Huzzah, I’m finally at the early build stages! As you can see by the picture to the right, the top and bottom frames of the bar have been put together and mounted on the front panels (in this picture, the bar is laying on its eventual front). Does it look like a bar yet? Not likely. I have a few concerns at this stage already. On the left, you see the wide bottom frame. A piece of 1/4 oak plywood goes on top of that frame to form the base of the liquor cabinet portion. I’m worried that the weight of bottles will be too much for the 1/4 wood. I think I’ll upgrade the base with an extra 2×4 stud piece that I’ve got left over. I should have attached it before the frame was attached, but such is life. My second concern is the side frame. There are no 2×4’s for support on the frame. Instead, the bar will rely on the 3/4″ oak plywood sides (not seen here yet) to bear the weight. I would have thought that building a full 2×4 frame would be more solid. I’m not going to bother changing anything on that though, since I’m sure the designer has had plenty of successful builds to his credit.
The open section between the frames is where the fridge will slide in. The plans call for additional framing here, but my fridge is too big for that. As the design stands, the fridge will just fit in the final hole left in the bar. Should look pretty slick when finished. If you’d like to check out more pictures, we’ve added several more to the bar pics section of our photo site. For a day, I even had a clear workshop! Then I decided to paint the underside of all the counter-tops with black paint, to make the final product look sharper. Of course, I’ll also still have to make the sink cutouts, and install the formica on the counters, which could be tricky. All in all though, I’d say I’m on track to have the bar completed for Easter weekend! I’ll be hiding eggs in the bar for sure! Mmmm… Rum eggs! Don’t be mad if it’s not quite done though. The tricky bits might require additional research.
