What's the best way to do this?

[GB]

I want to make a minimalist wine rack. The idea is a nice piece of timber roughly floor joist shaped, screwed vertically to the wall, and with 30mm holes through it to take the wine bottle necks.

Before wasting some good timber, I decided to experiment with some scrap.

You'll see that the two bottles are at different angles, which looks all wrong. That's because the holes in the wood can't be horizontal, as it's necessary to angle the bottle necks down a bit to keep the corks moist. (Or maybe just buy screw-capped wine?)

So, the big problem is how do I drill through the wood at an angle and get that consistent, so the bottles all line up?

Also, what's best? A flat blade drill, a hole saw, or an auger bit? The holes I made are with a hole saw, but it's too big so I'll need to buy something the right size, anyway.

[Robin]

Drill oversize holes and glue in plastic tube which you can align? But even then ISTM the bottles will not necessarily line up if you store different wines with different styles of bottle.

And, at a tangent to your question, I'd be a bit worried about the effects of impact on bottles supported only by their necks if the rack is to be anywhere near traffic. Cd be a "low risk, high impact" event?

[Chris Hogg]

I suspect 'keeping the corks moist' is purist and unnecessary, unless you intend to lay down the wine for many years. The corks will stay moist enough for a few months without being in contact with the wine, and won't dry out.

My first thought was you'd done the right thing by having two pieces of wood, that you'd drilled exactly perpendicularly to their surfaces, and then offset the back bit slightly downwards in order to tilt the bottles. But from what you've said, that wasn't your intention, but I think you might consider it anyway. You'll need to get the hole size right to allow for the offset, of course, and different sized bottles will angle differently. I second the caveats expressed by others about the advisability of supporting bottles by their necks, and their vulnerability.

If you like Italian wines, try Amarone della Valpolicella from the Veneto region around Venice.

[Chris Green]

Surely not all wine bottles are the same size anyway so you're never going to get them all at the same angle.

[newshound]

The bottles only have to be horizontal to keep the cork wet. I'd stick with the simpler traditional design with two "bearers".

[charles]

and, unless you're buying expensive stuff, most have screw tops rather than corks.

[newshound]

And even the corked stuff is plastic until you get some way up the price bracket.

[Andy Burns]

Drill press with a tilting table will keep the angles consistent

Of the three I'd expect an auger to give the cleanest hole

[Brian Reay]

This is nonsense - a bottle of wine (when full) has only wine in contact with the cork if horizontal. Just make a horizontal rack - you're not going to put a partly empty bottle back, are you?

Though making a place for a small cellar is not a bad idea - one (major) concern is that the UK may limit the amount of wine etc. you can bring back from the EU.

Whenever we return from France we always 'stock up' - we never get to the notional 'limit' but our trips are frequent enough that that is never a worry.

[Richard]

This is quite nice:

[Roger Mills]

+1

But, as others have said, even if the angles are consistent, the bottles won't be unless you only stock one type of wine - so you won't really have solved your problem.

[Chris Hogg]

Depends what you mean by 'some way up the price bracket'. I buy wines, usually old-world wines, in the price bracket £7 - £15, and I don't regard £15 as being particularly expensive. They can have anything from screw tops, plastic 'corks', composite corks to corks proper.

[GB]

I don't think it is nonsense. The bottles have a sort of collar near the top of the neck that sticks out a bit, and the holes have to have some clearance for that. The net result is that, with a horizontal hole, the wine bottle is slanted slightly upwards. So, any air in the bottle may tend to accumulate there.

I must do some experiments with different shapes of wine bottle to see whether that's a problem or not.

[GB]

Thanks. That's *exactly* the design I had in mind.

She's gone for an angle for the holes of 5 degrees from the horizontal, whilst my gut feeling is 15 degrees would be better.

She has the big advantage of a pillar drill. Plus the sensible idea of tilting the wood using wedges, as the table on her drill is fixed. Maybe I can finally clear the kids' rubbish out of the garage, so I can start building a workshop in there!

Fastener drill!! :)

[Brian Reay]

It's only a problem if you try to hold the bottle by the neck.

Don't be silly, make your rack the sensible way so it holds the bottle by the body. The only thing that is consistent (well, mostly) about bottles is their straight sides - so if you want them aligned, you use that part.

[Roger Mills]

Yes, indeed. Maybe her spell checker didn't like Forstner? She could also do with learning the difference between countersink and counterbore.

Nice work, all the same!

[Brian Reay]

I suspect the OP has seen a picture in some glossy magazine.

Sadly many people do not seem to understand that the publishers know that unless they print what the masses are likely to find interesting they won't sell many copies, and so most of what you find in those publications is wasteful of time, space, and money; powerfully attractive things to the masses, nevermind the lack of practicality.

Truly successful people know (and avoid) a silly idea when they see it. Of course this is not newsworthy, sensible decisions in life seldom are, but the sort that fall for the glitzy trappings have only themselves to blame.

[Richard]

And what if he did?

And you know everything.

Good to know you're immensely successful and a perfect example.

[Andy Burns]

The angle on the instructables one didn't offend my eye.

The O/P's argument about needing them 15° nose down to keep the cork wet doesn't add up unless he's buying bottles that are significantly less than half full ...

[Bill Wright]

The angle will also depend on the diameter of the bottle neck, which might vary.

Bill