A Fun and Simple Wine Woodworking Christmas Gift

Intro: A Fun and Simple Wine Woodworking Christmas Gift

My mom wanted me to make her a few wine bottle / wine glass holders as future Christmas gifts. I saw it as a fun opportunity to work with lots of hardwood species!

STEP 1: Gather Materials and Tools!

Below is a comprehensive list of what I used both material and tools-wise for this build and video. Remember that wood species and design is totally up to you, but this is what I used. Note - I had enough material to make four total holders, and ended up finishing only three.

MATERIALS

• Maple, Ipe, Walnut, Mahogany, and Poplar hardwoods (all two feet in length, various widths, about 4/4 stock)
• TiteBond II Wood Glue: http://amzn.to/2peRFus
• Mineral Oil: http://amzn.to/2p1hu2N

TOOLS

• RYOBI 10 in. Sliding Compound Miter Saw: http://amzn.to/2q1klHw
• RYOBI Miter Saw Stand: http://amzn.to/2p1072e
• RYOBI Table Saw: http://amzn.to/2h6ZQc4
• RYOBI Band Saw: http://amzn.to/2rYzJF8
• RYOBI Power Drill: http://amzn.to/2q1l5wn
• RYOBI Stationary Bench Sander: http://amzn.to/2q1Cq8k
• RYOBI Palm Router: http://amzn.to/2vsYkYD
• RIDGID 13” Thickness Planer: http://amzn.to/2u7YrmK
• BESSEY Economy 2.5” x 12” Clutch Clamps: http://amzn.to/2oIJGVy
• BESSEY Economy 2.5” x 24” Clutch Clamps: http://amzn.to/2osNm1x
• Tape Measure: http://amzn.to/2qMtJ1c
• ROCKLER Bench Cookies: http://amzn.to/2q1qjYZ
• 8 Piece Forsnter Bit Set: http://amzn.to/2u7zAzk
• Hand Sanding Papers

FILM / AUDIO EQUIPMENT

• Canon Rebel EOS T2i: http://amzn.to/2pwwlDI
• Main Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens: http://amzn.to/2zt0jKR
• Secondary Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens: http://amzn.to/2pwmuhi
• Rode Microphone: http://amzn.to/2oIExg3
• Studio Lighting Equipment: http://amzn.to/2rtrkg0
• H4N Zoom Mic (VO Recording): http://amzn.to/2uMeVWL

STEP 2: Rip Your Materials

As you can see, I'm using the five species (Pic 1). I chose these because of the color variety. I personally wanted to have Maple as the main color, as the light wood would contrast nicely with the other colors.

I didn't have a huge amount of methodology to how I ripped my strips, other than that no piece would be wider than 2" and no thinner than 1/4", and I would try to mix up the variety as much as possible (Pic 2).

NOTE - I did this project based on the tools I had. If you don't have a table saw or planer, etc., you can always go with a nice solid piece of Hardwood and just shape that single piece how you'd like.

STEP 3: Mix It Up

Once you have all your strips cut and the surfaces are clean for gluing (should be fine coming off the table saw), mix them up how you want to and get ready for the glue up.

STEP 4: Glue Up

Nothing special here. Pics 1-3 show me applying enough glue to spread out and cover all of your surfaces. Keep it flat as you clamp up, and let it dry overnight. I used an old card to spread my glue, and I do my glue ups on top of a flat piece of plywood covered in masking tape to avoid any sticking.

STEP 5: Plane and Rip

After your glue up dries, you can run it through the planer a few times to clean up all of your surfaces (Pic 1). I tried to keep the final thickness at least 1/2", but that will be based on your starting material size.

Next, I cleaned up one edge of the large blank (Pic 2) and I ripped my blank into four pieces, all 4.5" wide (Pics 3-4).

STEP 6: Drilling Your Holes and Cutting Your Slots

I marked out a center hole and two holes on each end that would accept a wine bottle and wine glasses, respectively (Pic 1). The center of the two outside holes were 1.25" in from the outsides, and I used a 7/8" forstner bit to drill those holes. Make sure you secure your piece firmly to your surface with a clamp (Pic 2).

I then drilled the center hole (Pic 3) with a 1.125" forstner bit. Once all of my holes were drilled, I use my miter saw to make two cuts, creating alternating grooves to the two wine glass holes (Pic 4). Pretty straight forward, just make sure you're piece is secured and you take the cuts slow. Pic 5 shows how those groves come together.

NOTE - If you plan to route your edges, make sure that you cut these slits wide enough so that your router bit and bearing can travel through it cleanly.

STEP 7: Sketch, Cut, and Sanding

You can make these any shape you want. Pic 1 shows me using some scrap edge banding and tape to create a smooth line to cut later. Pic 2 shows me using a circle to create rounded edges. I then roughed everything out on my super awful band saw that I need to replace (Pic 3).

I then switched to my stationary belt sander in Pics 4-6 and smoothed over all of the edges, corners, and surfaces using 80 grit on the sanding disc and 120 grit on the belt. I also used new discs and belts for this - something I learned makes the world of a difference for just a few bucks!

STEP 8: Routing and Final Sanding

I used a 1/4" round over bit and my palm router (Pic 1) to break all of the edges. Pic 2 shows all the edges routed and the two shapes I created from my blanks in the previous step. I then did some final belt sanding of the rounded edges (Pic 3) and some wet and dry hand sanding (Pic 4) to finish these guys off.

STEP 9: Oiling

I cleaned my surfaces with mineral spirits and then applied thick coats of mineral oil to all the surfaces to finish them off and bring out all of the colors. They looked beautiful!

STEP 10: All Done! Thanks for Reading

Pic 1 shows the final wine bottle / wine glass holder (or at least one version), and Pic 2 shows how it functions!

Perfect for any date night or table / kitchen counter!

If you want to know any materials, tools, or have any general questions answered, you can check out the second step or contact me via my website, thecuttingbored.com and I would be happy to do answer them.

As always, thank you for reading! I would be so grateful if you could please subscribe to my Youtube Channel for future projects.

I put out videos every few weeks.

Cheers! Zach

Comments

[BertD28]

Very nicely done! I see you have the width at 4.5. Is there a minimum/maximum length that you use or do you have a set length to this? If so, what do you generally use?

[Workshop Edits]

I wouldn't go much thinner than 4.5" - you want enough material to maintain rigidity. I think length-wise, I ended up with something around 10.25" long - and I'd also recommend keeping it that wide at a minimum, as you want enough space for the glasses and wine bottle to be positioned without touching.

Someone made a fun comment elsewhere saying that if you had this while out on a picnic or just had it as your display for wine, you could take it off and use it as a cheese/charcuterie serving board, etc., which I thought was a great idea - I'd recommend making it larger if that were the case. Hope that somewhat answers your question!

[BertD28]

Thanks for the info! Great job and I just may do that and make it slightly larger so that cheese could also be served with it!! Thank you again!!

[Workshop Edits]

of course! good luck with the build!

[LeslieGeee]

Beautiful product and a great idea. I am wondering if tiny brass latches or similar would be appropriate for keeping the glasses from slipping out as you walk with it. Your build is gorgeous with the different woods but for a fast build and Christmas gift I bet any wood would look nice. Thank you for sharing.

[Workshop Edits]

Thanks! The species of wood possibilities is what got me most excited about the simple build. I think you could definitely add little brass latches, however, I always saw this as more decorative / meant for display purposes than carrying around...like something that could sit on your bar cart, or in the corner of your counter if you only drank half the bottle, etc.

[Timbermancrafts]

Cool idea and well-executed. I'm a big fan of how it turned out with the different woods! You should enter it into the Homemade gifts contest :)

[Workshop Edits]

Thanks for checking it out! Yea I was very excited once I greenlit this project to combine as much as possible since I knew the variety could come out stunning.

Just entered - would love a vote. Thanks!