Project Information
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
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