Not Your Average "Coaster"

***UPDATE*** Final Versions are on the bottom

HELLO AND WELCOME,

First of all I want to give a shout out to mikeasaurus for his helping in this idea from his Coaster bottle opener. Here is a link to his page, https://www.instructables.com/id/coaster-bottle-ope... , check him out.

Well this is not your average coaster. This is a prototype, the very first, I am currently working on the final version, and I will post that next.

Here is the story behind it,

My wife and I are two teachers with an overwhelming amount of student loans. We are the first of our two families to go to college, but we were young and did not foresee amount of money we must pay back. We have been getting by, but it eats away at our very soul. We welcomed our first child in July of last year and I want to make his life incredible like all parents want.

I started looking at ways to pay for these student loans. I talked to the loan companies to see if we could reduce, NO. I talked to our bank to pull a second mortgage, NO. I even looked for relatives that could invest in us, NO (remember we were the first to go to college). So I am currently working two jobs to help pay off the loans, but every time I come home my son seems to be growing up too fast.

Then I got the idea of Crowd Sourcing. I just don't want to ask people for money, that not me so I will work for it, so I started coming up with an idea to promote support and to give a small token of our sincere graduated back to the donators.

I want to make something that would be cheap and very easy to do, mostly from recycled materials around my house, but different to the other coasters in the virtual world. And that is how I came up with this type of coaster.

Here is a link to our gofundme page: http://www.gofundme.com/j51wdw

Thank you

There is many different tools and hardware that can be used to create this, but for mine I used what I have. And I hope I give the best description possible.

Here is what I used to create this...

Tools:

Chop Miter Saw

Measuring tools-Tape measurer, square

Router with the smallest straight bit

Wood Glue

Razor blade, scissors

And most importantly a pencil, (with help with a white china marker)

Hardware:

Old piece of Pallet board 1-1/2 inch X 6 board

#4 3/8 inch screws

Sawtooth ring hangers

Small craft magnets

thin adhesive cork mat

Typical Coaster is a square of 4"

I thought it wouldn't look right if I cut from the bottom of the board leaving on edge of the coaster weathered. So I decided to cut the 4x4 square from the middle of the board. This doesn't matter in the end, because I sanded all the edges and painted them.

Measure all the hardware to fit into the board and don't forget to add space to the bottle to be inserted. I use the china marker to make it easier for you to see my marks.

I used a 1/4" straight bit on my router

Secured the board to my bench using a bar clamp

Make sure your board is secure, NOTICE it didn't cut the coaster out yet because I used the length of the board to help secure it to the bench. The small piece of wood would be difficult to secure and router.

The depth I have my router varies on the thickness of the magnets. I selected a depth that would embed the magnet but would leave it flush with the wood surface.

IF you are using a router, take your time when cutting.

Take your time and use the standard safety precautions when using power tools.

Cutting tips: More teeth on your blade the more clean the cut

Follow the lines drawn and cut out the coaster

Pre-drill to fit the screws for the sawtooth ring hanger

Glue magnets in the slots, you can probably use epoxy or other types of adhesive, I just used wood glue

Cut your cork to fit just inside the coaster itself

Cut the opening for the beer bottle to be inserted.

Now to soften the edges and corners, sanding is required

Now you are practically done, you can leave it or paint/stain to your liking

I chose to paint a chevron pattern on the top using some left over sample paint used in my bedroom

I did think about leaving the sides natural, but at the last minute I decided to paint them with a dark blue

I finished by putting a coat of spar urethane to help protect the wood from those dipping cold drinks

For me, I had to test if the bottle opener/ wall hanger would work and it does. I also tested to see if the 4 magnets I used would be strong enough to hold the coaster on the refrigerator and it did.

So why brainstorm, well what can I do to make this better and what I learned.

1. Use a thinner piece of wood

2. Make stencil so paint edges come out cleaner

3. Find a new way to make the bottle opener but still be able to hang on the wall.

These are what I found, please feel free to give your suggestions in the comments

Again this was just a prototype and the final version will be next.

Feel free to check out our gofundme page: http://www.gofundme.com/j51wdw

Check out my other instructables: https://www.instructables.com/member/ABCass1/

And last but not least special thanks to mikeasaurus and the incredible Instructables crew and staff.

Final Version is complete

I reduced board thickness

Strengthened but reduced bottle opener/wall hanger by using a mending plate

Made a Stencil for the chevron pattern

Added some nice beachy lyrics from the Zac Brown Band's "Toes"

Check out the quick video, sorry its little shaky its hard to hold the phone while opening the beer