# Finally built my wine rack



## buffalofrenchy

For weeks I have been looking for a cheap solid way to build a wine rack and I think I accomplished just that.

Simplest idea I could think of: shelves with small slope (2%) so that via gravity wine bottles can't move along the shelves when a shelf is almost empty. 

Most if not all of my wine are 6 gal carboys which is accommodated by two rows on a shelf.

Total cost $45.
Capacity: designed/built for 5 batches so 150 bottles with two rows on each shelf but really it could accommodate more bottles per shelf if I happen to make the same wine before one goes out of stock which will happen soon for the dragon blood.


----------



## sour_grapes

I really like the idea of doing a small slope. I think that will work out well!


----------



## vacuumpumpman

Very nice job !!


----------



## shrive22

I just built some wine racks as well. Not as large as yours. I found the plans on the net somewhere. I'll post tomorrow. 




Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## Jericurl

These both look great!

This summer I'm wanting to build a large wine rack and a picnic table.


----------



## JohnT

Real nice guys!


----------



## ffemt128

Very nice. I need to build a large rack or 2 so I can unload some boxes...


----------



## shrive22

ffemt128 said:


> Very nice. I need to build a large rack or 2 so I can unload some boxes...




The larger one I built holds two cases. The original plans is what the smaller one looks like. I just added two mor horizontal rows. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## shrive22

I used these plans. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/wine-rack-plans-180525/


----------



## sour_grapes

I posted this recently elsewhere, but let me throw it out here now. The geometry I used, with "harlequin-patterned" diamonds, is the most efficient possible arrangement for stacking. I used 1x8's angled at 60 deg. from one another. I used a circular saw to make the angled cuts necessary. I sized the diamonds so that they can hold 16 bottles, which is pretty good for storing kits (with 30 bottles per kit). Let me know if you want any details.


----------



## bkisel

All three very nice. With the first two I don't see any bracing that would prevent the wine rack from... well racking (i.e. shifting to a a non-right angle parallelogram shape)?


----------



## shrive22

I still need to add a back so the wines can't fall out the back. Hopefully that will keep the structure square. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## NoobVinter

This is great! Nice work. I'm going to follow your lead. Do you have plans that you could share? 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## bkisel

shrive22 said:


> I still need to add a back so the wines can't fall out the back. Hopefully that will keep the structure square.



That would definitely keep it square. If you nail/screw into the shelves, as well as the frame, you'd be stiffening the back shelving along with the entire structure.


----------



## soccer0ww

several nice looking racks. great ideas. thanks for posting the pictures!


----------



## sour_grapes

NoobVinter said:


> This is great! Nice work. I'm going to follow your lead. Do you have plans that you could share?



Which of us were you referring to?


----------



## NoobVinter

@sourgrapes: Hi. I was referring to Buffalo's newly constructed wine rack. In my option, the method of construction and choice of materials is both efficient and economical. Achieving both of these qualities two qualities simultaneously is most desirable. This design will work well with my short as well as long term goals. I have the space for something like this, and will construct it in a manner that can be easily modified with locking doors. I will install horizontally positioned doors on hinges, turning each shelve into individual compartments that I can secure with locks. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## buffalofrenchy

bkisel said:


> All three very nice. With the first two I don't see any bracing that would prevent the wine rack from... well racking (i.e. shifting to a a non-right angle parallelogram shape)?



You are right I have nothing. It is very sturdy though, only 2 by 4 lumber with lots of long screws but the risk is not worth it. I will improve that this week end with my next upgrade which is to build a second one that will be perpendicular and attached to this existing one.


----------



## buffalofrenchy

NoobVinter said:


> @sourgrapes: Hi. I was referring to Buffalo's newly constructed wine rack. In my option, the method of construction and choice of materials is both efficient and economical. Achieving both of these qualities two qualities simultaneously is most desirable. This design will work well with my short as well as long term goals. I have the space for something like this, and will construct it in a manner that can be easily modified with locking doors. I will install horizontally positioned doors on hinges, turning each shelve into individual compartments that I can secure with locks.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making



I don't have formal plans as I kind of winged it when I built it. I kind of knew what I wanted but didn't know how much slope, how much support, how many 2 by 4 per shelf... I decided that on the fly. Initially I was going with two 2 by 4 but the bottles would stick out too much so I added a third one which doesn't provide support as the bottles only rest on two 2 by 4... 
I plan on building a second one this week end and can take some notes when I build it. The second unit will be perpendicular to this one and attached to it so that there won't be any possible forward movement from either units.


----------



## NoobVinter

I like it. Does the job well. I'm going to wing it in a couple of weeks myself.....I'm using the bottom shelf of a bookcase for now! Haha. Need something like this though. Good luck with it. Thanks for sharing the ideas.




Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## CathleenVought

Awesome, all of y'all! I definitely agree on adding even a lightweight backing - that's what keeps the cheap pressboard furniture from going off square or becoming unstable. As much as I ooooh and aaaah over the really foofy racks you see in the magazines & Pinterest, I LOVE inexpensive and easy! Kinda wished I'd run across this before the emailed newsletter went out since I put together a few articles on building home wine cellars this week - oh well. Great designs!


----------



## datcv

I built my first wine rack this year out of hardwood maple. I already had the wood on hand since I have been attempting to build furniture...

I helped my brother build one out of black walnut:





Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## newbie2

loving all of these, well done


----------



## dragonfly

*Harlequin Pattern wine racks*

I really like the Harlequin / diamond pattern wine racks, as it seems to me to be ths most efficidnt use of space and lumber.


----------



## byathread

All simple and lovely racks. Kudos!

Sourgrapes: I'd be interested in plans or more details on your harlequin rack as I may do something similar.


----------



## sour_grapes

byathread said:


> Sourgrapes: I'd be interested in plans or more details on your harlequin rack as I may do something similar.



I can offer a few drawings. The first one is an overview of the plan. I made each side of the diamond exactly 14". This makes it a little tight for fitting 16 Burgundy-style bottles. I think 14.5" would be better for that (but, of course, decreases efficiency if you have mostly Bordeaux-style bottles to store). The horizontal spacing between diamonds is the same (due to geometry) as the length of one of the sides, so, 14" in my case. The vertical spacing is, due to geometry, sqrt(3) times longer, so sqrt(3)*14 = 24.248" in my case. (I am not sure why the dimension in my drawing is slightly different -- just a drawing error, I think).

I used 1x8's and used a circular saw to cut slots, halfway across the 1x8, to accommodate the intersection. I set my circular saw at 30 deg., and zipped it just over halfway across the board. I then used a wood chisel to remove the material between the cuts. (I actually made four cuts, instead of just two, so that I could more easily chisel the excess wood out.) Technically, the width of the slots should be exactly 3/4" (the thickness of a 1x board), but I made it 1" to give a little slop for assembly. I was very grateful I had that slop when assembling!

I think if I had to do it over again, I may have used 1x10s, just to make the bottles sit farther back into the hole. 

You have some choices regarding how to terminate the pieces, where they touch the outer walls. This bears a little thinking about. The second picture shows a close-up of the intersection, as well as the profile of various pieces of terminating boards. I chose to have the outer walls go through the exact center of the intersection, mostly to make the math easier on where the next board should be located. However, this means you have to make a funny, pointed cut on the end, which results from having a 60 deg. cut intersect a 30 deg cut. 

I built an outer frame for the rack, and then assembled the boards within that frame as is shown above. The first boards went together well, but small errors accumulate as you assemble farther, making assembly difficult. I wound up having to trim the ends of some of the boards and open up the slots of some of those boards a bit. After I got the boards assembled, I used a power nailer (16 gauge) to nail the inner boards to the outer frame. I also put a nail through each intersection. After nailing, the rack was stout as could be.

That is everything I can think of for now. Ask me questions if there is anything that isn't clear! 

View attachment wine rack overview.pdf


View attachment details of intersection.pdf


----------



## byathread

Cool. Thanks for sharing. I'm still in the brainstorming stage and probably won't have the space to build my rack until after our cross-country move (sometime in the next 2-14 months), unfortunately, but I like the design even if its a bit more complex to build. Looks like the capacity on this bad boy is in the 450+ bottle range?


----------



## sour_grapes

byathread said:


> Looks like the capacity on this bad boy is in the 450+ bottle range?



Yup, you nailed it! The exact capacity depends on how many Burgundy vs. Bordeaux bottles, and how they cram into the partial cubbyholes, but I calculated that I should be able to fit about 468 bottles.


----------



## sour_grapes

Oh, it just occurred to me to post a picture of the rack "filled out" a little:


----------



## bkisel

sour_grapes said:


> Oh, it just occurred to me to post a picture of the rack "filled out" a little:



No whites?


----------



## sour_grapes

bkisel said:


> No whites?



Good eye, Bill. Very few whites. If you look near the center, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom, there is a diamond with about 5 bottles of commercial Viognier. There is also a couple of diamonds with Dragon Blood, but you cannot really tell from here!


----------



## byathread

Now ain't that a pretty sight!!


----------



## Runningwolf

sour_grapes said:


> Oh, it just occurred to me to post a picture of the rack "filled out" a little:



Paul that is beautiful!


----------



## Marauderer

Bill, thank you for sharing. I bottle mostly splits but your storage rack will be great for them and I will use 1x10 and it should be great.


----------



## shrive22

@sour_grapes is the 30degree angle better/more efficient than 45?


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## sour_grapes

Yes, Shrive. The 60 deg angle puts the bottles into the most efficient possible packing (viz., hexagonal). Ignoring the wooden supports, about 90.7% of the space is used. In the 45 deg case, only 78.5% of the space is used. Here is a wiki page about circle packing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_packing


----------



## shrive22

Thanks. I was wondering how to cut the grooves at 30 deg with a router but then went back and read you used a circular saw. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## homesteader26

I love this design! I think I may have this on the winter project list for my hubby. Very nice and thanks for all the details to make copying a little easier!


----------



## sour_grapes

homesteader26 said:


> I love this design! I think I may have this on the winter project list for my hubby. Very nice and thanks for all the details to make copying a little easier!



Just curious, Homesteader: There are a number of nice designs on this thread. Which one were you going to put on your Honey-do list?


----------



## francois_du_nord

Paul,

I liked your article on circle packing, but I missed the part where they said that harlequin diamonds were the best for storing wine. 

I've got a cellar project on the docket for this winter, I hope to use your prints to get something half as nice. I'll post up m efforts as they get underway.

Thanks for the pointers and new factoids on the most efficient way to group non-intersecting circles on a plane. Is this related to how many non-intersecting snakes you can get on a plane?

Best, Fran


----------



## sour_grapes

francois_du_nord said:


> Paul,
> 
> I liked your article on circle packing, but I missed the part where they said that harlequin diamonds were the best for storing wine.



Well, since it is Wikipedia, perhaps I should go add that bit to the article!  



> I've got a cellar project on the docket for this winter, I hope to use your prints to get something half as nice. I'll post up m efforts as they get underway.



Cool! Good luck with the project, and let me know if there is any more information I can provide....



> Thanks for the pointers and new factoids on the most efficient way to group non-intersecting circles on a plane. Is this related to how many non-intersecting snakes you can get on a plane?



....uhhh, except perhaps this information!


----------



## homesteader26

Sour grapes it is your design that I love!! The picture you have of it partially filled is beautiful and I have just the spot in mind for it to go!


----------



## Mcjeff

We recently moved so it presented an opportunity to make a new cellar. I built ladder racks using the design from “The Homebuilt Winery” book and the diamond racks from @sourgrapes. Thank you for the drawings and notes!


----------



## sour_grapes

Mcjeff said:


> We recently moved so it presented an opportunity to make a new cellar. I built ladder racks using the design from “The Homebuilt Winery” book and the diamond racks from @sourgrapes. Thank you for the drawings and notes! anks f



Looks like you nailed it! (Believe it or not, that is what came to my mind before recognizing the awful pun.)

I really liked it, and that was _before_ I saw the harlequin diamonds or saw my name mentioned. Very nice!


----------



## SpoiledRotten

I have a couple small store bought racks, then another that I built. I don’t have a wine a cellar, so I had to use what I had, which was a spare bedroom/study. 
I went to Tractor Supply and purchased a whole length of what I believe is goat wire. Heavy gauge welded wire used for fencing or gates. 1x12 planks at top and bottom with spacers thought out. Top makes a great shelf for collectibles. This one goes to the floor and holds 220+ bottles.
We keep our house thermostat set at 72*, so it all stays fairly cool. I also have insulated drapes over the two windows in my “wine room”.


----------

