Here is what I did.
Buy 10 foot lengths of 4 inch PVC pipe at Home Depot or similar store. Sometimes they are located in the garden section. Cut them into 4 equal pieces about 30 inches in length. This will fit 3 bottles end to end. I stacked them in my locker in a honeycomb pattern with the row above offset from the row below it. With three bottles deep I am able to reach in the tubes with my arm and pull out the deepest bottle.
if these are used in a closet, I suppose one neednāt connect them. But in a room where they are not held in place by a wall, how does one connect them
Cyanoacrylate glue or PVC specific plumbing cement. Just a small amount should suffice.
Iād like to see it, Bruce
This is a picture from Leslieās set up. Mine is the same. I think she origianally used 4" PVC, but as I recall, she liked the cardboard better
Picture posted above. In my locker, the end pipe of every other row is blocked by the piece of wood on the edge of the locker making 750ml bottles impossible to store in the space. However, a 375ml can squeeze in there, so that is where I put them. In my locker, I also leave room for magnums at the top of the space.
I think Iād want to experiment with the glue method before committing to building an entire stack. The tubes will touch tangent to tangent so there will be very little surface area for the glue to bond. I could see the end tubes coming unglued very easily and crashing to the floor under the weight of a few bottles.
A pair of nylon tie down straps should solve any problems with crashing. Glue the tubes together to get your basic form and then wrap with a couple of nylon straps and you should be good to go.
Nothing of this industrial strenght, but you get the idea:
Tex, I like this idea, you should have been an engineer!
Maybe use 1"x12" wood planks to form a simple frame that encloses the tube stack, and then use the nylon straps to hold the frame together?
Whatever it takes.
The beauty of PVC or Cardboard tubes is that you can get fairly creative and utilize the space or structure at hand.
HA! Thank you Eric for pointing me to this thread.
Ok, I am currently in a meeting. Sitting in a board room with eyes on my cpu or I would type more.
Thanks David Kolin for the information and most of you had put the situation together.
I started with 4 inch PVC plastic pipe. They were way too big and I wasted a lot of space. Besides they were a pain to saw, clean, etc.
So, I looked around and found a place that would make me custom cardboard tubes. I sent him a standard BDX bottle, a halfie, a mag and some bubbles and he made for me 3 different tubes sizes.
This has been a fantastic solution for me so far and one I wholeheartedly recommend. There is no need for glue. Dennis can mod the tubes to fit snugly into whatever situation you might have.
He now owns the company and is great to work with.
I am more than happy to answer any questions. Have had them over 3 years (I think). They have yet to wear down, change shape, nada.
Phenix Tube http://www.phenixtube.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also, photos of my setup:
http://lesliegolf.smugmug.com/Wine/Cellar-and-Storage-Photos/Offsite-Photos/3977577_vGdPb#231209078_dXxt9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Looking back at these photos make me roll. I only have about 40 spots open now for both lockers.
Hope this helps!
Leslie
PS: I am installing a wine cellar at my house. If anyone wants these tubes (in about 4 months), let me know!
Very cool Leslie! Are these all double deep?
I may be interested. Our move is a few months out as wellā¦
-Nathan
They are! And, of course if someone wanted triple, etc. he could make those as well.
And if Nathan doesnāt take 'em all, Iāll take some!
A few comments in no particular order:
I did a setup with PVC pipes a number of years back when I converted an old refrigerator to a wine cooler using a neat little thermostat control called WINE-STAT (http://s300420052.e-shop.info/, no affiliation). I used standard 4" PVC pipe which is easy to get, and cut it long enough to fit a magnum (about 14 inches, IIRC). I believe I cut them with a power miter saw (chop saw), which was fast and easy but created a lot of plastic shavings.
The 4" pipe is obviously not a perfectly efficient use of space for 750ml bottles, but it allows easy insertion/removal, eliminates sensitivity to odd bottle shapes ā and allows for the occasional magnum! I was only interested in going one bottle deep, but your needs will vary depending on the configuration of your space.
Depending on the humidity level of your passive storage, you might think about whether cardboard will be vulnerable to moisture retention and/or mold.
If I were building in a more open space, as you are, I would eschew gluing and would plan to create a frame to hold my tubes (whether cardboard or plastic). A simple approach, which I would be confident would work with the PVC tubes (not sure if cardboard would need more support), would be to screw together lengths of 2x4 lumber to make two rectangles, one of which would be placed near the back of the tubes, and one near the front. A couple of 3" decking screws at each connection point should make a pretty sturdy frame up to say 8 feet long by 5-6 feet high.
You could make multiple frames to fit your space, and you could adjust the dimensions to fit an exact number of pipe lengths (the outer diameter of standard PVC pipe is 4.5", so, for example a frame with inner dimensions of 94 1/2" by 66 7/8" would fit 9 rows of 21 tubes interspersed with 8 rows of 20 tubes for a total of 349).
ā Matt
My cardboard has not shown any issues relating to mold, mildew or aging in general over the last (3) years. In one portion of my locker, the are stacked 13 high
From my recollection of that thread, the points made all make sense and are consistent. I think these two ideas quoted are right on. The weight is primarily going down. The outward force is significantly less, especially towards the top. If 2x4s arenāt stylish enough for your space, you can usually buy 2x4s in a nicer wood, although I would think 1x4 (or 1x3 or 2) would also work. You could always use metal corner braces if you fear the strength of the screws.
The biggest hassle with PVC is going to be cutting it. A lot of plastic dust as well as burrs. Make sure you have a power saw (radial arm or miter/chop saw).
One thing I havenāt seen mentioned is whether to go with Soil and Drain PVC (Schedule 40), which has a thinner wall, or DWV PVC (Sch. 80), which is the thick-walled stuff used in most home plumbing (for waste). I would think the Sch. 40 is sufficient, and is a lot less expensive and heavy. But Iāll flag the issue.
For the cardboard tubes, what did the cost per bottle work out to?
I also started out with 4" PVC and went to custom made cardboard tubes. Itās amazing how many more bottles you can fit when you get cardboard tubes that are a little smaller. For the space that I used, I could fit 52 bottles using 4" PVC and 79 bottles with 3.5" cardboard tubes.
I bought mine from http://www.customtubecompany.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in Minnesota.
I was conservative and doubled the wall thickness of the tubes from what they originally quoted me. In hindsight, I think the original .08" wall thickness would have been fine.
This is what I ordered a year ago. They are for single bottles.
Here is the pricing with the .160 wall thickness:
3.505x.160x8", qty. 100: $1.34 ea., qty. 200: $1.09 ea.
Pricing does not include sales tax or freight, and our standard lead time is 1.5-2 weeks.
Matt, Thanks for the details and suggestions.
I am likely going to eschew glueing (whether I opt for PVC or cardboard) and build some sort of frame to the exact width of x number of tubes. One of the areas Iām leaning on using is actually a cubby that would be walled in on three sides. Silly me forgot my tape measure when we looked at the place (itās still occupied) but Iād roughly guess itās 4.5ā wide x 2.5ā deep. Given this and that the walls are block, side support isnāt as much an issue as framing for a snug fit of the tubes. Also, a frame will keep them off the floor and away from any potential moisture.
Thanks,
Nathan
Joe, Thanks for this. First, I have found a custom tubing company about 10 minutes away here in Ohio so Iāll likely talk with them about a quote. I appreciate your info so I know where their pricing will stand.
Wall thickness of the cardboard is one of my bigger questions. I would have assumed the need for a 1/4 inch thickness or so (but Iām certainly no engineer). Happy to hear .160 is plenty for your purposes. How high (in rows) are they stacked? Any one else who went with cardboard recall exact wall thickness of their tubes?
Many thanks,
Nathan