Ash Bar

This is a bar I made in 2006 for a friend. It is 8' x 5'. The main panels are raised panels. The cabinets were finished with natural stain and polyurethane clear coat. The bar top is glued strips and finished with marine varnish. There is a garage door on the top cabinet. We hid the plumbing for the wet bar in the top cabinet. I was able to do all of the wiring and plumbing.

THe bar itself was made in panels and dry fit in the shop. There was no way to get the assembled cabinet in his basement, so I put the bar together in his basement. The long side is 8' and just fit down the stairs. I put down a plastic tarp and glued and screwed the cabinet together. It was a challenge not to ruin anything that is already finished.

Pretty impressive bar and ingenious assembly.

Nice job! Some folks don't like ash because of the grain and color variations that can occur. But, personally, I think it has a lot of character. You achieved a good look, and the installation on everything looks great - particularly the mitered cut on the top!

Rich

NICE job! I love the interesting grain colors of ash but have never worked a lot of it. What I really would like is to have caught that walleye on the wall :D

Bruce

Excellent job on this Rich. You did an outstanding job with that ash grain as it is sometimes difficult to do with ash. I helped someone just yesterday go through and pick ash for a crib-latter adapt to bed. No an easy task and again.. that grain work orientation is excellent.

Thank you all for the compliments. I tried to keep the dark grain for the raised panels and then the bottom rails. Then, I let it run from there.

The most challenging thing about this job was the countertop. I didnt charge much just so that I could gain the experience and it is for a friend. It took me almost as long to make the countertop as it did to make the rest of the bar.

The miter cut proved to be the most challenging part. I spent a lot of time (a couple of hours at least) on the set up and only a couple of minutes making the cut. I did not glue the final pieces to either length in case I had to recut the miter.

Ash is so nice to work with.

My friend's wife works at Timber Products, where I buy my rought cut. She got it for cost as an employee. It is a good company to deal with - I just hope they make it through these hard times.