Cypress and Sassafras Bar

This a bar designed by my wife’s second cousin. He and I built the bar in my shop then delivered it to his house for final sanding and finishing. He sanded the top and sides and applied BLO. After drying, he applied polyurethane to the sides and top.

WARNING—Before newbies (like me) work on unfamiliar wood, I recommend that you do a little research on the characteristics of the species. Using the website http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/ (and I’m sure there are other good ones), my fellow builder and I found that sassafras is one of the worst types of woods for dust. It’s a direct toxin and can affect the lungs and heart. Milky mangrove, mulga, poison walnut, sassafras and yew are the only woods in the database that contain the skull and crossbones to denote toxicity and that special precautions are needed. We used a dust mask any time we milled or sanded the bar top. When possible, we used a hand saw and hand planes versus other tools.

Picture 2—The bar was from with ripped 2×4s and screwed to the cypress posts with coarse thread drywall screws. The plywood bottom was also screwed to the framing from below. One side will have space for a mini-keg with open shelves on the other side.

Picture 3—We cut 1”x1” dadoes in each cypress post, into which we slid (actually pounded) the pecky cypress slats.

Picture 4—We bandsawed the corbels out of cypress and predrilled holes for lag screws to mount the corbels to the front of the cypress posts.

Picture 5—This is the sassafras bar top glue up, with the bottom side up.

Picture 6—Sassafras bar top in place temporarily. We still need to drill one or more holes for the beer taps, and probably add shelves to the other side. The bar owner intends to shellac the sassafras top. I will see if I can get a picture of the project after the finish is applied.

Fun project. We built a bar and built a good working relationship too. I’m sure we’ll collaborate on future projects.

Thanks for looking.

-- People say I hammer like lightning. It's not that I'm fast -- it's that I never hit the same place twice!