Project Information
I have an order to make a few wine bottle balancers and the old fixture I had was too hard to control using a Forstner bit so I made a new one out of plywood. It works real well and needs no clamps because the guide and the part are contained on the sides and the bottom end. But it needs an improvement!!! I need to mill out just below the part to put in a sacrificial piece of scrap to be changed for each new part. When the Forstner bit comes through into a void, it walks to one side and freezes in the hole. By putting a piece of scrap under each cut, the bit will always have wood on all sides and will cut clean through. I also found out that silicone on a Forstner bit greatly reduces the heat and expansion of the bit.
This first balancer is made of 3/4" mahogany with a wine bottle pattern wood burned int the top. The hole is 1 5/16" at a 45 degree angle and the bottom angle is 50 degrees.
I was going to make a bottle inlay, but I broke the 1/8" carbide bit on the first try so that will be for another day.
It is finished with clear matte spray and will balance a full or empty bottle.
This first balancer is made of 3/4" mahogany with a wine bottle pattern wood burned int the top. The hole is 1 5/16" at a 45 degree angle and the bottom angle is 50 degrees.
I was going to make a bottle inlay, but I broke the 1/8" carbide bit on the first try so that will be for another day.
It is finished with clear matte spray and will balance a full or empty bottle.
