wooden beer mug

This instructable is for making a big wooden beer mug.
I made it 15cm x 22cm.
It is not so suitible for drinking beer (pallet wood can be toxic) but for decorative purpose or ,like me as a trash and beercaps bin.
If you wanne make one you can drink from ,there are some suggestions in the comments.

Step 1: Cutting the wood

For this mug i used some pallet wood i had laying around.
You will need 15 sticks cut at a length of 22 cm and at an angle of 12 degrees.

Comments

[ctuck]

Thanks for the informative instructions. Also found a lot of info in the comments. I made one following your instructions and am now modeling some other designs by making minor changes to angles and lengths:

http://twisty-doer.tumblr.com/post/6513721893/after-this-last-weekends-geek-day-where-i-made

Attached my results from my build. I used fresh clean wood found a leak in a knot hole. I plan to give it a bee wax treatment.

[craig3]

I know it's a while off, but I'd like to ask about your bee wax treatment for your wooden mug, Do you brush it on or dip the mug into the wax?

[antioch]

There is natural beeswax, rather solid unless molten, and there are a thousand of commercial products that come with thousands of additives making it liquid, sometimes toxic. So, depends on the form the wax comes in, I'd guess. Dipping it in sounds best, for maximum seal use it in an ultrasonic cleaner (they're cheap, for cleaning glasses but not worth buying one for just a mug or two. for some odd reason people throw them away a lot, too. i see many in the streets. age of the contact lense, maybe?)

This just for a mug with decorative purposes, of course. I would never dip a mug into wax or oil and later drink from it. Eurgh.

Untreated wood is antibacterial. Your only concerns are mold and bacterial colonies originating from larger remainds of organic matter (soup, broth, whatever you will drink from that mug that isn't water or schnaps).
Wash it out with water, a thorough scrub from time to time, and a mild detergent if the mug contained oil, hot water and mild detergent if it contained fats. This is mostly to remove other organic matter that clings onto them and which could breed unhealthy things.
The detergent is not really necessary though. The worst things that fats and oils could do to your mug are giving it odors. At best they will add sealage and a beautiful, natural patina.

[SlickSqueegie]

Hey, Check out the food safe finish I made with Beeswax and Mineral oil. http://www.instructables.com/id/100-Food-safe-home-made-wood-finish/

Beeswax is pretty hard but the mineral oil softens it to chap-stick like consistency, goes on nice and it 100% food safe. Also makes your skin very very soft.
I have been told this can go a long time in-between applications.

[ctuck]

Hey Craig. I have not yet waxed it. The method I was going to use was to rub the wooden surface with bee wax, then place the mug in the oven (with something under it to catch any drips). Still researching a little what temp I want to warm it at. This should allow me to properly cover the inside and/or the outside of the mug without using a large amount of wax. It's also a lot easier to manage than dipping or brushing. The warming will melt the wax onto and into the wooden surface. I might need to do this more than once. I will post back if I get to it soon, seems like a good indoor activity for the short days ;) Let me know what you end up doing.

[jecale47]

The project is fine, but it would be best not to glue, the water expands the wood.
The fund must be within a channel that will make the staves and metal tightens the belt.

[Wi11]

Thanks for posting, I think I might turn one.

[mphilips]

Hey, Just make the mug the way a real cooper would do it. Split your wood out of a log , shape each piece with on the shaving horse, (NO glue) shape a handle with one piece, assemble and make your bands out of wood. Fresh cut white oak is the best. Don't forget to put in the bottom and them keep the mug wet and after the first time it leaks and if mand right it will hold the beer.

Don

[zed627]

i work with wooden buckets, and we have to soak them in water first so the wood swells and holds the water, i'd try this along with the heated metal bands. Also there is this stuff called brewer's pitch that is a wax used in wooden canteens that can be used with this.

[frankbenn]

For sealing this type of project you might try drying it well (in oven) then pour in melted beeswax, swirl and tilt 'til coated and reheat if needed and pour out the excess wax. Recoat as needed. The wood will swell some as it absorbs moisture from the air. Check online for making leather mugs. This type coating was used on them a few centuries ago. I think that melted resin can be added to the wax to make it harder. That may come up in a search.

[vayres]

So is this just a decorative mug, then?
I see nothing in the instructions that would safe guard it for beverage use.

Very neat project, though!

[IchadBuns]

Use non-treated wood and non-toxic glue. Keep it dry (turn upside down when you're done drinking out of it.) My only other concern is leaking out of the bottom.

[Don,t try this at home]

To seal the cup so it dont leak use linseed oil just dont use the boiled linseed oil because its toxic

[grd]

Immodium may help if that's your main concern.

[david.beck]

Hahaha come on, nobody caught this one?

[mlogan2]

Would it be possible to seal the mug? I know it'll rot if it stays wet, but I'm afraid the wood will shrink if it gets too dry.

[WereCheetah]

I would think it would be just fine if you used something like mineral oil or a wax based sealer.

[skimmo]

i used a block plane to acheive my 12* angle and i only ended up useing 11 sides, i guess its because of the error of degrees

[Jodex]

I thought that I could make a little barrel, about 35 cm tall. The problem is that I don't have any table saw or a bandsaw so it's kinda hard to get that right angle. Does anybody have any suggestions what to use? I have a skill saw, but I don't think that I am able to change the angle of the blade.

[fefillo]

You can cut the groove for the rings and also a groove for the bottom part as dados before cutting the individual pieces. Specially useful if you are using the hose clamps vs the the steel+fire method.

[ForbiddenFig403]

What if you just used wood directly from a small tree? Not very "green" I suppose, but that would fix the added chemicals problem altogether. If you have the proper tools you could eliminate the taping together of small pieces of wood and just cut out the general shape of your mug (including handle, even) and power-sand away. I personally don't know much about woodworking, but I know people carve things out of woodblocks sometimes.

[Rahere]

As it ages, it'll tend to develop chines in the base, causing leakage. There's no reason not to use wood from such a source in the way described, though.

[mkim1]

If you wanted to try to do it the actual way that they made wooden barrels, you have rings made a size a little smaller than would fit, then heat them up in a coal fire. soak the cup in water (whole thing). Slide the rings on while hot.

the rings should be expanded because of the heat.
the heat burns the soaked wood, making the grooves for the rings.
the water from the wood, causes the rings to cool down, which makes them shrink.

this is why barrels are water tight, without glue.

[The Ideanator]

Congrats on the Make feature, it's well deserved.

[kharris4]

When I lived in Australia, many of my friends or their Dad's brewed their own beer at home (beer prices are much higher in OZ), So they always had a cold one ready to offer and they could proudly say they made it themselves. It become their hobby. Many people wonder how to homebrew and a lot of people either think that if they home brew their own beer, it will either be expensive, taste Disgusting or, be Really Difficult to Do. And to be honest, that's what we thought many moons ago before we started to homebrew our own beer. http://bars-and-bartending.com/how-to-homebrew.html has all the directions, ingredients and supplies.

[asarris]

I loved it the only thing you could do to make it more authentic is taken the sheet metal and put both ends into fire. Regular fire works, waited until it was red taken it pounded it so that it fit snugly on the mug. Once you did that put the whole thing in fire. It will expand. Take that out (not with your hands) and place it on the mug. Leave it for about 10 seconds and then pour water on it. Repeat for 2nd band and bam you have a fully waterproof realistic mug that you can use to hold any liquid you want. (not for drinking as the treatment for wood is toxic.

[Ricardo Furioso]

STOP. NEARLY ALL PALLET WOOD IS TREATED WITH PRESERVATIVE CHEMICALS. THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL SYSTEM FOR DESIGNATING THE PRESERVATIVES USED ON PALLET WOOD. AND THEY'RE SHIPPED INTERNATIONALLY WHERE US CHEMICAL LAWS DO NOT APPLY. AND THEY'RE REUSED AND SHIPPED AGAIN AND AGAIN. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THAT WOOD CAME FROM OR WHAT POISONS IT CONTAINS. MAKING MUGS FROM THAT WOOD IS AT BEST QUESTIONABLE, AT WORST, DEADLY.

[capt.tagon]

All the pallets we receive here are untreated unless they are the OSB resin type or plastic. The use of pressure treated wood in pallets is by no means universal and in the case of pallets that are for one time use, highly unlikely as it is an added expense and waste of money. The sad fact is we have a twice yearly bonfire to get rid of the untreated ones, despite the free sign out on the fence, we only get a 50% recycle rate. Trucking companies view it a waste to transport empty pallets, even more so as fuel prices have gone up.

While some pallets are treated, the warning is important in that you do not know what may have leaked in transit and has contaminated the wood.

[Scurvymcdiggle]

all caps posts are usually ignored as panicked people or spammers. so be calm and reasonable in your warning posts because its a shame to have people miss important info.

[Ricardo Furioso]

You are right.
But I am panicked.
For good reason.
But you make a good point.
Ah well.
Thank you.

[Daftehh]

If you scale it up you can make a pretty nice barrel

[ewitwins]

What I would do for the rings is heat them up with a torch and wet the grooves so that the rings burn themselves into the wood and shrink around it.

[Kaptain Kool]

AWESOME SAUCE!

[DrJase]

Large hose clips work really well for the steel bands, and can be used initially to hold everything together while the glue dries, and left on as the decoration.

[DELETED_kage_no_akiri]

(removed by author or community request)

[Alderin]

I think you could fairly well disguise the clamp ends within the handle. Then the only indicator of 'hose clamp' would be the holes in the bands.

[Thax]

black metal pallet strap could also serve here, and is already treated against rust.

[discopete]

You should also do what they do at the Ren Faires with wooden mugs, coat at least the inside with food-grade varnish. That will keep it from leeching chems from the wood and also more securely seal it.

[stickeyno]

whell back then thay didnt have varnish thay used bee wax its easy to apply just heat the wax and rub it in to the wood it will seal the mug and you can eat it so no worries thair

 and as for the band around the cup use the hose clamp to hold it to gather when the glue is drying and when you put the steal band on you just over lap the ends about 1/2 inch and put a small rivit in the band to hold the band on

[melwadone]

This Looks like a Cool Project, However, A Leaky Beer Mug is Just Plain Alcohol Abuse unless you get under the leak like a Frat Kid at a college Beer party. WHEW! That was FUN! Where's the Towel?