Any bar builders out there?

6/4 would be nice…8/4 better…but 4/4 would work

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Would a torsion box be feasible for a bar top?

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY

Feasible?........yes.
Practicle or required?.........no.
Go to your hardwood supplier and buy some hardwood butcher block and some bar top edging. Cut it, glue it seal it and drink on it.

Ed

-- Come on in, the beer is cold and the wood is dry. www.crookedlittletree.com

Maybe inlay some metal bands across the bar top to match the bands on the barrels. Even could kerf the top to give it the same joined plank look.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

Sounds like Ed is ready to get to the drinking part. LOL Ed does have the right Idea though. I’ve got one in the works for a client and it will have a 1 1/4 inch top. It is a small bar.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I like your idea, Miles. I’ll have to run that past my client. You guys have any advice on a finish? I’ve always heard lots and lots of poly. How do you plan on finishing yours, Thos?

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY

Probably Poly but maybe an epoxy bar top finish. depends on what the customer wants. Maybe conversion???

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

My two cents on this…
I did a bar remodel for a friend not too long ago. The original bar top was just a sheet of cheap oak plywood. The builder had put in some 2×4 stretchers across the top of the frame to support the ply. We decided to use this as a substrate, and had a plywood supplier make up a full sheet of some really nice plain sliced oak veneer, over 3/4” MDF. This made for a beautiful, really flat, solid bar top that will never warp or move like solid wood, and can’t be dented by a dropped glass like plywood. We attached a section of solid oak “Chicago” bar rail to the front edges and screwed this to the substrate from the bottom through clearance holes. As far as a finish is concerned, we originally were going to cover the bar top in epoxy bar coating, but after doing allot of research on it seemed like a tricky endeavor to get the epoxy mixed properly and spread out without bubbles. The custom laid up oak top was very expensive and we didn’t want to risk ruining it so we went with many coats of Deft semi gloss lacquer .

-- Women love me.....trees fear me

I’ve used the thick single pour epoxy from the big orange box, and while it covered nice, self leveled, the sides were tricky to keep smooth. This was for a temporary island in my kitchen, so no harm in a less than perfect job. The product yellowed the wood nicely (it’s the pine butcherblock background in several of my project photos) but it wasn’t totally clear. I wouldn’t say it had bubbles in it, but lots of very very fine particles that made it slighly cloudy. This was a “soft” finish with a tendency to dent, if something heavy was dropped or pushed into the surface, but would self correct in the coming days/weeks. It did also stick to magazines if left there for a few days or longer. the image would copy off the page, or the paper would stick outright. Always came clean, but was a bit of a pain.

Granted a bar sees different treatment and abuse as a kitchen island will… but, I’d seek advice and refamiliarize myself with what the Woodwhisperer has posted on the subject, as well as ask around here, and probably NOT use the epoxy again. It might have it’s place, and could be used effectively in a different capacity, just not as a single thick layer.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I would suggest a catalyzed epoxy pour on. It is hard to do this wrong and easy to get a real bar looking bar. I purchase in kits larger than I need for the project. Pour both components into an appropriate sized container and mix with a lot of elbow grease. While thorough mixing is called for, do not incorporate air by over agitating. Then I create a dam with masking tape or luan on the edges that are not framed by the bar edging. Pour on the epoxy goo and let it do it’s thing for 24 to 36 hours. Once it’s hardened, remove the temporary dam and sand the edge. I prefer to add a small radius. Coat the edge with polyurethane or lacquer and call it a job.

Ed

-- Come on in, the beer is cold and the wood is dry. www.crookedlittletree.com