Bottle Stopper Racks – Making Parts

I’m sorry I didn’t get around to posting updates on this new project last week.  I’ll get you caught up now.

I’m building all three of the bottle stopper racks at once to take advantage of the efficiencies that can be had by making multiple parts at once. I should be building a few extras for on-hand stock, but that would slow the process down too much and these folks have been patient with me so far.

I start by getting out my template set and checking to be sure I have the materials and tools I’ll need on hand.  Then I mill all the material to rough dimensions by jointing one face and edge, surface planning the opposite face and ripping the blank to width by cutting away the remaining rough edge.

I resaw some 4/4 blanks to create thin stock for the shelves.  Because these have been jointed and planed I only need to surface the inner faces to remove the band saw marks and they are done.

Next I glue up the body blanks.  I like to cut the side and base from one piece of lumber so the grain pattern flows continuously down one side, across the base and up the other side.  I’m not sure that many people even notice this detail, but I do.  When the glue is set I surface plane the blank to finished thickness.

And sand them to 120 grit on the big, wide drum sander.

Then it’s time to cut the body blank into pieces. First I cut the blank to finished width in the table saw and true-up the ends of the blank.  Then set up a saddle block on the back-side of the rip fence and use that to set the length to be cut off to become the side pieces.  Then I use the miter gauge’s flip stop to trim any excess length from the base piece.

All my basic parts are available now.

The first fancy step is to strap the two ends of each rack together with masking tape – making sure I keep track of which face will be inside and which way is up – lay out the grid on both side and remove the waste on the bandsaw to form the stair-step shape of the rack sides.

Now I sand the *inside* faces only of the rack bases, the rack sides, and the baffle plates.  When done all these parts go into the assembly room.

Where I carefully apply glue, align all the parts and clamp them together until the glue sets up hard.  This is trickier that you might think when doing it by myself; I have (on this rack) 6 pieces to hold in perfect alignment as I insert the pieces and apply the clamps.  It takes a little while because I have to keep checking to be sure nothing moved.

That gets you caught up on this project.  Another few days and these should be ready to box and ship.

See you next time!

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress, sort of

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly - Building Jigs

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack, all red oak for Donna – In Progress

4-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack cherry & maple for David K. – In Progress

3-Tier Bottle Stopper Rack (Standard) for Dan G.- In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P.

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.