Project Information
I made this for a friend, who is a Bud Light fan. I actually had him give me bottle caps, partly because I don't drink Bud Light, but also because he'd have a tiny connection to the project. This could obviously be made to suit anybody's favorite beer, although the screw off caps work well, as they are flat, compared to the pop off caps that become creased once removed.
I made a wine balancer of a similar design (minus the bottle caps of course) some months ago, but have yet to apply a finish to that one and thus haven't posted it. Larry's BBQ Boards inspired me to add the beer caps. I did do it a bit differently though, as I didn't completely sink the caps into the balancer because I wanted a bit of relief in order to lend depth to the piece. I used a forstner bit on the drill press to drill the bottle cap holes. I figured this would help hide the sharp edges of the caps, yet still allow them to protrude above the maple.
I basically used the same starting measurements as a wine balancer, but had to play with the angle in order to get the fulcrum point right. I ended up with a 33-degree angle, although I suspect anywhere in the 30-33-degree angle would work. I think 31-degrees would be better for a Bud Light bottle, but I didn't have one at the time and was using a different bottle that I thought was similar in shape/size/dimensions. I used the same angle on all 4-sides to keep everything even.
I ended up glueing small squares of white oak onto the backs of the bottle caps in order to be able to securely attach the caps to the maple. There is the little plastic seal around the underside of the cap, so I cut the oak squares to about 15/32"-square in order to sit inside that plastic ring. The oak anchors protrude past the caps ever so slightly, in order to provide an unobstructed glue-up.
I applied 6-coats of lacquer, then glued the caps in place, before applying the last 2-coats of lacquer. I applied the wax about 2-days after the lacquer.
Wood: curly maple, red oak on back of bottle caps
Finish: Transtint Dark Vintage Maple dye (diluted solution in distilled water), 8-coats Deft rattle can semi-gloss lacquer, 2-coats Renaissance Wax (I ended up removing a little bit more of the dye than I initially intended to, so the curl didn't pop quite as much as I would've liked, but it was my first time doing that so it was experimental. I also wiped on a little dewaxed shellac on the inside of the hole to help seal the wood.
Glue: CA glue to attach oak backers to caps, then CA glue to anchor the caps into the recesses.
Sanding: 120-150-220-320-400-600, 000 synthetic steel wool before the last 2-coats of lacquer (I would've used 0000 synthetic steel wool, but didn't have any).
(Sorry these aren't the best pictures. I used my phone to take them, as the camera battery was dead.)
I made a wine balancer of a similar design (minus the bottle caps of course) some months ago, but have yet to apply a finish to that one and thus haven't posted it. Larry's BBQ Boards inspired me to add the beer caps. I did do it a bit differently though, as I didn't completely sink the caps into the balancer because I wanted a bit of relief in order to lend depth to the piece. I used a forstner bit on the drill press to drill the bottle cap holes. I figured this would help hide the sharp edges of the caps, yet still allow them to protrude above the maple.
I basically used the same starting measurements as a wine balancer, but had to play with the angle in order to get the fulcrum point right. I ended up with a 33-degree angle, although I suspect anywhere in the 30-33-degree angle would work. I think 31-degrees would be better for a Bud Light bottle, but I didn't have one at the time and was using a different bottle that I thought was similar in shape/size/dimensions. I used the same angle on all 4-sides to keep everything even.
I ended up glueing small squares of white oak onto the backs of the bottle caps in order to be able to securely attach the caps to the maple. There is the little plastic seal around the underside of the cap, so I cut the oak squares to about 15/32"-square in order to sit inside that plastic ring. The oak anchors protrude past the caps ever so slightly, in order to provide an unobstructed glue-up.
I applied 6-coats of lacquer, then glued the caps in place, before applying the last 2-coats of lacquer. I applied the wax about 2-days after the lacquer.
Wood: curly maple, red oak on back of bottle caps
Finish: Transtint Dark Vintage Maple dye (diluted solution in distilled water), 8-coats Deft rattle can semi-gloss lacquer, 2-coats Renaissance Wax (I ended up removing a little bit more of the dye than I initially intended to, so the curl didn't pop quite as much as I would've liked, but it was my first time doing that so it was experimental. I also wiped on a little dewaxed shellac on the inside of the hole to help seal the wood.
Glue: CA glue to attach oak backers to caps, then CA glue to anchor the caps into the recesses.
Sanding: 120-150-220-320-400-600, 000 synthetic steel wool before the last 2-coats of lacquer (I would've used 0000 synthetic steel wool, but didn't have any).
(Sorry these aren't the best pictures. I used my phone to take them, as the camera battery was dead.)
