Magic Bottle Cap Catcher!

While there are still parts of the kitchen remodeling project to complete (and start), we are at the point where I am able to start reinstalling and adding some of the fun stuff. Talk about a morale booster!

Eric pointed out how the bear looks like a boar from the side and now I can't un-see it. And you can't either.

I've wanted to have something like this for ages and finally figured out that I actually could! Awhile back I gave Eric this bear head, wall mount bottle opener and we installed it in the kitchen on the cabinet that encloses the refrigerator. I took it down to refinish the cabinets and while I was going about the project, I realized how I could make this work for us.

So yeah, I haven't primed and painted the whole cavity where the fridge goes. Trust me, that's not what I want. But as I was workign in there, I realized I was getting low on materials so I decided wait until I had finished the rest to do this. I mean, it's not like anyone is going to see inside the fridge cavity, right? Unless I post pictures on the internet, that is.

I used a 1-1/2" Forstner bit in the drill to remove a spot to house a neodymium magnet (1-1/2" diameter x 1/2" thick) on the backside of the cabinet - the side the fridge sits in. The hole is about 5/8" deep and I used the plastic ring that came with the magnet and some plastic plumbing strap to hold the magnet in and to add a little bit of something between the super strong magnet and refrigerator. I don't know how much difference this makes to the attraction to the refrigerator, but it made me feel more comfortable. The magnet is centered about 6" below the bottom screw on the bottle opener.

You can't even tell there's anything special going on from the outside!

 

Since bottle caps have sharp edges and I just spent a whole lot of time refinishing these cabinets, I added this thin wooden plaque under the bear to protect the paint job. It's a cheapie from the craft store that I stained and varnished.

Check out the action!

I looked up a few different tutorials online and from those put together what I thought would work for us. They boil down to the following:

A big, strong magnet (mine has about 80 pounds of force) mounted behind a minimum of wood (in my case about 5/16") not too far below the opener (mine is ~ 6"). Read all the warnings associated with these magnets and follow them to avoid injuring yourself, others, and your stuff - including the magnets.

PS I just noticed that in my excitement to get this done and test it out, I didn't even match up the screw heads! That is not like me at all. For decorative stuff, I always have them all going the same direction, usually a particular direction. Rest assured, friends, that I am getting up to fix that right now.