How to Make a Wooden Handle for a Wine Bottle

Keep the perfect temperature-preserving grip on that bottle.

As any wine enthusiast has probably discovered, the more invested you get in the perfect wine, the more complicated a set of accessories you need. A wooden handle and grip for a wine bottle may seem like a strange idea, but with this setup you can avoid affecting the temperature of the wine with your hand while you pour it. This is ideal for wines that should be served at the perfect temperature. Does this Spark an idea?

Print this article

Wine bottle
2 black leather dog collars
1 1/2-inch-thick plywood
Paper
Scroll saw
Rotary power tool or drill press grinder
Power drill
Short screws

Instructions

- 1
  
  Draft a three-sided shape on paper with a pencil; this will be the pattern for the hand. Make the shape from one long rectangular piece measuring 5 1/2 inches by one inch, and two "leg" pieces measuring one inch by 1 1/2 inches. Make the legs perpendicular to the ends of the long piece, forming a squat, wide "U" shape.
- 2
  
  Cut out the pattern. Trace it onto the plywood.
- 3
  
  Use the scroll saw to cut out the handle shape from the plywood.
- 4
  
  Sand down the edges of the handle using a tube-shaped sanding bit on the rotary tool. If you don't have a rotary tool, use a drill press grinder.
- 5
  
  Wrap and latch the two dog collars tightly around the wide portion of the bottle (not the neck). Place one about two inches from the bottom and the other two inches from where the bottle starts to curve up to the neck. Position them so that the buckles line up with one another.
- 6
  
  Hold the handle up against the bottle and the collars. Do this on the side of the collars opposite the buckles. Adjust the position of the collars so that the leather lines up with the ends of the wood and mark the leather where the wood touches using a pencil.
- 7
  
  Use the sander or a grinding attachment on the rotary tool (or the drill press grinder) to shape the ends of the "legs" on the wooden handle and give them a curve to match the curve of the leather over the bottle. Work slowly and continually check the shape of the wood curves against the bottle and leather until you can press them flush together.
- 8
  
  Mark the collars on either side of where the wooden handles touch them.
- 9
  
  Remove the collars from the bottle and open them. Lay them over the insides of the handle legs; line up the marked, outside portions of the collars with the legs.
- 10
  
  Drill each of the collars to the appropriate handle end using a single screw and the screw gun. Drive the screw into the wood from the underside of the collar.