The fact that Lucy and I like our wine is no secret. I've been making wine for over 20 years, first at home in my own carboys and later at brew your own shops. Making wine at the wine shops is much easier, you just show up to order your wine (and pay for it) and six weeks later you come back with your empty wine bottles, bottle your wine and you are out of there.
Once you get home you have to store the wine somewhere. Our cellar is place going from a fully finished section at one end to a dirt floor crawl space at the other. In the middle is a small alcove that makes a perfect place to store wine.
A couple of years ago I realized that we needed something more than just keeping the wine bottles in their cases. The back was is about 5 feet by 5 feet and I visualized a wooden square filled in with boards to make diamond shaped shelves for the wine bottles.
My friend Paul made just such a rack so chastened by his action (and my inaction) I got to work on my idea. Having the sawmill let me cut my own boards. One inch thick and fourteen inches wide was thick enough to support the weight of a dozen full bottles and long enough not to worry about them falling off the shelves.
I finished just last week after about 2 months of on and off again work. The first thing was a plan which looks beautiful on paper. Next was prepping the wall and floor which was not square, uneven, and covered with mounds of left over concrete. I cut my bottom and side boards and fitted them so they were more or less square and level (more less than more). I then cut a bunch of full length diagonal boards and short spacer boards and put them aside to dry. At 14 inches, the boards are too wide for the planer so I left them rough.
It turns out that while the design looks easy on paper, but because of the uneven walls and some warping in the boards, each board had to be cut and fitted individually. I placed the diagonal boards first until I got halfway and then glued and nailed in the short pieces to make 15x15 diamonds, big enough for a dozen bottles each. I used a brad nailer with the compressor to set the boards while the glue dried. I inverted the process placing the short boards first and then placing the long diagonal board on top to finish. I did all this in sections letting the boards on a diagonal dry overnight before going up another diagonal.
The finished storage wall is quite out of square which is quite fitting for a wine rack, don't you think? Now to fill it up!!!
Once you get home you have to store the wine somewhere. Our cellar is place going from a fully finished section at one end to a dirt floor crawl space at the other. In the middle is a small alcove that makes a perfect place to store wine.
A couple of years ago I realized that we needed something more than just keeping the wine bottles in their cases. The back was is about 5 feet by 5 feet and I visualized a wooden square filled in with boards to make diamond shaped shelves for the wine bottles.
My friend Paul made just such a rack so chastened by his action (and my inaction) I got to work on my idea. Having the sawmill let me cut my own boards. One inch thick and fourteen inches wide was thick enough to support the weight of a dozen full bottles and long enough not to worry about them falling off the shelves.
I finished just last week after about 2 months of on and off again work. The first thing was a plan which looks beautiful on paper. Next was prepping the wall and floor which was not square, uneven, and covered with mounds of left over concrete. I cut my bottom and side boards and fitted them so they were more or less square and level (more less than more). I then cut a bunch of full length diagonal boards and short spacer boards and put them aside to dry. At 14 inches, the boards are too wide for the planer so I left them rough.
It turns out that while the design looks easy on paper, but because of the uneven walls and some warping in the boards, each board had to be cut and fitted individually. I placed the diagonal boards first until I got halfway and then glued and nailed in the short pieces to make 15x15 diamonds, big enough for a dozen bottles each. I used a brad nailer with the compressor to set the boards while the glue dried. I inverted the process placing the short boards first and then placing the long diagonal board on top to finish. I did all this in sections letting the boards on a diagonal dry overnight before going up another diagonal.
The finished storage wall is quite out of square which is quite fitting for a wine rack, don't you think? Now to fill it up!!!
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