10 ft Bottle Tree Welding Plans, Metric and Imperial, with Excel Calculator

Build a 10 ft steel Christmas tree that holds up to 614 lit bottles.

These are the complete shop drawings for a conical welded frame: 18 rings, 614 bottle spikes, a base star that keeps it standing without guy wires. Every dimension is worked out, every bar is on a cut list, and the build is broken into twelve steps in the order they actually have to happen.

No CNC. No plasma table. No ring roller. A MIG or stick welder and an angle grinder are enough. The rings are bent as octagons, which is why you don't need rolling equipment.

WHAT YOU GET

An Excel material calculator, and six printable sheets in two versions.

THE CALCULATOR

Set the height, the base diameter and the number of rings, and the whole workbook recalculates: every ring's diameter, cut length and facet, the spike count, the bars of steel to buy, the weight, the paint and the build time.

Metric and imperial are separate tabs, each with its own ring schedule and materials list, so nothing is converted between them and nothing can end up in the wrong units. Want an 8 ft tree, or a 12 ft one? Type the height and the calculator works out every ring for you.

THE DRAWINGS

• Sheet 1 — Cover and specification: every number in one place
• Sheet 2 — Elevation and ring schedule: all 18 rings with height, diameter, cut length and spike count
• Sheet 3 — Base plan and construction details: the 8-arm star, leg angles, joint details
• Sheet 4 — Bill of materials: exactly what to buy, by profile and length
• Sheet 5 — Cut list: 28 bars of steel, nested, with the offcut shown on every one
• Sheet 6 — Build sequence: twelve steps, each saying what to weld, what to check, and what not to do yet

Both versions are included: 10 ft on US Letter in feet and inches, and 3 m on A4 in millimetres.

SPECIFICATION (10 FT VERSION)

• Overall height: 120 in (10 ft)
• Base diameter: 78 in
• Rings: 18, spaced 6 1/4 in
• Legs: 8 x 1/2 in pipe
• Bottle spikes: 614, made from #3 rebar
• Finished weight: approx. 348 lb
• Steel to buy: approx. 454 lb, 28 bars
• Build time: 48-56 hours

The 3 m metric version is 3000 mm tall, 2000 mm at the base, with 18 rings at 160 mm spacing and 619 spikes.

YOU DO NOT NEED 614 BOTTLES

The tree reads just as well half filled. Load every second spike and you need 307 bottles; every third, 205. Each spike takes the neck of a standard 750 ml bottle, hanging neck-down, and the LED string stays on the rings behind the glass, so coloured bottles are lit from inside the cone.

NOT ONLY FOR CHRISTMAS

The bottle tree is an old garden tradition long before it was a Christmas one. Bare, with a warm string of lights, it is a gold cone for a wedding, a restaurant terrace or a hotel entrance. Filled with clear bottles it is a garden sculpture that catches the sun in summer.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• MIG welder, or a stick welder with 2.5 mm rod
• 125 mm angle grinder with cutting and flap discs
• 4-6 clamps, magnetic welding squares and an engineer's square
• Tape measure, spirit level, plumb line
• Helmet, gloves, safety glasses

SKILL LEVEL

Intermediate. You need to be comfortable cutting, grinding and welding steel, and to read a dimensioned drawing. You do not need any specialist forming equipment.

The photographs show the tree these drawings were made from. It was built, painted and lit before the plans were finalised.

THIS IS A DIGITAL PRODUCT

You are buying PDF drawings and an Excel workbook. Nothing is shipped. You get the download link on screen and by email as soon as your payment clears, and the files are yours to keep.

SAFETY

These are DIY construction plans, not stamped engineering drawings. Steel grade, welding procedure, anchoring, wind loading and local regulations are your responsibility. If the tree will stand in a public place, have the installation checked by a qualified engineer. Lights and wiring are not covered by these plans; use outdoor-rated equipment installed to your local standards.

LICENCE

For your own use, including building trees to sell. You may not resell, share or redistribute the files themselves.

Questions before you start? Email contact@arcandsaw.com, happy to help.

ARC & SAW

Plans drawn from things that were actually built.