Thread: Bottle opener

Well here is where I'm up to. All the carving has been done, but I still need to cut the wedges and the blades, and sand the edges round, take the arrises off, and use a handsaw to put the decorative line around the edge so it gives them a bit of class and they match the old one.

I started by making a template out of a corn flakes box, cut with my trusty bottle opener utility knife. It's a bit out of focus so I've gone over it with numbers in photoshop. Any problems reading it, give a holler. You'll notice that the blade is longer than the dimension I've given, because I intend to make them shorter so the sharp edge doesn't protrude past the wedge when it's installed as an opener with the sharp edge up. I've got enough steel so I may supply an extra blade with each that's not sharpened, just for bottles. You can open bottles with the sharp edge, but it wouldn't do the blade much good after a while. The numbers sound a bit funny, but that's just what I came up measuring the old one and it works. Mine's 2mm wider because I used standard 30mm flat bar instead of 28mm.

I forgot to put a depth on there, but they're 30mm deep by 45mm wide which suited my 90X45mm door off cuts perfectly. After ripping my blanks to 30mm, I marked them with the template, gently chiseled three edges of the narrow part of the throat (so it doesn't splinter when I drill), then I drilled two holes vertically (by eye), with a half inch spadebit. Then two more holes on an angle (by eye), lining them up so they'd come out in the same spot as the first two holes. Here's a pic showing all the steps.

Then I turned them upside down and marked out the scallop for the bottle cap using the blade as a template for the edges. You can see that the hole positions aren't perfect (a drill press with a tilting table would come in handy here), but it doesn't matter as it all gets chiseled off. Then I turned it over again, and drove the chisel right through, on the mark (it's no coincidence that the throat is the same width as my 1" chisel. I don't know why I called it a half inch in my previous post. dementia must be setting in. Either that or too many longnecks, hickup). I eyed up the angle, and did the same with the other end, you can see in this glarey photo. It takes some persuasion to get the chisel out, but it leaves a nice flat finish. If the angle isn't perfect it doesn't matter. So long as it's flat. If it's not, then eye it up and chip away until it is. After tidying up the sides, you should end up with something that looks like this

Then I turned it over and chiseled out the scalop for the bottle cap. The angle is a guestimate. So long as it's deep enough for a bottlecap and the thickness of the blade, you'll be right.

To be continued. ( I wanted to post before midnight, but I've got a little bit more to say shortly)

edit I made a mistake with a dimension on the template when I typed it into photoshop. If you've saved it you'll notice that they don't add up. I had 20mm behind the slot and that only adds up to 81mm overall not 91 as shown. It's supposed to be 30mm and I've edited the photo accordingly now.

Then I made a template for the wedge slot, allowing for the thickness of the blade, and extending flush with the bottom of the plane so I could position it the same for each pencil mark. Then I made two freehand cuts on each side with a hacksaw blade and tidied up the waste with a sharpened screwdriver. A bit of tidying up with some folded sandpaper to get into all those fiddly bits, and that's it for the carving. I docked them to length and that's where I'm up to.
Tomorrow I'll cut the wedges and blades, and I'll round the sides (just by rubbing the plane on a bit of coarse belt sander belt nailed to a chunk of wood. A belt sander would come in handy, but I haven't got one at the moment). You could always leave it square, but it doesn't look as sexy that way. It looks good with a line cut around the sides with a handsaw as well. Jazzes it up a bit.

I'm not happy with the urethane I gave the one I made yesterday. It's too thick and gluggy for a fiddly little plane, so I'll sand it off and I may try it again thinned out a bit. I think I'll leave the base raw as well. Just some oil might be the go, but I haven't got any. The lacquer/stain I used on the first coat makes it look alright so I might just leave it at that.

I used KD F27 feature grade North Coast hardwood, whatever that is. I wouldn't recommend using cedar or any other softwood. Besides being more difficult to chisel (the grain tends to bend and break instead of cutting, no matter how sharp your chisel is), it may not be strong enough on a tough bottle cap.

Well I'll easily have my presents ready in time, and that's about it from me. Time to crack another longneck and plane that annoying splinter off the lounge room table.

Good luck, and post up some pics or tips if you decide to make one.

Excellent tutorial John, keep'em coming

too big to put on the key ring.

Nice job pawnhead. They'd be great in the workshop for an ale or several after a hard day making sawdust.

but yeah, no good for the keyring.


merry xmas to all

Thanks guys.

Well I just got up a little while ago, and I've been working on the prototype for the wedge and blade system and I came up with this.
It looks a bit sexier with a scroll on top of the wedge and it's easier to get the wedge out, but that's not it's purpose.
I had the problem of the sharp blade poking out the top, and away from the wedge, so this way the blade sits nicely out of the way and the sharp edge is against the wedge. The hook sits flush with the bottom, and fits a bottle cap nicely.

When the blade is flipped over, and used as a plane, the hook in the blade sits in the groove that I cut with a hacksaw, with enough clearance for blade depth adjustment. You'll notice from the dimensions I gave, that I made the slot 2mm wider than the blade for trim adjustment and the wedge is a tight fit at almost 32mm.

Ignore the #### urethane job, I'm sanding that back and trying again. I might put my initials on one face of the wedge and the year on the other. They're a bit rough, but I'm not going to spend hours on each just trying to make them look like they were spat out of a machine in a few minutes.

I might even make a few special ones, just for my kids and put a reinforced heal on the base out of a bit of blade metal. You could then use the plane as a hammer, and the blade as a chisel, and you could make another one if you were patient enough.

Anyway, I've got some wedges and blades to cut, so I'm outa here.

I just noticed that I made a mistake with a dimension on the template when I typed it into photoshop. If you've saved it you'll notice that they don't add up. I had 20mm behind the slot and that only adds up to 81mm overall not 91 as shown. It's supposed to be 30mm and I've edited the photo and post accordingly now.

I had a bit of shopping to do and didn't get a whole lot done, though I've cut all the wedges and blades by just belting the steel into a sawcut in a scrap of 4X2, and eying up the angle. I've still got to hit them with the sharpening disc (Wish I had a belt sander. Much easier to sharpen tools ), bend them and sand everything up.

Here's a comparison between the old one and the one I made. It's a bit more slender, it has a beveled and dovetailed throat (bit more hassle to make, but a bit classier if you want to spend the time), more rounded corners on top, and in this shot you can see the hole in the blade and the pin that engages it. I'm not going to bother with that. I've got to make a few more for some friends I forgot about so I've got enough on my plate before Christmas.