Wine Bottle Holder (Kitchen Challenge CS1)

Creating this project was fun, because it was a combined effort that Keith and I made together. I wanted a wine bottle holder for our kitchen, but after looking in stores and online I couldn’t find one that I really liked. So, thinking like a LJ I decided to design one myself, and asked Keith if it was something we could do as a weekend project together.
This is my original pencil drawing showing the design I came up with:

Next, I came up with a design for the carvings we would do on the front, and Keith drew a template on some MDF and cut it out so we could use it to trace it onto our wood. We decided to make it out of Maple, because 1. we had enough of it on hand already to use, and 2. we like the way maple carves so cleanly. This is a pic of the template, and the carving design-

We both took turns cutting out all sides left and right, front and back on the bandsaw….then we used carbon paper to copy our designs onto the front and each carved a side. When looking at the project head on, I carved the left side, and Keith carved the right. Here are a few pics from the carving process-

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After that we took turns cutting out the "spindels" that stretch across the front and back that the wine bottle will rest on, and sanded them on the spindel sander. Keith had the idea to use the router bit that creates a curved edge on all 4 sides which results in making them completely circular. I wasn't completely sold on the idea at first, because I designed it differently, but looking at the finished project now, I think it was a really good decision after all. Keeping them squared would have made the finished project look too bulky, and detracted from the carvings.

To join the parts together, we used a dowel in each "spindel", and used dominos to in the sides. After dry fitting all of the parts together and making sure everything would line up correctly, we took it apart and then glued and clamped the entire thing together. Here are some pictures of that process-

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The next day we unclamped it, and started on the process of sanding our way through all of the grits. Then Keith had me rub it with a damp rag to raise the grain, and we sanded it again. While I was finishing up on the sanding, Keith cut out the piece for the top, and routed the edges to give it the same rounded over edge as the spindels.

For the finish, I wanted a color similar to our kitchen cabinets, but it didn't have to be an exact match...just something to compliment it. Keith mixed a custom color, which turned out beautifully. I applied it with a rag one section at a time, and Keith used a dry brush to blend and even out the color. That was followed up by several coats of Deft clear wood finish in satin.....scuff sanding in between coats to keep it all nice and smooth.

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The top was fastened on after the finishing using some figure 8 fastiners-

And finally.....the finished wine rack standing proudly on our kitchen counter top, and being put to good use-

So...there you have it.....our entry for the CS1 Kitchen Challenge. Time to pop open a bottle : )

-- Heidi :) “The only source of knowledge is experience”