no hot water, no microwave, no oven, and do not leave it in a parked car in summer.
- —The stainless bowls are dishwasher safe. Lift them out of their seats first and wash them on their own.
What it holds
- Both bowls full, every day
- about 19 N — 2 kg — per anchor
- A 20 kg (44 lb) dog leaning its weight on the front
- about 117 N — 12 kg — per anchor
- What one anchor is rated for
- 25 kg — 245 N
The four anchors are there for the dog that leans on it, not for the food: even that case stays at about half of what a single anchor is rated to hold.