Tobacco wood and pipe bar build

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dragonlor20

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Hey guys, been working on this for quite some time, but it is far enough along now that it might make for an interesting diy read:

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That's how it started. Wood pile. But after some framing:

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Side 1 done! Now moving on to the other half of the "L".

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Presto! I sized the holes for the appliances to fit in there - the bar will have a kegerator on the right and a magic chef chest freezer on the left. I left a bit of breathing room in there. But now we need a top:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445531740.724456.jpg

After this shot, I spent months debating how I wanted to do the bar top and paneling. I went back and forth on a bunch of options and finally made a trip to the reclaimed wood place and found an absolute gem.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445531856.096162.jpg

This is tongue and groove flooring ripped out of an old tobacco smoking room. It had been there long enough that the smoke has seeped into the wood, causing some really unique effects when you finish the wood. I could not believe I found this stuff and I got it on super sale. For the paneling I went with pallet wood.

First step was to create the bar rails:

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Next I went ahead and got the paneling done:

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Then I started ripping boards off of the tongue and groove to start building the bartop.

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There was then a huge debate about how to work the corner, ultimately I am REALLY happy with how it turned out, it matches the rustic theme nicely.

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Finally, I finished off the rails and bartop build:

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And then I started my favorite part - finishing. The problem was, I knew the tobacco stained and worn parts of the wood were not thick so I couldn't do a lot of sanding and had to leave the wood pretty rough. This will be ok because it will leave a ton of character and will get smoothed out with the epoxy top. But I wanted the rich color, so I used watsons dark walnut Danish oil. I was really happy with the results.

See next post...
 
That's a really unique flooring to find, for sure. Looks solid man, nice job.
Definitely agree with your decision on how to meet in the corner.
 
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That was the first coat. After I cleaned up the edges and holes and gave a second and third coat, the color gets really nice and rich.

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You can see I also finished up the interior paneling where the shelves will go.

With the color about where I wanted it, I had some extra wood and thought it would be cool to make some tap handles out of the rest of the tobacco wood:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445532801.153965.jpg

You can see what character a little Danish oil brought out:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445532880.245236.jpg

And the pipe will be my tap. It will bridge the two coolers with three taps coming from each. I bought shanks just long enough to fit:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445532938.321630.jpg

Luckily my wife works in the plumbing industry, so it's kind of whatever exists we can get.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445533010.391291.jpg

But that's where we stand right now, waiting on epoxy arriving today, some extra pipe pieces coming today, and then I will bore some holes for the taps, set the epoxy, install the tap tower, and start pouring. I hear pier one is having a sale in November for the bar stools....
 
Smoking room or curing room?

If the former, do the boards reek? I suppose it's nothing a coat of sealer or clear coat can't subdue but, I am still curious.
 
No smell from the boards. They were left to the elements for quite a while before I got them. And it was a smoking room as far as I know.
 
Made some more progress.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446160911.326490.jpg

This is how I am going to keep the tower cold. You can see the copper that will run through the tower. I used thin walled vinyl tubing to get the water there.

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It will return into a bucket that will sit in my chest freezer. The same freezer will house kegs 4-6.

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And I finally bit the bullet and cut the holes in the top for the tower.
 
looks great man! The reclaimed wood is a very unique touch that will last forever. I'm looking forward to seeing it all finished!
 
Thanks! And here are a couple of pictures with the top coat of epoxy poured:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446773161.908669.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446773181.363119.jpg

There are about 4 spots where I just won't be able to have a level surface because of the shape of the wood and what I was trying to preserve with the surface of the wood. I'm ok with that - I almost didn't pour the epoxy because I loved the worn wood as it was. Unfortunately, spills happen on a bar and old wood rots, so we have epoxy.
 
Thanks!! We (my wife and I) are really excited about it. And I am most excited that when I went downstairs to check on it this morning, the epoxy had cured properly without sticky spots or any of the horror stories I had heard online:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446825945.356861.jpg
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The light and reflections throw off the photos and make it look cloudy, but in person it is crystal clear and really shows off some of the defects of the wood from the tobacco smoking over time.

It takes 72 hours to fully cure - so I will give that long before I install the taps so that I don't dent the epoxy when I install the floor flanges. I can use that time to repair drip marks on the sides, finish the other few tap handles, make a chalkboard for the wall, order the chest freezer, and generally clean up the bar area.

And my father in law found this antique bottle capper somewhere for decor:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446826326.059337.jpg
 
And here you go with taps installed:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447046571.393549.jpg
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Ran the cooling system with some ice water, working nicely, should keep the lines nice and cold. Also good to know I can throw ice in the bucket if I ever want super cold taps. Don't seem to be any kinks or anything to keep things from running as planned.

I also put some loctite on the tap threads to keep those level in relation to one another.

And I managed to get epoxy in the forward/reverse switch of my drill. So now I can only change direction with a hammer. But hey, at this point, I will just hook up a tap and have a beer.
 
Looks amazing. Well built. One question though, or at least something to keep in mind. I tend to get some humidity problems in my fermentation chamber just having a blowoff bucket in there. I also get it in my keezer where some icing or puddles (my basement is a bit humid in the summer) occur from swapping lines, etc even with an evadry unit. Heck I got some mold growth in my fermentation chamber because I have forgotten and left the blowoff bucket in there. How are you handling humidity problems from your tap tower cooling bucket? Is it a closed system for the bucket? How are you keeping that water from growing into a science experiment that steals all of your beer?
 
You know what, that's a great point. I picked up a dehumidifier recently and I will probably make the keezer the home for that. I wouldn't have thought about that though. The temp will sit at about 38 versus a fermentation chamber, so hopefully that will slow that process down a bit as well.
 
Looks great, love the rustic look. What kind of pump are you using for coolant? Any thoughts about glycol?
 
The tower cooler works pretty darn well. The temperature of the surrounding air is a factor - obviously it works better the colder the room is. Ideally you would use a separate freezer and use glycol as water has to be kept well above 32, but I don't waste many pours and I love talking about how it works with anyone that will listen. If you are looking at something similar then this is a really nice option.

The pump is a pond pump. Nothing special. You can buy one on Amazon or at Home Depot. I have thoughts about glycol - mainly my thoughts are that if you can separate your coolant reservoir from your beer then glycol is perfect, use it - why not when you can introduce a 0degree element to your tower??!? However, if you don't have the space or equipment to get to freezing, don't bother.
 
I am looking to do something similar with black pipe, what tee are you using? Is it 2 inch pipe with a 1 inch fitting? What size are the shanks? 2 1/8 is the shortest stainless ones I can find
 
Yes the pipe is 2x1. It is a lot easier than cutting 2" or 3" pipe has I have seen others doing. They are really squat shanks - should be these:

Draft Warehouse 1-3/4-Inch Long Beer Nipple Shank, Chrome Plated with Stainless Steel Flange, 3/6-Inch Bore https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00829HNWE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Anything else and you will have to buy the 90 degree shank. It is really tight (but workable). Oh yeah, and you just get rid of the collar on the shanks, you don't need it.
 
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