Honey Jack Tiki Torch Deck Brackets

I play for the scenario paintball team Pub Crawling http://www.pubcrawling.org . We have more than 20 members on the team and with a name like Pub Crawling we tend to enjoy a drink now and then. The By-product of this hobby is empty bottles. Although we recycle sometimes its nice to re-purpose some of the bottles. 

I saw an article on Lifehacker for a wine bottle tiki torch and thought it was clever. The down side of that project for me was the classy looking wine bottle with the cheap looking bracket parts. In addition there was the drilling of holes into stuff which I didn't want to do and it also makes taking the bottles down later a pain.

I ended up making a few trips to the Home Depot, Lowes and a few other hardware stores in search of a better bracket idea. I didn't see anything I liked so I thought I would make something. The idea I had was to hang the tiki torch off the deck and in order to do that I looked at a few flower planter holders. I like the look of wrought iron and thought it would be a good match for a Honey Jack bottle.

In this Instructable I actually make two different versions. One goes on a 4x4 post and the other hangs off the top rail of deck. 

**Please be careful where you place these brackets, try to put them out of the way of foot traffic so people won't knock them over or into them. I measured for a pretty tight fit around the bottle neck, please be sure the placement and angle of the bracket won't allow the bottle to fall. Please also take care that you have plenty of clearance between the flame and anything above it so it doesn't catch fire. 

Materials
(1) empty 750 ml bottle of Jack Daniel's Honey
(1 ) 1/4 inch by 36 inch plain steel rod - $4.52
(1) can black spray paint - $6.98

Tools
rubber mallet
bench vise
paper towels
WD-40 or other grease remover
measuring tape
Square
hack saw
Sharpie or other marker

I chose to make the hanger out of 1/4 inch plain steel square rod since it would be easy enough to bend into shape and sturdy enough to hold up a full bottle of tiki torch fluid. 

The baluster, the part of the deck railing that is vertical, is where I started to measure for bending. My baluster's are 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches square. 

1. Measure for the first bend 1 1/2 inches from the end of the steel rod and mark it with the sharpie
2. Measure for the second bend 2 3/4 inches from the end of the steel rod and mark it with the sharpie
3. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the first line
4. Tighten the vice
5. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
6. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
7. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees. 
8. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the second line
9. Tighten the vice
10. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
11. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
12. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.

1. Place the rod down so it is laying with the newly bent baluster hook flat on the table.
2. From the inside of  bend 2 measure 4 7/8 inches and mark it with the sharpie
3. From the inside of  bend 2  measure 10 inches and mark it with the sharpie
4. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the line for Bend 3
5. Tighten the vice
6. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
7. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
8. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
9. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the line for bend 4
10. Tighten the vice
11. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
12. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
13. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.

Your tiki hanger should now wrap around the baluster and go up and over the cap rail. This next step will be about bending the angle up to the bottle. 

1. From the bend 4 Measure 5 1/2 inches.
2. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the line
3. Tighten the vice
4. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
5. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
6. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 45ish degrees.

This next step will be the bend for the end that holds the bottle. 

From bend 5 measure 10 inches and mark it with the sharpie. 
Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the line
Tighten the vice
Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over so that it's angle is similar to the part that goes over the cap..

This next step is wrapping the top around the neck of the bottle. Unlike the round neck of a while bottle the Jack Daniels bottle has flat sides. 

1. From bend 6 measure 1 1/2 inches and mark it with the sharpie
2. From that line measure 1 7/8 inches and mark it with the sharpie
3. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the first line
4. Tighten the vice
5. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
6. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
7. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
8. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the second line
9. Tighten the vice
10. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
11. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
12. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
13. Trim off the end now so it matches up with where the bend is. 

Here it is in use. Still needs the bends squared up, and the holder part needs bent a little more to make it level. Of course a coat of paint to make it look nice. 

The 4x4 hanger is a similar process to the over the top cap one so I won't go into as much detail on this part

1. Measure for the first bend 2 3/4 inches from the end of the steel rod and mark it with the sharpie
2. Measure for the second bend 3 1/2 inches from the first mark and mark it with the sharpie.
3. Measure for the third bend 2 3/4 inches from the second mark and mark it with the sharpie.
4. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the first line
5. Tighten the vice
6. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
7. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
8. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
9. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the second line
10. Tighten the vice
11. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
12. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
13. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
14. Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the third line
15. Tighten the vice
16. Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
17. Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
18. Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 45 ish degrees.

You should now have the part that goes around the 4x4 bent. 

This next step is wrapping the top around the neck of the bottle. Unlike the round neck of a while bottle the Jack Daniels bottle has flat sides.

From bend 4 measure 1 1/2 inches and mark it with the sharpie
From that line measure 1 7/8 inches and mark it with the sharpie
Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the first line
Tighten the vice
Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
Insert the steel rod into the vice up to the second line
Tighten the vice
Check the steel rod is square in the vice with a square
Put pressure on the long end of the steel rod.
Hammer the steel rod close to the vice to bend it over 90 degrees.
Trim off the end now so it matches up with where the bend is.