Introduction: Custom Illusion Wine Holder Gift

By

Introduction
I've seen this a long time ago at a winery and always wanted to try and make it myself.  Having  a couple birthdays and weddings coming up made this the perfect time to learn. This makes a great gift with the lasered customization and I actually used one of these as a serving platter with cheese, crackers and salami covering the hole & design. When my guests ate the food they discovered this unique personalized gift! I made it at Techshop and used the nice equipment there.  Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions, comments or pictures to share!

Materials/Tools Needed
Wood stock - I used bamboo flooring cut to 11" height by 3.5" width
Hole Drill Bit - 1.25" diameter
Miter or Table Saw - to be able to cut the angles
Laser Cutter/Engraver (Optional)

Step 1 - Cut wood to length
Cut the stock to length and the best advice is to experiment on test throwaway wood with the angles and sizes. I used stock from 8' bamboo flooring  that were 3.5" width and cut them down to 11" on the miter saw.  Also using the miter saw I cut the bottom angle at a 50 degree. This can vary from 40-50 depending on the position of the top hole to counter balance the wine.  Note I tried this on a 1.5" width wood and it still worked and held as well as the 3.5" width piece, but I like that the wider board can double as a small cutting board/serving platter. 

Step 2 - Cut out hole
I used the drill press with a 1.25" hole drill bit to cut out the hole centered 2.5" down from the top of the board and centered horizontally.  Make sure the piece is securely clamped down and depending on the wood used it might take considerable force to cut this out. Go slow and be safe.  You can also use a 1.125" drill bit should also fit most .75 Liter bottles but some bottles like sparkling wine have larger necks that might need a 1.25" hole.

Actually created a custom jig to hold this and it is nice to be able to use this repeatably. I glued 5 scrap pieces together and cut out a 40 degree angle slot where the board could fit in.  This makes the hole horizontal to the wine bottle when balanced.

Step 3 - Laser a design (Optional)
This truly makes the gift "WOW" factor and a picture, logo or monogram adds to the illusion of just being that much cooler. Of course a bottle of wine, floating is pretty spectacular already!