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This bartop started as a labor of love and nearly killed me in the end!

A very good friend of mine asked me to create a bartop for his newly renovated basement. He gave me FULL license as long as I ran the ideas off him prior to building - how can a man say NO to that?

I asked my lumber provider (you all DO have a lumber provider, right? I highly recommend it ;-) for a book-matched slab of most any wood with a good grain at least eight feet long and two inches thick minimum.

He sent me pictures of this VERY rough slab, but stated it was QS Red Oak and very figured so I took a chance on it and brought it home. Picture 6 is what it first looked like.

A TON of work later, it was edged and planed enough to glue up. Then came the HOURS of sanding.

I asked another good friend of mine, who happens to own Freestate Guitars in Annapolis, MD for some advice on how he colors his guitars so well and he very nicely volunteered a couple hours of his time to show me how he did it!

The wood was first taken up to 400grit smoothness and then dyed jet black with aniline dyes (Pic 5). After drying it was sanded almost all the way off and then re-dyed with brownish red. Then re-sanded and dyed again with brown. Re-sanded and then finally 10 coats of my own formula of wipe-on urethane.

LOTS of work, but the results speak for themselves. He LOVES it and so do I. Job Done!

All in, I would say I spent about 14 hours on this slab of oak - I hope it lasts him a lifetime. He DID promise me the first drink served on it though - that makes it special as well. :)

Overall, the finished bar measures 105×28 inches and is just over two inches thick. Weight - around 160lbs.

OH! I didn't mention having to get this down a VERY narrow flight of stairs with a 90 degree turn at the bottom - that's where it tried to kill me! ;-)

Enjoy!

-bob

Gallery

Comments

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Wow
 

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very nice top ….. now I would take a draft …...in an iced mug ….......GREAT JOB
 

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Awesome job with that beautiful red oak.

Thanks for sharing.

Bill in MI
 

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That is real nice. Good job dude.
 

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Beautiful job. I know it was hard work but I think it was worth the effort.
Keep up the good work.
flint
 

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Something to be proud of Bob. Nice.
 

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Magnificent! The bookmatching… The chatoyance… The finish recipe… The medullary ray fleck… Thanks for sharing!
 

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Worth the work! BUT-I think your hours estimate is short!
 

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For such a cumbersome and intensive project, 14 hours total doesn't sound too bad. At that point, I'm pretty sure all I would have had was 14 hours worth of swearing. Well done!
 

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absolutely beautiful

pardon a potentially novice question - did you fill the grain?
 

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Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful comments!!!!

avsmusic1 - I did not fill the grain (and that's not a novice question, BTW) in this case. It was the holes in the grain that helped create the fantastic patterns you see. I took advantage of the differences in the grain when I used the aniline dye method of flooding and then sanding. Thanks for asking!

And….....maybe 14 hours WAS an understatement. ;-)
 

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Really beautiful bar top! Thanks for the details on the finishing process…it really makes the grain pop.
 

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Very nice. It looks wonderful and definitely something to be proud of.
 

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outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jim
 

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Absolutely beautiful bar top! Looks like your finishing schedule was spot on-and that ray fleck really pops!

Enjoy your cold one on it!
 

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BEAUTIFUL !!!

Love the raw to done evolution.
 
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