My 8-foot bar build

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Thirstin4aburstin

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Location
Yorba Linda
A few months back I bought a 3-tap kegerator and ever since have been dreaming of building a bar to surround it. The space I plan on building it was previously occupied by a gigantic dining room table that we never used, thus that entire space was being wasted. I ended up convincing the wife to let me sell the table and start working on the bar (she's the best!).

After doing some research on what I'd need to build the bar and what plans I'd use, I ended up paying for a subscription to www.barplan.com. For $20 you get access to the site and all it's plans, members forum, and builder's gallery. Definitely worth the investment!

The only power tools I have are a drill, screwdriver, and dremel. I was able to borrow a miter saw from my neighbor, and I ended up breaking down and buying a Ryobi 10" table saw (for future projects:mug:).

I hope this projects inspires other people like me (who have no carpentry experience) that would like to have the pride of building and owning their own bar.

So without further adieu I'll get to some pictures...
 
Here's the kegerator.
Justin.jpg
 
And here's the plan for the bar. This bar is called the "kegger bar" and is designed for the builder to install a "keg box", basically a refrigerator to house the keg with the tower coming out of the top and onto the bar top. Since I already have a kegerator, I scrapped the keg box idea and decided I would use that space for either a shelf for bottles, trash can, etc. and possibly a rack for stemware. I also have a mini-fridge that I use to hold bottles that will go into the bar.
Justin 002.jpg
 
I wanted to get an idea of where to put the kegerator and the height it would be at in relation to the work table and the bar top.
Justin 004.jpg
 
The work surface will sit flush with (or close to:cross:) the kegerator top. The kegerator is currently on 3" casters but I will remove those and put the feet on it once the bar's ready to use.
Justin 006.jpg
 
This is the foot-board and the front corner of the bar. I used 1/2" birch plywood for the trim and 3/4" birch for the work surface and bar top. Justin 009.jpg
 
And here's the bar top! This is where I'm at right now. I still need to remove the casters from the kegerator, finish the trim, cut the arm rails, stain, and put some clear coat on the bar top. I'm thinking of putting the mini-fridge to the right of the kegerator and the shelves/stemware rack to the left. I'm also going to rotate the entire bar so that when you're sitting at it you'll be facing the wall on the right. I plan on mounting my 46" flat-screen on that wall.
Justin 010.jpg
 
Awesome. I'm super jealous of you guys who can build stuff like this. These kind of posts make me want to cut wood.
 
Thirstin4aburstin said:
Nope, hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Any suggestions?

Depends on the situation, I have friends that are sloppy drunks so I would go with a high end varnish. The positive it us nearly bullet proof. The negative is hard to work with, slow dry times and will fume up your house pretty good. Now if you have civilized friends any water based finish will suffice. I prefer Minwax poly acrylic, brush on 2 coats and rattle can your last coat. Start to finish in a couple hours can set things on there later in the day it dries so quick. Very little odor also. Good luck. ;)
 
punkrockdave said:
Depends on the situation, I have friends that are sloppy drunks so I would go with a high end varnish. The positive it us nearly bullet proof. The negative is hard to work with, slow dry times and will fume up your house pretty good. Now if you have civilized friends any water based finish will suffice. I prefer Minwax poly acrylic, brush on 2 coats and rattle can your last coat. Start to finish in a couple hours can set things on there later in the day it dries so quick. Very little odor also. Good luck. ;)

Thanks for the info! I'll probably end up using the water-based since my friends and I arent too sloppy. How about the bar top? I was thinking of using envirotex or something similar.
 
Sorry it's been so long since the last update...been busy!
Here are some shots of the bar now that it's all put together. All that's left to do is sand, stain, and seal!

Justin 001.jpg
Justin 005.jpg
Justin 007.jpg
 
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