How To Build a Bar

Remove the bark on the slab

Purchase a flattened live edge slab roughly 1-1/2-inches thick or buy a thicker slab and flatten it yourself with a planner, wide belt sander, or router gantry.

Remove all the bark along the natural edge of your live edge bar top (A). You may find some of the bark is loose, and some of it may be harder to pull off. To remove the bark, use a chisel and enter along the edge of the cadmium layer, which is the innermost part of the bark but not the actual wood. Hammer at the chisel to pry away the bark. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect at this point. You will come back and clean it up with a wire wheel and sanding pad later.

• Tip: Avoid cutting bark with your circular saw. It often has dirt and small pebbles embedded in it that will dull or chip the blades when cutting it.

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Cut the live edge to size

Plan out the bar top dimensions first, as they determine the measurements for the rest of the build.

When determining the layout, look closely at the curve of the natural edge you plan to use. Use a large drywall “T” square and whatever other squares and straightedges you need to help you mark the sides to be cut. The natural edge will be the front of the bar top, and the back will be a straight edge. If your slab is already the approximate width, using the slab with a natural edge on both sides is okay.

Line out the desired dimensions for the bar top; for me, I went with 18-ish inches wide and 64-inches long. That would give me the six-ish-inch overhang on the front of the bar that I wanted. The sides must be perpendicular to the back line, allowing the natural edge’s front to hold the desired measurement and creating 90-degree angles at the back two corners.

Cut the slab to the desired dimensions of the bar top (A) using a track saw. First, make crosscuts for the sides. Before you cut the back line, make sure you have a perfect 90-degree angle along the back edge and on either side. The base of the bar is a square, and it will be visibly obvious if the back and sides are misaligned.

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Clean up the slab

Once the bulk of the bark has been removed on the bar top (A), use a wire wheel and a 150-, and 220-grit sanding disc on an angle grinder to remove any excess layers and clean up the natural edge. Then sand the bar top and edges with a random orbit sander and 150-, and 220-grit sandpaper until the entire bar top (A) feels and looks uniform.

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Cut and dado the wine rack pieces

In addition to the live-edge bar top (A), the other part of the bar build that will hold a fixed measurement is the wine rack because we are building it around a standard four-inch opening for the bottle compartments.

Use a table saw and miter saw to cut the wine rack shelf (B), dividers (C), and top/bottom (E) out of the aspen 1x12s. You’ll need to edge-glue and biscuit some pieces to cut the sides (D) from.

Using a router equipped with a guide and a 3/4-in. straight cut bit, rout a 1/4-inch deep dado centered down the middle of both sides of the shelves (B) and one side of the top and bottom (E).

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Assemble the wine rack

Nail the shelf dividers (C) into the dados in the shelves (B) using an 18ga. brad nailer and 1-1/2-in. brads with wood glue. You’ll only be able to nail straight through the dado into the divider (C) on one side of the shelf (B). You’ll have to toenail through the divider’s (C) front edge on the other.

When the grid of dividers and shelves has been assembled, join them with the sides (D) and the wine rack’s top and bottom (E) with wood glue and brad nails. Use a speed square to ensure all the wine rack cubbies stay square as you nail.

Sand and stain the assembled wine rack and its unattached back (F). Apply the stain with a brush and wipe it back with a cotton painter’s rag. Set aside to dry before installing the back.

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Build the cabinet boxes

Cut the plywood cabinet’s inside sides (H), angled sides (G), and top and bottom (J)out of plywood using the table saw and miter saw. Use wood glue and 1-1/2-in. brad nails and screws to assemble the boxes so that the outer sides mirror each other with the angles both facing the same direction. Use clamps and clamping squares to ensure the cabinet boxes are square.

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Frame the kick

Out of the 2×4 material, cut the long kickplate frame pieces (K) and the short (L) to construct the kickplate box. The center of the center kickplate frame pieces (L) needs to be placed to line up with the seams of your wine rack and side cabinets (see Fig. C above).

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Join the cabinets

Now it’s time to join the constructed wine rack, cabinet boxes, and kickplate and start to see this thing really come together. To do this:

• Place the completed kick plate framing on a workbench or set of saw horses.
• Place the completed cabinets and wine rack on top of the kick plate framing.
• Clamp the two outer cabinets and middle wine rack together so that their base and top and bottom edges are flush. Secure them together with countersunk 1-1/4-in. screws.
• When they have been adequately fastened using screws, remove the clamps and center the cabinet cluster on the kick plate framing so that it overhangs evenly by 1-3/4-inches all the way around except the back side of the shallower wine rack.
• Secure the centered cabinet cluster to the kickplate framing with countersunk 2 1/2-in. screws

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Prep for the slab and shiplap

To add stability to the angled cabinet sides and give us a place to attach the slab bar top (A), glue and screw the horizontal cross brace (P) flush to the top and front edge of the angled cabinet side. To prevent sagging of the cross brace, glue and pocket screw the two cross brace supports (Q) flush to the front edge and side of the cabinet tops (J).

For later mounting the live edge countertop to the bar base, pre-drill pocket holes along the top edge of the angled cabinet sides (G) and horizontal cross brace (P). Ensure that there is at least 1-1/4-inches of wood left at the top of the pocket hole to seed the screw top in without it splitting or breaking through.

This is also a good time to scab in the foot rail support (R). The foot rail support (R) is cut out of 2×4 material and screwed into the cabinet inside sides (H) between the two front and bottom edges of the cabinets. This will give you something sturdy to install the foot rail center bracket to later.

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Install shiplap on the bar

Wrap the cabinet in pre-painted shiplap. I chose to use primed pine shiplap because the inside of the boards are beaded, which would be a nice visual accent on the backside of the finished bar.

Cut and nail the shiplap piece by piece using one-inch brad nails. Start at the bottom, 3/4-inch lower than the bottom edge of the cabinets and work your way up, mitering both ends. Then, move on to wrapping the angled sides in the shiplap, mitering the joint where it meets the shiplap along the front and cutting it flush to the back edge.

Stop when you are two courses from the top to install the bar top.

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Install the lower countertop

The lower countertop (S) was constructed out of two edge-glued 1x12s with a biscuit joint that was then cut to width and length. Slide it into place and mark where the cross brace support (Q) notches will be along the back edge. Remove it and cut them out with a jigsaw before attaching the countertop (S) to the top of the cabinets (J) and wine rack (E) with wood glue and 1-1/4-in. brad nails from underneath.

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Install the bar top

Position the live edge bar top (A) by leaving a six-inch overhang on the front of the bar and a roughly 1-3/4-in. overhang on either side. Use 2-1/2-in. pocket hole screws to secure into place through pocket holes along the top edge of the angled sides (G) and horizontal cross brace (P). Once the slab is secured via pocket screws, install the two bar top supports (T) under the live edge bar top using 18ga. 1-1/2-in. brad nails. Nail them through the shiplap and toenail them into the lower countertop (S) and underside of the bar top (A) so they are evenly spaced (18-7/8-inches apart).

After the bar top (A) has been installed, nail the last couple of rows of shiplap in place to hide the pocket screws, knowing that you will have to rip the final row on the table saw to make it fit.

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Trim out the bar

Cover all plywood edges and seams with glued and brad-nailed solid wood trim pieces. Because the thicknesses of plywood and shiplap can differ between style and manufacturer, these dimensions will be unique to each project.

Use painted 1×2’s to trim out the cabinet top and bottom, sides, and angles. Ensure to cut the 31.5-degree angle on the top and bottom of the angle trim pieces. When that is done, trim the inside sides of each cabinet with a 3/4-inch x 3/4-inch piece of painted trim.

Then, install the stained 3/4-in. x 3/4-in. trim pieces on the sides and middle of the wine rack and the short shelf trim pieces between them. Finally, install the long (M) and short (N) kickplate trim pieces that wrap around the kick plate’s front/back and sides.

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Build and install the shelves

• Install the metal glass holders centered on the underside of the cabinet top (J) of the right-side compartment.
• Using wood glue and 1-1/2-in. brad nails, secure the shelf face trim (U) to the front edge of the plywood shelves (V) so that its one-inch side is facing forward and the top edge and the top of the shelf are flush.
• Glue and nail the shelf ledgers (W) on the inside of the angled side (G) and inside side (H) of the cabinets so that the bottom of the ledger is 12-1/8-in. from the bottom of the cabinet. The ledgers are level from front to back.
• Glue and nail the ledger face (X) that spans the shelf ledgers (W) so that it’s flush with the top and bottom edges of the attached ledgers.
• Place the shelves (V) on top of the ledgers (W) so the lip of the shelf face (U) overlaps the ledger face (X) and the shelf is flush with the back wall of the cabinets. Nail through the top of the shelves (V) into the ledgers (W) to secure it.

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Fill, sand, touch up, and seal

Fill all visible nails and screw holes with wood filler. Allow it to dry, then sand the filler back and touch up paint areas with paint and even out the stained areas. Allow the touched-up paint/stain to dry.

Use a brush to apply two coats of satin polyurethane to all stained wood components and the sanded bar top (A). Allow the coats to dry, and sand back the raised wood grain with 320-grit sandpaper between coats.

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Install the footrail

We ordered all of the foot rail components from Kegworks.com. Install the support brackets for the foot rail on the front of the bar, flush with the bottom edge of the shiplap. Pre-drill pilot holes and screw the top, outer holes in the outer support brackets through the shiplap and into the edges of the buried plywood angled sides (G) using 2-1/2-in. screws. The lower two screws on each bracket lined up on the 3/4-in. shiplap overhang, so I scabbed in a chunk of 1x material in those locations and screwed through that into the kickplate. The top inside screws on the end brackets were the only places where I couldn’t hit anything solid, so a short 1/2-in. screw was installed in these two locations strictly for looks.

The center support was easily installed into the 2×4 foot rail support (R) you secured between the cabinets.

Make sure the supports are aligned and level. Cut the foot rail to the desired length with a hacksaw, install the endcaps and feed it through the supports after they are installed. Finally, install the set screws to hold the foot rail in place.

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FAQ

What is the standard bar height?

The standard bar height for a home bar is 42-inches, but that measurement can change based on your height and what you feel comfortable with.  The decision will also be contingent on the height of the bar stools chosen. Bar stools are most often found in 29- to 30-inches high.