Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Wine Cork Trivet
My wife and I had attended a local festival in the area where artists and vendors from around the state would bring their crafts to sell. I came across one vendor who was selling trivets made from wine corks. I think she was selling them for 25 dollars or more! She caught me eyeballing the construction of the frame that the corks sat in. I think it made her nervous because she said to me,
"I dont think you could make these. They are custom frames that my husband designed."
Trying to make her feel better I agreed that I couldnt make them. However, when I got home, I immediately went on the web to look for wine corks. I found a whole lot of used wine bottle corks on eBay. I think I bought 4 or 5 hundred corks for 20 or 30 dollars from a women who owned a restaurant in California! Seemed like a pretty logical place to have old wine corks in the heart of wine country. The frame is made out of oak that I ripped down to 3/4 of an inch. I mitered the corners, glued and used 3/4 inch brads to fasten it together.
The trivet I saw at the festival had exposed the end grain of the back panel that the corks were attached to. I didnt like the way it looked so I chose to improve on the design by routing a rabbit for the 1/4 inch birch ply panel to sit it. I Just glued and clamped the back panel into the rabbit. Once the frame was together and the back panel was dry, a little bit of sanding, stain and a few coats of polyurethane were applied to the frame. Lastly, I used hot glue to fasten the corks into the frame into this pattern. One methods I used to plant the corks in the frame was to make sure they were all similar in length. Not all the corks in the box were the same so I had to cut some down with a sharp razor blade.
I have made about 10 or so of these trivets and I have considered making a big one or maybe a serving tray. The steps would be the same just bigger. I would just have to lay my corks out in a pattern I like, measure to the outside of my pattern and add 1.5 inches to compensate for the frame.
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