# My Riddling Rack is Done!!!



## s0615353

Today I went to a friends house who will never turn down a carpentry project. Our objective was to make a riddling rack. After seven hours of measuring, measuring again, remeasuring again and measuring once more before cutting my riddling rack is done. There was a lot of trial and error, which is why it took so long, if I did it again it would take at least half as much time. The rack holds up to 30 bottles (a 6 gallon batch) and is a great addition to my living room (pictures to come in my apartment once the Minwax dries). Here are some pic's and general guidelines for those do it yourselfer's out there. 

*Materials*

5 1x4x6 ft. oak boards

3 1x2x8 ft. pine boards

1 small can of English Chestnut stain

Small mounting pieces

*Total $100*

*Tools*
Too many to type!!!

*Step 1 *
Cut three of the oak boards in half so that they are three foot long each





*Step 2*
Make a line every six inches on each board to give you a spot to center the drill. Angle a drill press on a 33 degree angle (when the finished board is leaned on a wall it will keep the boards at a perfect 45 degrees). Using a 2 inch bit, drill five holes per board centered on the lines drawn previously. 



*Step 3*
Place 3/4 in. spacers inbetween the drilled 1x4's and measure the length for the pine pieces. Also figure out the center of all of the holes (so you can drill a notch in the pine). Using a 1 3/8 inch bit cut notches in the pine at the same 33 degree angle. 





*Step 4*
Use the leftover oak to crate a top and side frame. Place 3/4 in. spacers inbetween the drilled 1x4's. 





*Step 5*
Use a torch to lightly scortch the wood (this will bring more contrast in the grain for staining later) 





*Step 6*
Nail everything in place, cut the bottom of the rack at a slight angle and give it a final sand before staining. 





After all of that work, we were really proud of the results


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## tingo

Nice job!! Ive been looking around to buy one for under $75. Yours is very nice tho.


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## vacuumpumpman

Very nice job !! I like how you burnt the wood to bring out the grain


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## ShelleyDickison

Wow, looks really good.


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## bkisel

Very nice! I can appreciate your work both as wine maker newbie and a long, long, long time woodworker.


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## Runningwolf

Beautiful!


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## s0615353

Thank you all for the kudos, it was a challenge to make but it came out better than I had ever expected. Tingo, there is a lot of labor and planning that goes into one of these, finding one finished under $75 is a real challenge. If we went with a more inexpensive wood like plywood, we could have brought the cost into this range but you would have to have all of the tools to make it happen (a table saw, a drill press, etc.). Bkisel, while I am a newbie winemaker, I am anything but a longtime woodworker. My friend however could start his own custom furniture company if he wanted to, he has made beautiful cabinets in his living room and a fireplace mantle out of his garage!!! He was the one who had the technical knowledge; I was just there for the idea and grunt work, lol. I still got to use the drill press, saw, nail gun, and sander, so I got my feet wet in carpentry. Maybe one day I will be able to make something like this out of my garage, when I have one.


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## Boatboy24

Beautiful! Nice work.


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## s0615353

The pictures are a little fuzzy, but here is it finished in my living room. Now to get my batch of sparkling Pinot Blank started...


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## jamesngalveston

very nice job.....another way to get a real nice finish on oak is to fume it, with 
Anhydrous ammonia. gives it a real dark finish depending how long you fume...


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## Wade E

Very nice! I too love the burnt raised grain effect. Another way to do that is to use very very fine grain and sand the product as typically the softer grain will sand much faster leaving the hard grain raised up.


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## rappdaddy

I know it’s been a while since you’ve built us, but why are there no bottles in the top row?


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## cmason1957

rappdaddy said:


> I know it’s been a while since you’ve built us, but why are there no bottles in the top row?



I wouldn't necessarily expect an answer, the OP hasn't been around since 2019 and the thread is from 2013, so....

My guess as to the answer is no reason in particular, just not enough bottles to fill it up.


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## JohnT

Nice. you'll be breaking out the bubbly in no time. 

Question, After riddling, how do you plan on disgorging? Are you going to freeze the neck? if so, how?


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