# Bottle balancer using router hand held



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

The question was asked yesterday, can these balancers be made using the router hand held rather than on the table. Here in pictures is the answer.


----------



## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

Thanks, Harry.
As per usual, an excellent tutorial.


----------



## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

Thank you, Harry :wub: Soon as I can, I'll be utilizing this.

P.S. If I'm the 'lady' you mentioned, I have a router table, just can't use it lol it scares the bejesus out of me to use it like that

Barbie


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry 

Nice How-To-Do it But I have got to ask why would you want to stick a bottle in a wooden board ???

===



harrysin said:


> The question was asked yesterday, can these balancers be made using the router hand held rather than on the table. Here in pictures is the answer.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

BJ, that is how Marlene keeps an eye on his consumption! :jester:


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

hahahahahahahaha
With than many of bottles around that would be a hard job..  but I must say I have a bottle but it's about 16 years old and still almost full..but I did buy one more last year it is a bottle of Vodka in a clear skull bottle sold by Dan Akroid I going to make a lamp out it ,in about 20 years or so..

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...2.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.a-a_1mmKErY
==



Mike said:


> BJ, that is how Marlene keeps an eye on his consumption! :jester:


----------



## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Harry
> 
> Nice How-To-Do it But I have got to ask why would you want to stick a bottle in a wooden board ???
> 
> ===



+1 on that. Once the cork comes out of the bottle, it does not go back in........:sarcastic:


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Harry
> 
> Nice How-To-Do it But I have got to ask why would you want to stick a bottle in a wooden board ???
> 
> ===


I really haven't a clue Bob neither has Marlene, I just saw one on the "other forum" and thought that I could find a simple way to make them for those who appear to have a use for them!


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

OutoftheWoodwork said:


> Thank you, Harry :wub: Soon as I can, I'll be utilizing this.
> 
> P.S. If I'm the 'lady' you mentioned, I have a router table, just can't use it lol it scares the bejesus out of me to use it like that
> 
> Barbie


You are indeed Barb. Whilst hand held plunge routing is my passion, and I firmly believe that most routing can and should be done in this safer and more pleasant way, I have never made a secret of the fact that some operations are better done on the router table, which by the way, like the fixed base router is not as safe as the hand held plunge router.


----------



## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

harrysin said:


> I really haven't a clue Bob neither has Marlene, I just saw one on the "other forum" and thought that I could find a simple way to make them for those who appear to have a use for them!


Hi Harry - Thanks for the tutorial. I haven't got a clue as to why any one would want to do that either, but, it did give me an idea for a couple of Xmas presents I would still have time to make. Is there any significance to the width of the stock, looked to be about 3½" to me in the tutorial?


----------



## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

Thanks Harry, after seeing your post last week I went on line looking for instructions. I made one but after getting everything but the hole completed I realized that I left all of my larger bits at another location. Your instructions are clear and to the point. As far as why put a bottle in a board who knows but I'm sure that someone at a craft show or flea market would want to buy one of these. Always on the look out for simple things to build and sell.


----------



## rexlobo (Jul 29, 2012)

thank you harry for a another project idea and have a happy thanksgiving


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

jschaben said:


> Hi Harry - Thanks for the tutorial. I haven't got a clue as to why any one would want to do that either, but, it did give me an idea for a couple of Xmas presents I would still have time to make. Is there any significance to the width of the stock, looked to be about 3½" to me in the tutorial?


John, the significance for me was that all the scrap that I practiced on, also the piece for the first successful one just happened to be 4" wide so when I made the second one from a wider board I thought that whilst I was on to a good thing, I wouldn't tempt providence! Having said this, I really can't see that the width is at all critical but the distance from the bottom to the hole and the bottom angle are very important and the hole needs to be big enough to accept a range of bottle neck diameters. the 45° chamfer on both sides of the hole are also critical. I suppose that I could have worded the above thus: everything other than the width is critical!


----------



## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

harrysin said:


> John, the significance for me was that all the scrap that I practiced on, also the piece for the first successful one just happened to be 4" wide so when I made the second one from a wider board I thought that whilst I was on to a good thing, I wouldn't tempt providence! Having said this, I really can't see that the width is at all critical but the distance from the bottom to the hole and the bottom angle are very important and the hole needs to be big enough to accept a range of bottle neck diameters. the 45° chamfer on both sides of the hole are also critical. I suppose that I could have worded the above thus: everything other than the width is critical!


:lol:Thanks Harry. Maybe that's why I noticed it was the only thing you left out... Thanks again, will be giving this a try.


----------



## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Very nice presentation Harry. NGM


----------



## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Yeah, it looks like that bottle has seen fuller days. It appears to be EMPTY!


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Which particular bottle Dave?


----------



## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Photo #15 Harry. The one that looks like it might be a "Magnum" size bottle.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Dr.Zook said:


> Yeah, it looks like that bottle has seen fuller days. It appears to be EMPTY!


How wrong you are my dear friend, that unopened bottle of what is now probably vinigar, was given to Marlene by the Burswood casino, now known as the Crown Perth quite a few birthdays ago! As you can see, the seal is unbroken and as a matter of possible interest it weighs 48.3oz and balances perfectly.


----------



## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Hey Harry - since I saw your first post on these bottle holders the idea has haunted me, so I've made a few since. Here are two made in spalted beech finished with clear water-based Danish Oil, hand-held round-over routing, 40-degree end cuts. They are a nice interesting project but I'm also finding that nobody really wants them, they're like a lighthouse in a bog, brilliant but useless. Still, they're a great project for off-cuts, and I abhor waste, so I'll make a few more as I create off-cuts. I have a friend who is talking about doing some craft trading in a local market stall, she might be able to make something on them.

Regards

JC


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

What a fine job you've done John, and that wood looks really great. On all the original test pieces I ran the edges through a bull-nose bit.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

John, we Irish have more practical uses for bottles than sitting them at an angle on a table. :haha:


----------



## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Harry - you got me motivated to try it. While maybe a little useless, they make for a good stocking stuffer Xmas gift. I haven't got much of a wine inventory and couldn't get them to work on the bottles I have so I took them down to the local liquor store and checked them on his inventory.
It did occur to me that you could possibly adjust the size of bottle by adjusting the 9½" dimension. I don't think the weight of the bottle has as much to do with it as the shape. 
The first pic is the trial version from poplar, unfinished, the second are the two I made as a stocking stuffer for my son. They are drying from a coat of poly.
I made these with the Colt fixed base. The Colt fixed base is small enough I didn't need to rig an outrigger to support the router. Otherwise, an identical process to Harry's tutorial.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

A job well done John, just one comment, if you rout the chamfers around the hole deeper it will assist in balancing a wider range of bottles.


----------



## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

harrysin said:


> A job well done John, just one comment, if you rout the chamfers around the hole deeper it will assist in balancing a wider range of bottles.


Hi Harry, thanks for the tip. Tried it on my test piece this morning and it works great. Kind of a balancing act to keep enough lip for the bearing to ride on though.


----------

