Idea From Square Glass Blocks

This time I removed the bottle cork with a pair of lighters, drilled holes in the glass block, and incorporated it into a wooden square frame to create an illuminated glass block tap.

How I did it - you can check by looking DIY video or you can follow up instructions below.

Materials:

• Fairy string LED: Link here
• Tap: Link here
• Glass block
• Syringe
• 5min epoxy glue
• Walnut board
• Masking tape
• Wood glue
• Wine bottle to extract a cork
• Round dowels

Tools:

• Straight cut 20mm router bit: https://shorturl.at/dkABK
• Diamond hole saw 18mm: https://shorturl.at/JPXY2
• Drill and bits
• Palm router or table router with chamfer and straight bits
• Table saw, miter saw or other tool to cut wood
• Japanese pull saw

I started by selecting one glass block from various color options. I squeezed a small amount of water for upcoming drilling. Using an 18mm diameter diamond hole saw attached to a cordless drill, along with cooling water and RPM management, I made this drilling job effortless. I also drilled another hole on the side. Drilling glass can be quite easy with the right technique. To begin, start drilling at an angle to form a small recess, which will keep the hole saw in place when the drill is straightened up to the surface.

The front hole will be filled with a small faucet, and I found that 5-minute epoxy was the perfect adhesive for the job.

To add a nice accent around the perimeter, I'll be using fairy string LEDs. This one has 100 individual LEDs fitted on 8 meters of wire, and I'll be wrapping that length in loops around the glass block.

Now, let's set the glass block aside and move on to the wooden part. I adjusted a 20-degree angle on my table saw to give the board a bit more detail. 

Next, I used the miter saw to cut 21-centimeter length pieces with 45-degree angles at the ends.

With 4 of them on the table, it is more or less clear what will comes next. Every time I use this masking tape trick to hold the pieces for gluing, I'm amazed at how well it works.

Now, it gets a bit tricky because I need to mark and drill four holes at a 45-degree angle. I had to modify my small drill press and create a custom drilling jig to achieve that drill angle. All that preparation pays off when you end up with perfectly drilled holes, and I was ready to glue in four wooden dowels.

Once the glue dried, I trimmed the ends using a Japanese pull saw. It's an indispensable tool for such tasks.

To finish the wooden structure, I used a rectangular piece of walnut and added a small chamfer using a chamfering bit on my homemade table router. It's a small but very nice detail.

Moving on, I drilled four representative holes to correspond with the glued dowels. A bit of wood glue applied and spread around the holes will permanently hold the dowels in place.

Now, I need to create a pocket hole in the bottom part to accommodate the power source of the fairy string LEDs.

The simplest solution that came to mind was to use my homemade table router with a custom-made jig. This allows me to mill a specific area only. I used a 20-millimeter straight-cut router bit and milled in small depth increments. You can see how this jig helps me work effectively. As I mentioned, after each pass, I raised the router bit and repeated the step until the pocket hole was at the right depth.

The final step for the frame was to drill a hole for filling.

To assemble everything in the wooden frame, I needed to disassemble the battery box and rewire the power wire into the milled pocket hole at the bottom. I used a small flat screwdriver and a hot soldering iron to get the job done.

The wooden frame was made with a very small clearance tolerance to hold the glass block in place without any additional adhesive. Some wiggling was necessary until the glass block was perfectly positioned.

To finish the bottom part, I rewired, soldered, and reassembled the battery box. I permanently attached the battery box with a pair of lines of 5-minute epoxy. 

The final piece of the puzzle was a cork plug from a bottle to cover the filling hole. I didn't want to use a corkscrew to pull out the cork because it would damage the cork. Instead, I used a lighter trick. By heating the small air gap inside the bottle, the heat pressurized and eventually pushed out the cork with an impressive pop and bang! And there you have it, the cork came out without a scratch.

I applied some clear hard wax oil to the surface, not only to protect the wood but also to bring out the rich wood color and texture.

I'm really pleased with how the fairy string LED adds a nice touch to the glass block. It makes the glass part stand out, especially during cozy evenings. Even without any liquid inside, it works as a lovely mood lamp.

Another great feature is the wide range of color options for the glass block, so you can easily find one that matches your personal taste and interior decor.