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Building A Wine Rack

Building a wine rack can be fun, challenging and rewarding. A custom built wine rack can spruce up your kitchen or room, add value to your home, and give you a stylish way to store your wine collection.

Before you build your own wine rack there are a few decisions that you need to make, but first: be honest about your skill level and willingness to take on a big project. It's okay to challenge yourself, but don't let yourself get overwhelmed or you might end up not finishing your project. So, if you're new to this kind of project, pick a fairly easy one to start with. You can always tackle the full-sized wine cellar after you gain a little experience with a smaller easier rack first.

Now, before you start you need to answer the following questions:

What kind of wood should I use?
A wine rack can be made from almost any wood. You could use pine to save some money, or if you would like to match your other furniture or get a harder or better looking wood, you could use maple, cedar, cherry, mahogany or pretty much anything you want.

You can buy wood for building a wine rack at a cabinet supply store, lumber yard or home improvement store.

You can also stain your wine rack after it is built to match the rest of your wooden furniture. I recommend at least using a sealant or tung oil to protect it, and a nicely stained rack can look fantastic.

What dimensions should my rack be?
Measure carefully before you start building. If you want to fill a closet or nook, I recommend planning for at least 1/2" of clearance between either side of the wine rack and the wall. It will make it easier to install without damaging.

If you are just making a simple wine rack to put on your kitchen counter, this is not as important. Just pick a size that will fit comfortably on your counter.

How many bottles do I want to hold?
Decide how many bottles you want your rack to hold. Design or find a plan that meets these requirements before you start building your wine storage unit.

What you need to get started...

Obviously, you will need some tools before you can build a wine rack. Make sure you at least have the following:

Saw- A good table saw is the way to go. You will be sure to get nice straight cut edges, and you can cut dados as well.

Sander- You will want to have a good sander, preferably and orbital sander and a drum sander. These will make your life much easier.

Sandpaper- Get a few different grits.

Safety Goggles- Don't be a dummy, use safety goggles!

Hole Saw- You can buy the diameters you need from most hardware stores.

Hand Drill- A regular rechargable battery drill will work fine.

Carpenter's Pencil

Drill Press- A good drill press is worth the investment, although a cheap Ryobi from Home Depot will do the trick for most projects.

Clamps- Have a few different sizes.

Tape Measure

File- For cleaning up your saw cut edges

Dado Blade- Used with your table saw to cut dados for joining together your wood pieces.

Materials

Wood
Buy more wood than you need. Make sure you have enough even if you scrap a piece and have to start over. Also, have some cheap scrap wood to use as stop blocks and test pieces.

Sealant/Stain
Buy a good quality sealant, stain, or tung oil to treat your wine rack. This will keep your rack in good condition, protect it from the elements, and give it a nice glossy stylish look.

Video: Building a Wine Rack

Click on the video link below to watch a video showing how to build a wine rack using the materials and tools listed:

WATCH VIDEO

This video shows Ron Hazelton making a simple, yet really elegant looking wine rack out of cherry wood. Anyone with the right tools can follow his example and make their own similar rack.

Wine rack plans, workbooks, and step-by-step guides

There are a lot of good learning materials available for building a wine rack, both in print and online. If you are new to woodworking, it would be a good idea to buy a guide with some easy wine rack plans, tips, and step-by-step instructions.

If you are a beginner looking for some good info and a few good projects, buy:

You can also find a ton of good tips and information at the following free site:

www.Vintage-Harvest-Wine-Racks.com

Free plans for building a wine rack

There are some free wine rack plans that can be found on the internet. The quality of the plans varies, but you can find some good ones if you hunt around a bit. I have listed a few good ones to save you the trouble:

172 bottle rack-intermediate skill level