Let’s celebrate the short days of the yuletide season with a little light and do some holiday DIY projects for people we love.
As part of Bernzomatic’s Torchbearer brigade of artists, chefs, campers and cooks, Theresa and I were invited to their place to make a project live. We took photos as we went and talked to people. It was a blast.
So here’s how we took some 1/2-inch copper pipe, a torch, some basic tools and made our wicked awesome wine rack.
We cut all our pipe first. Copper is soft enough to cut with a miter saw. Tip: Ease the saw into the work, don’t ‘chop’ too fast. The pipe can deform and not mate up with a fitting. And, wear safety glasses. Yes, it’s soft, but copper is still metal. Everything here is 1/2-inch material. For this three-bottle wine rack we used 10-feet of 1/2-inch copper pipe, 6 tees, ten 90-degree elbows, 6 caps, and 4-pipe straps.
Even though this is a wine rack, we still soldered like it was a plumbing fitting. And I love it every time the solder draws into a fitting! So cool!
To get the best joints possible, sand or wire brush the fitting and pipe on the surfaces that’ll touch, then apply flux with a brush.
As usual, no one is watching. Even Theresa is stepping out of the way. However, Theresa and I find holiday DIY projects fun to do together. She applied the heat and I worked the solder. Also, using a cinder block is great for torch projects. That’s the main reason for the photo. And that I’m possibly crazy.
The wicked awesome wine rack coming together. Theresa rocked MAP/Pro gas and Bernzomatic’s BZ8250HT torch, which we love for table top DIY like this.
Not only did we chamfer the edges of the 2×6 backer board with a low-angle block plane, Theresa brought out the grain with flame. It only took a few minutes to add instant awesome.
One last thing: The pipe-ends are turned up so the wine bottle rests slightly tipped. The reason for that is so the cork stays wet during storage.
I’m not sure if any of us store wine that long, but if you do, you’re good to go. Coincidentally, this is also a perfect storage rack for bottle of Bernzomatic gas bottles.
Open up the workshop and make stuff for people you love!
