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Wine Glass Holder made with Zebrawood

Wine Glass Holder Made with Zebrawood

Wine glass holder made with zebra wood

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Zebrawood has very contrasting grains of very light tan and very dark brown lines, making it really stand out from a lot of other wood species. With it’s striking appearance, I decided to make this wine glass holder more simple than the last one by keeping it the only wood species in this project, which means no gluing up strips of wood in this project.

This project is more decorative than functional. Hang a couple wine glasses from the neck of your favorite bottle of wine and nicely display it on your kitchen counter or kitchen table as a center piece.

A Little About Zebrawood

Zebrawood comes from various species of trees belonging to the genus Microberlinia. These trees are native to Central and West Africa. It is known for it’s use in furniture, cabinetry, flooring, veneers, paneling, musical instruments (such as guitars and drums), and specialty items like knife handles and turned objects.

Unfortunately, this wood is approaching the endangered list due to it’s population decline in it’s natural range.

What tools do you need?

Because this project is made with one board, the tools are pretty minimal. You could certainly omit a few of these tools if you don’t have access to them and make it with some more basic hand tools, but these do make the process much easier.

  • 5/8″ Diameter Hole Saw or Forstner Bit (Paid Link)
  • 1-1/4″ Diameter Hole Saw or Forstner Bit (Paid Link)
  • Electric hand drill or drill press
  • Electric sander with various grits of sandpaper (Course to fine grit)
  • Saw – I prefer a band saw, but you certainly can use a hand saw if that is all you have available.
  • Wood of your choice (3-1/2″ wide x 3/4″ thick x 12″ long). I used Zebra Wood from this assortment (Paid Link). I like to have it a little longer than what the template needs to allow for a little waste.

The miscellaneous supplies:

  • Printer and paper to print the template. Download the PDF template here. Be sure to print it full size on 8.5″x11″ (Letter) with no scaling.
  • Spray adhesive (Paid Link)
  • Scissors
  • Some kind of wood finish – This time I chose to go with a natural colored stain and applied a semi-gloss polyurethane at the end.

Optional and not absolutely necessary tools:

  • Router and router table with an 1/8″ round over bit.
  • Anti-slip mat (Paid Link) – This is helpful when sanding to keep the wood in place.
  • Planer (Paid Link) – This would be nice if you are making a large batch of wine glass holders from a long board.
  • Wood file if you don’t have a router.

Instructions on how to make it!

Here is the step by step process of how I make these wine glass holders. If you don’t have all the power tools I used here, that is fine. Hand saws and a electric hand drill will also work, they will just require more effort from you.

1. Download, print, and cut out the template if you want to use this same design I am showing you here. If not, draw out your own design using approximately the same dimensions and hole diameters I have provided you in that template. These dimensions work and there is no need to reinvent the wheel, unless if of course you want to.
2. Use spray adhesive and lightly spray the back of the template and then press it into place on your selected wood.
3. If you will be using a drill press, place a board underneath before drilling the holes. This will help guide you in the next step.
4. The board you have under your work piece can be used as a guide for the depth of the forstner bit. Set the stop depth to where the point on the bit just passes the board. This will prevent the forstner bit from going all the way through your work piece, but allows the point to penetrate through so it is marked on the other side. You will see why in a minute.
5. Drill from the side that has the template glued on. Line up the point of the forstner bit where the lines cross at the center of the circle.
6. Flip the board over and you can see where the point poked through. Use this as your guide where to drill the rest of the way through.
7. The point of this process is to prevent the wood from chipping out at the edges of the drilled hole. This gives it a nice clean hole around the edges.
8. Do the same for the other two holes.
9. Go to your saw and cut along all the solid lines shown on the template.
10. You may want to use a sander to round off the tighter corners. Here I am using a disk sander.
11. When everything is cut out, head over to your router and put an 1/8″ radius around all edges except at the smaller holes where the wine glasses go.
12. Sand down the edges to get rid of the rough saw marks and start sanding the faces, starting with the course grit and move down to the finer grits. This can be done by hand, but go for the electric sander if you have one available.
13. Before your final sanding, use a damp paper towel or cloth and wipe down the wood. This process is called “Raising the grain” because it does just that…raises the grain, making it rough again. When it is dry, finish sanding to your finest grit, making it smooth again.
14. Remove the dust and make sure the wood is clean. I like to use forced air from the air compressor. Add a finish of your choice, but I recommend sticking with something that does not alter the natural colors of the wood. For this project, I used a natural color stain and finished it off with spray polyurethane.
15. Last step is to go display it with a nice bottle of wine and a couple wine glasses.

Final Thoughts

Even though this project isn’t really functional, it is still creates a pretty cool display. It does not have to be made with Zebrawood and can be made with any species of wood you have. Give the project a try and maybe get creative with the design. Just make the design symmetrical so the wine glasses balance properly and don’t fall off.

Here is a YouTube video we created to help show the steps in motion:

Wine glass holder made with Zebrawood
Wine glass holder made with Zebrawood

Rick Simper has various hobbies, including woodworking, metalworking, composting, and gardening. He is an Architect full time and uses these hobbies to get away from the busy week of Architecture.

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