DIY Steel Wine Rack

Learn how to make your own DIY Wine Rack steel rods (no welding needed!) to give as a cute and boozy gift for the holidays.

Directions

How to Set Up For the Project

Since the project involves a blowtorch and a flame, it needs to be done around material that is not flammable. This means it cannot be done on a wooden workbench or in an area where the flame has the possibility of coming in contact with anything that can easily catch fire. A concrete garage floor works well.

How to Bend Steel Rods

To bend a steel rod, it needs to be heated to 1600-1700F The MAP-Pro gas and TS8000 torch accomplish this easily with a few basic steps.

• Hold the flame to the spot to be bent until it is red-hot.
• Remove heat and using heat resistant gloves, slowly bend the rod in the direction and angle of choice.

How to Braze the Steel Rods

1. Heat up the joint till it's at the working temperature - this means it's going to be red-hot.
2. Move the flame slightly away from the joint so it's not directly on the joint but close enough to keep the metal hot.
3. Bring the brazing rod in contact with the joint allowing the flux coating to melt and coat the joint.
4. Hold the brazing rod until the brazing material starts melting and filling the joint.
5. The capillary effect pulls the liquid brazing material in to fill the joint. Once the joint is full, you can turn off the flame.
6. The joint is brazed.
7. If you need to braze from the other side, turn over the workpiece while it is still red-hot and continue the process.

Step-By-Step Tutorial

1.  Bend the Rods - two with 7 bends each and two with 5 bends.
   1. Using the cement bricks as support and clamps, heat the rod with the TS8000 torch and MAP-Pro gas and bend the steel rods.
   2. The first bend is at 5.5" and the following bends are at 4" (I got lucky that the cement brick had a 4" width.
   3. Bend the steel rod in a zig-zag pattern.
2. Cut the Rods
   1. Using a metal cutting tool (see options in the material list), cut 5" pieces of steel rods.
      
3. Braze Supports
   1. Using the bricks as support, set up the supports and braze them to the bottom of the V on both sides of the long zig-zag.
   2. Attach the second long zig-zag to the other side.
      
4. Braze Second Tier
   1. Align and attach the second tier on both sides by brazing the tips of the V's.
      
5. Paint
   1. Clean the wine rack with acetone to remove any grease or residue.
   2. Use a metal spray primer followed by the spray paint in color of your choice.