"Floating" Chain Wine Bottle Holder

I hate buying things when I can make them myself. A family member wanted a wine bottle holder like this, and I saw an opportunity to make something cool and improve my welding skills. I quite like the idea behind this sort of bottle holder. A chain (something not often associated with holding up an object all by itself) is turned into a solid support for a wine bottle.

Step 1: What You Need:

- Access to a welder
- A welding mask, gloves and appropriate clothing
- About 3.5 feet of steel chain; DO NOT use a galvanized metal chain (I used a chain with 1.25" long links; for anyone using the same sized chain I'll list the number of links that correspond to each measurement)
- Spray paint and clear coat
- An empty wine bottle

Step 2: The Base

- Arrange about 17.5" of chain (14 links) into a circle; I used the lid of a jar as a guide.
- Weld the links together.

Step 3: The Stem

- Drape the chain over an empty paint can or some other object so that part of the chain is almost perpendicular to the base. However, you don't want the chain to be straight up and down at a 90 degree angle. Rather, you want the chain to be offset slightly, at around an 85 degree angle.
- Weld 7.5" (6 links) of vertical chain together. Pay special attention to the bottom link.
- If you want you can weld the bottom link at a bit of an angle, giving the stem a more curved look.

Step 4: The Neck Hole

- Arrange the chain into a circle with a diameter of about 1 3/8" to 1 1/2" at the top of the "stem" you welded in the last step.
- Weld the circle.
- Check to see if the bottle holder works with a larger, preferably empty wine bottle.
- Wrap the remaining chain around the neck of the wine bottle.
- Weld the rest of the chain, including the dangling end.

Step 5: Painting

- Clean up the metal.
- I applied two coats of spray paint (I used semi-gloss black), and one light touch-up coat.
- I then applied two coats of clear coat.