10 DIY bottle openers you can make in a pinch
Can’t find your bottle opener?
Just grab an old screwdriver, a torch and some pliers, and head for your garage.
That’s one idea from the above video, “Ten DIY Beer Bottle Openers.” In it, YouTube DIYer Jimmy DiResta digs through the drawers of his shop to find 10 old tools to turn into bottle openers. Antique lovers, take solace: The majority of the tools remain usable for their original purpose.
There’s really only two designs here: the notch, as seen on churchkey-style openers, and the tab hole, as seen on bar-blade-style openers. But there’s plenty of variety in both the tool canvases that DiResta chooses and the ways he turns them into bottle openers. Expect lots of sparks.
If you like this video, the rest of DiResta’s channel is worth checking out. The guy is extremely creative. He’s also really focused on getting stuff done, not so much about being a snob about making things. There’s a tendency for makers to criticize each others’ work as being “the wrong way to do things.” That approach makes sense if you are running a shop and producing work for profit. But if your goal is to have fun, then who cares how you make stuff, as long as it’s safe?
DiResta’s video style reflects this attitude. There’s little fancy editing to be seen. There’s rarely music or narration. But the videos still are entertaining and informative. Plus, they must be easier to produce with this style, which helps DiResta get more videos out for his viewers.
You actually might recognize DiResta from reality-TV DIY shows such as “Dirty Money,” “Blog Cabin” and “Hammered with John and Jimmy DiResta.” But about a decade ago, the Discovery Channel dropped him. He started up his YouTube channel out of revenge, he said in episode 43 of “Making It,” a podcast that he co-hosts. Today, DiResta has nearly 330,000 subscribers on YouTube.
So thanks, Discovery Channel!
This archive Project Lab post was originally published on November 6, 2015.
