A Barrel-Style Wine Rack - a 2x4 Project

This year I decided to join a 2x4 Contest. But what to make? I always had a wine rack on my list. Not for myself, but something nice I can give away. Unfortunately I was a little late and had to rush a bit through this build.

Please also watch the video on YouTube about this build and subscribe to my channel!

Step 1: Creating a Sketchup Model

First I had to make a sketchup model to get all the dimensions, so that
all pieces fit on a 2×4. The 2×4 was the first problem.

Step 2: Preparing the Stock

There are no 2x4s where I live so I had to buy a 5 meter long 50mm thick and 100mm wide board. Is was a real adventure to put this thing through my little bench-top thickness planer to get a 2x4.

Due to my small workshop I had to cut the 8 feet 2×4 into more manageable pieces and in order to waste no material I cut it by hand. The Japanese Handsaw runs through spruce like through butter.

Then I had to make some rip cutting. Some pieces had to be more than 70 mm wide which is the capacity of my band saw. So I had to use my Japanese rip cut handsaw. It took some time to make these cuts but fortunately I could use my band saw for the narrower pieces.

In the end it cut 102 pieces plus quite a lot offcuts.

Step 3: Glueing the Frame

The base of this rack are two oval frames. A back and a front piece. Each is made of 6 pieces and joint with simple half lap joints.

Step 4: Cutting the Barrel Strips

Both frames were connected with 48 strips after I cut a rabbet into the front and back. The strips also had rabbets on both ends. The ones for the curved part also got a 5 degree angle on the long sides.

At this point I want to thank my father in law who helped me out and made about 200 cuts on the table saw.

Step 5: Glueing the Barrel

It took a while to glue up all the strips. I did this in several steps.

1. I lined up the angles strips on tape and glued them together in a quarter circle.
2. I had to glue two quarters together to get a half circle. To get good even clamping pressure I used tension belts.
3. Due to my small workshop I had to cut the 8 feet 2×4 into more manageable pieces and in order to waste no material I cut it by hand. The Japanese Handsaw runs through spruce like through butter.

Step 6: Attaching the Features

Now it was time to attach all the features. First of all, the feet.

This wine rack should have a compartment for a bottle opener or for casters, so I put some hinges onto a cap piece.

The wine bottle holders are positioned in two layers. One is on the top of the compartment, the other is on a shelf.

I made some typical wine glass holders. My design idea was to have the
glasses angled by approximate 15 degree but due to space issues I glued them in by eye.

After adding them an two shelves for shot glasses or coasters, the wine rack was finished.

Step 7: Finishing

In the end I finished everything with a mineral oil and beeswax polish.