Introduction: DIY Wine Rack

By My YouTube Channel
About: I enjoy simple DIY projects and enjoy sharing them with others. I'm 33 and I am a sheet metal worker by trade. I really enjoy remodeling and making things. I'm married and have two wonderful children.

I originally saw this on Reddit and decided that this would be a great Christmas present for my mom since she likes these crafty things. This was a simple but fun build that pretty much any amateur can do, hence why I built it. Anyway, here are the tools and materials that I used to make it: Have fun!

  • Miter Saw
  • Table Saw
  • Router
  • Orbital Sander
  • Wood Clamps
  • Tape Measure
  • Drill / Driver
  • Hammer
  • Chain
  • Nails
  • Wood Glue
  • Brad Nailer
  • 1/2" Black Iron Pipe

Sorry if this Instructable confuses anyone. I do have a video on YouTube which shows a little more detail.

https://youtu.be/qACej8i3Pts

Step 1: Start With the Top Rail

This entire project was made entirely from "Select Pine". It was pretty straight when I picked it out from Menards. The biggest thing I was most concerned about was that it would be completely dried, which it was.

So I started off making the top and bottom rails. For this I cut two pieces at 25" on the miter saw. After that I ran them through the table saw to make a slot which was centered and was 1" tall and 3/8" wide.

Step 2: Next I Made the Slats

For the slats or uprights, I used 7, 19" pieces which were also cut on the miter saw. These slats were made to fit inside of the top and bottom rails which were ran through the table saw in the previous step. So to do this, I used a dado blade which will remove 1/4" of material at a time to speed up the process. You don't need a dado blade to do this. I removed 3/16" of material on both ends and both sides of the slat. The total width of the slat will be 17" when finished so I removed 1" on both ends.

Step 3: Assemble the Backer

So I have my little guy helping me with this part. He likes to hang out in the garage with Dad. This part is pretty simple. First we glued the top and bottom rails using a generous amount of glue. And also (which is not shown) we glued the sides of the slats as well. If the slats are tough to get inside the rails, use a soft mallet. Once the backer is put together, clamp everything together using wood clamps. I think I used about every wood clamp I had. I let this dry for about 3 hours.

Step 4: The Wine Rack

For the rack I'm using 1/2" black iron pipe. It's fairly cheap, easy to find, simple to use and most hardware stores should have this. The material consists of:

  • 2 Elbows
  • 2, 3" Nipples
  • 2, Wall Plates
  • 1, 18" Nipple

This is pretty self explanatory, my only advice on this part would be to make sure that the pipe is the same height on both ends and I made the wall plates have the same screw orientation.

Step 5: Square Up the Backer and Make the Shelf

After the backer is dried, I took it to the table saw to square it up. After that I measured the width of the back and cut 5 pieces the same width. The first piece was so that I had a backing board to screw to and the other 4 pieces were mitered on the table saw at a 45 degree angle to make a box. I only mitered the long side of the 4 pieces.

The backer board was glued and screwed to all 7 slats. Then the mitered piece was done in the exact same manner. Then we glued the mitered edge and I used 7/8" brad nails to secure it while it dried.

Step 6: Making the Glass Holder

What I did here was use a "Key Slot" router bit. I had 4 glasses that I bought from Wal-Mart and measured the outside diameter of the bottom ensuring that the glasses would be able to slide in and out freely and without too much slop.

So I centered the 4 glasses on the board (which was also cut slightly smaller than the backer) and began cutting out the slots. I used the "Key Slot" on both sides of the line and then changed the bit on the router and removed the excess. I took my time and went a little smaller and test fit every glass to ensure that the opening was big enough but not too big.

After that was completed I spread a liberal amount of wood glue on the "Glass Slider" and fixed it to the bottom of the shelf using 1 1/4" screws. I filled the screws with stainable wood putty since this will not be seen by many people.

Then it was time to measure the end caps. The caps were glued on all four sides and I used a soft mallet to tap them in.

Step 7: The Hangers

I used "Key Slot" hangers for this project because they are able to hold a lot more weight than some other hangers that were at the hardware store. Luckily, I was able to use the same router bit on this as I did making the glass rails!

I figured 2 hangers would be adequate for this project so I marked my center lines and traced the inside of the hanger with a sharp pencil. I then used the router to take out the material where the screws would go.

Step 8: Distressing the Wood

Next I quickly sanded everything using 220 grit sandpaper. Which seems weird because now I'm about to beat the crap out of the wood.

I started off slapping it with a chain I had laying around. Next I made a make-shift nail scratcher and dragged it across the wood in multiple places. Finally I dented the wood with my DeWalt hammer that looks like a meat tenderizer on the end.

Step 9: Time for Stain

Now it's time to see what the distressing did! I'm using a dark stain for this. I left the stain on a little longer than I normally do so that it could soak into all the distressed groves. Then after it was stained I sealed it with 3 coats of polyurethane.

I should mention that I also spray painted the black iron so that it would be ready at the same time as the poly dried.

Step 10: Installing the Pipe

Not much to say here except that I centered the pipe evenly with both sides of the backer and I left it 4" up from the shelf. I also used 3/4" screws and pre-drilled the holes to ensure that the wood would not split.

So that's it! It's a pretty simple build but I think it turned out pretty well and I'm thinking my mom will like it a lot.

Thanks for looking!