# Custom Bar Builds



## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

*Custom 8ft Bar*

A co-worker of mine has asked me to build him a basement bar after seeing the work I did for another co-worker and his basement bar. This design will be pretty straight forward and will be constructed from birch ply and solid birch. The request was for an 8 ft bar with space for a fridge, wine bottle holder, a couple of drawers and an enclosed cabinet. Even though he doesn't like a glass of fine Scotch, I agreed to build it for him . Maybe he will poke a bottle in the bar for when I visit!

This blog will document the build process, from start to finish. My first post will show the sketchup drawings I did to give him an idea of what I had in mine. The actual build may change slightly as I work through it but for the most part, this is what it will look like.



















The first thing we discovered after putting together an initial plan is the potential difficulty for getting an 8ft structure down the basement stairs and around a corner. So this will be built as two separate 4ft cabinets and they will be mated into the structure once we get it all in the basement.

Stay tuned as I go through this build over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for looking!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Custom 8ft Bar*
> 
> A co-worker of mine has asked me to build him a basement bar after seeing the work I did for another co-worker and his basement bar. This design will be pretty straight forward and will be constructed from birch ply and solid birch. The request was for an 8 ft bar with space for a fridge, wine bottle holder, a couple of drawers and an enclosed cabinet. Even though he doesn't like a glass of fine Scotch, I agreed to build it for him . Maybe he will poke a bottle in the bar for when I visit!
> 
> ...


Sounds like a good beginning ,a good plan.


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

*Bar build begins*

The build has started. So far, one carcass assembly has been completed with the section for the bar fridge and the built in wine bottle holder. This is constructed out of 3/4" birch ply and all edging will be done with solid birch. One addition I need to make to the wine holder is to put some type of bottle holder (for lack of a better way to put it) in the middle of each cubby to ensure the bottle stays centered. Probably overkill but I like symmetry and if it was mine and the bottles rolled to the side of the cubby, it would annoy me. I'm thinking of a couple of triangluar strips spaced about 1.5" apart running from front to back of each cubby. Almost a v shape to cradle each bottle. We'll see.

Next is to get teh second carcass completed, hopefully in the next few days. Originally I had intended to have teh bar done before Christmas but that's not going to happen. I still have two gifts to build - a serving tray and simple wine bottle holder to hang on the wall. Now I know how Santa feels being busy this time of year.

Thanks for looking!


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## inchanga (Aug 13, 2012)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Bar build begins*
> 
> The build has started. So far, one carcass assembly has been completed with the section for the bar fridge and the built in wine bottle holder. This is constructed out of 3/4" birch ply and all edging will be done with solid birch. One addition I need to make to the wine holder is to put some type of bottle holder (for lack of a better way to put it) in the middle of each cubby to ensure the bottle stays centered. Probably overkill but I like symmetry and if it was mine and the bottles rolled to the side of the cubby, it would annoy me. I'm thinking of a couple of triangluar strips spaced about 1.5" apart running from front to back of each cubby. Almost a v shape to cradle each bottle. We'll see.
> 
> ...


looks like you got off to a good start. what methods of joinery re you using


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Bar build begins*
> 
> The build has started. So far, one carcass assembly has been completed with the section for the bar fridge and the built in wine bottle holder. This is constructed out of 3/4" birch ply and all edging will be done with solid birch. One addition I need to make to the wine holder is to put some type of bottle holder (for lack of a better way to put it) in the middle of each cubby to ensure the bottle stays centered. Probably overkill but I like symmetry and if it was mine and the bottles rolled to the side of the cubby, it would annoy me. I'm thinking of a couple of triangluar strips spaced about 1.5" apart running from front to back of each cubby. Almost a v shape to cradle each bottle. We'll see.
> 
> ...


His chris. for this carcass, just glue and screws with corner braces between the front and back stringers and the carcass sides. Thanks


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## USMC6531 (Feb 13, 2011)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Bar build begins*
> 
> The build has started. So far, one carcass assembly has been completed with the section for the bar fridge and the built in wine bottle holder. This is constructed out of 3/4" birch ply and all edging will be done with solid birch. One addition I need to make to the wine holder is to put some type of bottle holder (for lack of a better way to put it) in the middle of each cubby to ensure the bottle stays centered. Probably overkill but I like symmetry and if it was mine and the bottles rolled to the side of the cubby, it would annoy me. I'm thinking of a couple of triangluar strips spaced about 1.5" apart running from front to back of each cubby. Almost a v shape to cradle each bottle. We'll see.
> 
> ...


Looks great, I like the wine holders, a nice touch.


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

*More Progress To Report...*

Well with the Christmas season upon us, I haven't been as active in the shop as I would like. However, more progress has been made.

Second cabinet carcass has been completed. I need to add drawers and two cabinet doors but the skeleton is there at least.










With this completed, I was able to temporarily attach to the other cabinet and this allowed me to get the necessary dimensions for the bar tops and the front facia. Here are a couple of pics with the cabinets put together and the front of the bar clamped in place.


















For the bar tops, I'm using the same birch ply that was used for the rest of the bar. I wanted to minimize waste so I sized the cabinets such that I could get both the upper bar top and lower bar top from one sheet of ply. After some careful measuring, few sheets of paper, I grabbed my circular saw and got exactly what I wanted! Two tops from one sheet.










Here are the tops laid in place on the cabinets to get a feel for what it will look like. So far, so good!


















Next step is to get the doors and drawers in place. Then do my final measurements for all the solid birch I will need to trim out the bar. More pics and updates to come as I continue to work through.

Questions or comments - please feel free to throw them my way!

Thanks for looking!


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

*Starting To Trim the Bar*

I'm back again!

Picked up all the solid birch this past weekend and now it's time to start in on getting it in place. Face of the bar calls for 5 'pillars and corbels'. Here is the structure just clamped together to see what it will look like. Next step is to flute the pillars and get the corbels attached. Then it's on to the bar rail.



















Thanks for looking!


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

*Bar moulding - the deal maker (or breaker)*

Well after reading a few posts on bar mouldings and how to cut them on the table saw using cove cutting techniques I gave it a shot. I had done something similar to this for my last bar build but I had used two pieces for the cove - one for the cove itself and the other for the front edge or lip. It looked ok but not what I wanted.

So here is the profile I wanted and this was what I decided to commit with. In the end (wait for the finished pics!!!) it turned our really nice. To me, if the moulding looks nice, it gives a great finished look to the bar.




























Next blog entry will be the dry fit in my shop and the one after that will be the finished product installed on site. Stay tuned and thanks for looking!


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## Robb (Aug 18, 2007)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Bar moulding - the deal maker (or breaker)*
> 
> Well after reading a few posts on bar mouldings and how to cut them on the table saw using cove cutting techniques I gave it a shot. I had done something similar to this for my last bar build but I had used two pieces for the cove - one for the cove itself and the other for the front edge or lip. It looked ok but not what I wanted.
> 
> ...


Looks great. IMO, you can't beat making your own mouldings. 1) They look great, and 2) you get the satisfaction of saying "I made these!"

Good job!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Bar moulding - the deal maker (or breaker)*
> 
> Well after reading a few posts on bar mouldings and how to cut them on the table saw using cove cutting techniques I gave it a shot. I had done something similar to this for my last bar build but I had used two pieces for the cove - one for the cove itself and the other for the front edge or lip. It looked ok but not what I wanted.
> 
> ...


You are right, it does look really good.


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

*Installation and Finished Product*

Well, I'm finished!!! It's been a long road to get this to completion but primarily because I could only pick and poke at it an hour here and there after my girls went to bed and on the weekends when myself of my wife were not carting them around. Probably could have knocked this out in 1 week if I worked at it from 8-5 every day but hey, that's the life of a hobby woodworker.

here is the bar dry fitted together and in my shop. I completely forgot to get pics of the drawer and doors that I made preassembly but hey, I was getting really excited about putting it all together.


















Delivery day came and the customer stopped by to pick it up - he has a truck, I don't - not yet 
Here is the bar in the basement before installation. Since the customer had decided he would finish this himself, it was delivered in the 'raw':










































And here is the finished product after a few coats of American Chestnut.


























The customer is quite happy with it and it's now given me two more orders for the same style from two other couples.

Thanks for following through this blog. As usual, any questions and comments are more than welcomed!

Cheers


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Installation and Finished Product*
> 
> Well, I'm finished!!! It's been a long road to get this to completion but primarily because I could only pick and poke at it an hour here and there after my girls went to bed and on the weekends when myself of my wife were not carting them around. Probably could have knocked this out in 1 week if I worked at it from 8-5 every day but hey, that's the life of a hobby woodworker.
> 
> ...


Very handsome bar. It's awesome to know that word of mouth got you more work, too!


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## Wesley048 (Jan 13, 2014)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Installation and Finished Product*
> 
> Well, I'm finished!!! It's been a long road to get this to completion but primarily because I could only pick and poke at it an hour here and there after my girls went to bed and on the weekends when myself of my wife were not carting them around. Probably could have knocked this out in 1 week if I worked at it from 8-5 every day but hey, that's the life of a hobby woodworker.
> 
> ...


Wow, beautifully done. So is there any way you would share the dimensions for the Cove molding? I have made cove molding on the table saw but yours looks nicer. Also how did you attach the molding to the top?


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## EWJSMITH (Dec 4, 2007)

EWJSMITH said:


> *Installation and Finished Product*
> 
> Well, I'm finished!!! It's been a long road to get this to completion but primarily because I could only pick and poke at it an hour here and there after my girls went to bed and on the weekends when myself of my wife were not carting them around. Probably could have knocked this out in 1 week if I worked at it from 8-5 every day but hey, that's the life of a hobby woodworker.
> 
> ...


Thanks folks. Wesley048. I'll try to get the dimensions for you from a scrap piece I have left over (hopefully still have it). As for attaching it to the bar top, a bead of PL premium glue on the bottom of the molding and then screwed up through the bottom of the bar top (plywood) into the molding (drywall screws). Rock solid for sure. Cheers


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