Easy Bar Plans???

Looking to make a simple dry bar for my mancave. Don't have the expertise to run plumbing, so I'd like something simple that I can move if need be.

I don't have much experience wood working, but do have access to power tools.

I've checked out the www.barplan.com site, and although they look great, how easy are they to follow?


Thanks.

Just start nailing a frame together. Once you get it finished, you'll know how to build it right next time

Haha, my problem is I wouldn't even know where to start. I don't want to waste a whole bunch of lumber!

I wood (pun intended) search the internet and possibly the local library. Check this site:

http://http://www.precision-images.com/

They charge $24.99 for 12 of their plans, but I don't know how much 1 would be. They can tell you about "dry" sinks, etc. Whatever you do, go with a good, detailed plan. It will take the frustration out of it and you will end up with a project that you are proud of and that gets compliments. And, who knows you might like woodworking well enough to get into another "cheap" hobby. Luck - Dwain

Dwain said:

I wood (pun intended) search the internet and possibly the local library. Check this site:

http://http://www.precision-images.com/

They charge $24.99 for 12 of their plans, but I don't know how much 1 would be. They can tell you about "dry" sinks, etc. Whatever you do, go with a good, detailed plan. It will take the frustration out of it and you will end up with a project that you are proud of and that gets compliments. And, who knows you might like woodworking well enough to get into another "cheap" hobby. Luck - Dwain

Click to expand...

Thanks, any experience with these?

Go artsy and use junk..

Get a couple full sized wine barrels (or even three of them), and line them up in a row..

Find a suitable countertop and place it on top... Find two or three old padded barstools.. Nice bar man!

If you were to go and find yourself a chunk of gnarled redwood, take it to the local shop and have it planed or drum sanded, then bring it home and cover it in epoxy or polyurethane.. You'd have a sweet looking counter top to go with the look.. You might even be able to find one ready to go at a yard sale.. They use them for coffee tables all the time...

Just an idea to consider...

Not with this specific company, they just seem to have several options to look at. When I was doing a lot of woodworking, I used Woodsmith. Some of their stuff is pretty advanced though. That's why I would check the library, maybe save a couple of bucks. Still, Google "dry bar" and get some ideas. Then when you look around you'll have an idea of what you want. - Dwain

Another easy but artsy countertop could be made from a couple lengths of 2x8 or 2x10 fir (an old scaffolding plank would work great) held together by nailing two or three 1x3 stickers perpendicular underneath...

Then take the think out in your yard and use a 15 dollar propane torch to burn the crap out of the surface and edges of the thing..

Next get yourself a 5 dollar wire brush and scrape it thoroughly along the grain, to remove the burnt softwood...

Cover it in polyurethane and set it on the wine barrels...

If you want to be able to move it around as one piece.. just have a piece of plywood cut at your local home center barely big enough to set the wine barrels on, and attach 4 cheap casters from harbor freight underneath...

Dang, I may have just talked myself into building on of these for out on the deck....

Google Image Search for bar made with wine barrels

From my experience - bought from all three sites: Precision-images 12 plans are nearly all the exact same design, just left/right hand variations & very basic. The Easy Home Bar Plans site also gives you access to thousands of photos of bars in various stages of construction, and that really does help! Oh and P-I charges you something like $39 for a custom bar design option, whereas it's included for free at barplan.com

To answer the initial question...Yes, they (barplan.com) are very easy to build, hence the name. P-I is very complicated and requires dados & fancy woodworking techniques. Bar-gear is complete trash, says it's also easy but it's low quality plans also require dado cuts and other advanced skills...they actually recommend in their plans that you farm out the advanced work to a pro shop. LOL!

Do a search on here for bars, or just spend a couple hours (days?) browsing through the DIY section. Thats what I did, and I think my bar came out pretty good. I do have a little bit of woodworking experience though (used to build speaker boxes) plus my dad could basically quit his day job and be a cabinet maker if he wanted to.

I do admit that my framing job could have been done a little better. But lumber is not going to be the most expensive thing you put into the bar, and it always helps to be a bit more sturdy (unless you are planning on moving the thing all the time).

i built a bar, practically an entire room from scratch, zero idea of what i was doing, and it turned out awesome. it's not hard. start with a piece of paper and a pencil. draw up what you want the bar to look like. then imagine what the frame or skeleton of that would look like, think about where you would need support, etc. then go buy some 2x4's and get a hammer and a nail. i swear to bob it's not that hard, and you will enjoy it a million times more if you just d.i.y.

check out my sig for photos that i took along the way from day one to finished.

@chainsaw - Yeah, I modified the plans a bit for my needs too, but the photo area on barplan.com really gave me some great ideas that I woulda never thought of...especially the integrated draft keg box (which I doubled in size for dual tower). Yeah, anyone can do it , but 20 bucks was worth the time saved for framing, ideas, details, etc.

Don't forget to download the Hamm's sign mpeg & put it on your bar big screen TV. sweet!

@chain - H.S. Man! I just checked out your bar, incredible job - sick! ;^D

IrregularPulse said:

Just start nailing a frame together. Once you get it finished, you'll know how to build it right next time

Click to expand...

This pretty much describes every #$@% diy project I have ever done.

Build something like this:

Using This plan: https://www.barplan.com/45-degree-angled-corner-wet-bar/

Here's one more that uses the basic bar back in combination with the 45 degree bar model.
See 100 more completed DIY home bar projects here> https://www.barplan.com/home-bar-photos/

PS - all built by novice woodworkers, not contractors.

For a simple bar, I'd build a frame and drop a countertop on top. For my build I used a 25"x6' butchers block countertop. Build the frame out of SPF #2 2x4s, which are dirt cheap so mistakes are no big deal. You don't need much experience to do this. If you've never done any woodworking before, I recommend watching Steve Ramsey's Woodworking for Mere Mortals. A lot of the channel is aimed at small woodworking projects, rather than the skills you need for a bar build, but I learned a ton from his videos.

I'd recommend two tools to make your life much easier: a decent mitre saw (you can pick up small ones for just over $100 from big box stores like Home Depot or Lowes), and a Krieg Jig. With these, you can have it it with 2x4 to make a frame. The mitre saw will help you gets straight cuts and the you can join them together with pocket hole screws using the Krieg Jig.

If you go this route, take some time when you pick out the 2x4s to get nice straight ones by looking down all four sides of the wood for warping. Getting straight lumber will make your life easier. A local lumber yard can be a better bet than the big box stores for supplies.

If your floor isn't perfectly level, when you make the 2x4 frame, make a base that sits on the floor and then make a second identical base that sits on top of that. Shim the second base with some off-cuts so it's level and then screw them together. Then you have a level surface to build the rest of the frame on. Take the time to measure your cuts for the uprights so everything stays level. It's worth taking the time to make an extension to the mitre saw and rigging up a stop block to keeps your cuts the same.

Whatever you do, I'd also recommend finishing the wood with Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C. It's not cheap, but it's much easier to work with than polyurethane finishes. However, it won't give you that "shiny" bar top, if that's what you're after.

submitted by site member Tom M. With a home bar setup like this, you never have to leave home.