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Scrap Wood Shelf With Wine Bottle Hooks

This project involves building a simple shelf from scrap wood and adding cut wine bottle tops to act as “hooks”.  It is perfect for the entryway or mudroom, as the ultimate upcycle and conversation piece.

MATERIALS

– Scrap wood in lengths and widths you want for your shelf

-One of the following; Table Saw, chop saw, miter saw, circular saw

-Jig saw

-Hammer

-Pencil

-Tape Measurer

-Wood Glue

-1 ½ inch finishing nails

-Medium grit sandpaper

 -Glass Cutting Supplies (see techniques page )

-Rubbing Alcohol

-Lint Free Cloth

-3 Wine Bottles

-E6000

-2 Sawtooth hangers

-Chalky finish paint or paint of your choice

-Sealant such as wax or polyurethane

DIRECTIONS

This was a project I made up as I went along, based on the scrap wood I had on hand.  You can adjust the plan according to your materials. For most of the cuts I used a table mount chop saw but a handheld circular saw would be fine to.

The only cut that isn’t a straight cut is the one used to cut the shelf brackets. For this I used a scroll saw:  I drew a shelf bracket shape sized to fit my shelf onto a piece of wood, cut out the bracket and traced it onto another piece of wood as a template for cutting out the second bracket.  This is covered in step 2.

1.  Cut board for shelf surface.  For this I used an old piece of barn wood I had that measured 1 X 6.5 by 55 inches. I cut it to one 46 inch long piece and one 9 inch long piece. The 46 inch piece will be for the top and the 9 inch piece will later be used to cut the two shelf brackets.

2.  Cut shelf rails. There are three of them (see pic). They are 1 x 3 inch boards cut to 40 inches in length.

 

3.  Cut shelf brackets.  Taking the 9 inch long piece of the old barn wood from above ( 1 X 6.5 X 9 inch ) I free handed a pattern onto the board that looked somewhat decorative but had fairly simple curves. I included the drawing I used as a template.  Using the scroll saw I cut out the two identical shelf bracket pieces. Tracing one line for two pieces was easier than trying to make two identical individual pieces.

Sand all rough edges.  Medium grit sanding by hand or with an orbital sander will do.

*Clamping the two shelf brackets together while sanding them ensures that they will remain identical to one another.

5.  Using wood glue and 1 ½  inch finishing nails attach the shelf rails to the shelf bracket on the inside face (see pic). This made the over-all length of the shelf support unit 42 inches. (40 inch rails plus the thickness of the two 1 inch brackets).

6.  Mount the shelf support unit on the 46 inch top board, centering it along the length dimension ( 4 inch overhang on each end) and flush at the back edge of the top board.  Use 1.5 inch wood screws and wood glue to attach the top to the support rails.  Make sure to square the support unit as best you can before you attach to the top( a quick check to make sure the long diagonal measurements are equal will tell you).

7.  The last addition to the unit is for the back board. I used 1/8 inch hard board that has one side grooved. You can purchase a 4 x 4 ft piece that will be much easier to handle than a full 4 x 8.  I laid the shelf unit onto the board and traced the outline. I positioned the unit on the board so that the grooves run vertically.  Cut the back out using a jig saw, table saw or circular saw. The cut is hidden so just be sure to cut a little inside the line so that you don’t have any over-lap and you don’t see the back hanging over the edges. I attached using 1/2 brads and wood glue. Make another quick check of the diagonals to verify the square of the unit before you attach the back.

8.  Allow the glue to set for 24 hours and then caulk all the seams using standard white caulk.

9.  Sand any rough spots and paint.  I went with chalk paint in antique white for the entire shelf except for the top surface board.  I like the weathered wood with the chalk finish.

10.  Seal with Wax or desired sealant.  I applied clear wax with a lint free cloth.  Let cure per instructions before handling.

11.  Measure your shelf and mark with a pencil where your bottles will go so that they are evenly spaced.

12.  Attach cut wine bottles tops (see How to Cut Wine Bottles) by placing a generous amount of industrial strength glue such as E6000 around the cut rim where it will contact the shelf

13.  Attach a sawtooth hanger on the back with hammer, a couple of inches in from the edge of the shelf top.

EXTRA TIPS

￮ Power tools can be intimidating.  They don’t need to be though!  I started at ana-white.com and found everything I needed to know to be successful and safe.  You can too!

Check out craigslist for used tools, or see if your town has a makerspace where you can pay a small membership fee and have access to the tools you want to try.