Completing the Somers' Oak Bar

Hi everyone.

As promised in the last post I have an update on the bar install.
We moved the main portions of the bar to the Somers' house last week and assembled them.
Yesterday we took the completed arm rails over along with a few trim pieces to finish up the install.

Ready for the big finish.

View of the support system for the bar rail.

No bar is complete until you slip on the arm rail. Man she's a beauty.

A little final smoothing with a custom shaped scraper card. Best mitered corners I have ever executed.

Saturday Night is date night so Shannon and I donned the Nitrile gloves broke out the stain and got busy with the wood. Does anyone have some Barry White.

Staining complete and bar slipped into place. An oil/varnish top coat will go on later to seal the deal.

Fridges will go underneath with small cupboard on the end. Doors are coming along with the liquor cabinet that will soon be on the back wall. I'll show you those on the next post.

Working with Bob and Lynn Somers on this project has been awesome. Bob showed me where he wanted the bar and what he wanted parked under it and left the rest up to me.
The bar is not very big but the large panels on the front give it command of that area of the rec room.
The ray flecks from quarter sawing some of the panel trims really payed off creating some visual interest.

Oh yeah, the bar rail is just the right height and shape. Sweet dreams. And again thanks to Lynn and Bob for their hospitality. Cheers everyone.

Thanks for reading.
Ken

Somer's Oak Bar Project

  I love bars. Not the kind on jail cell windows but the kind you sit or stand at and guzzle some ale with your mates.

 Being a woodworker I marvel at all the framing around the panels. The custom molded trims. The layers of vertical and horizontal boards and how they build upon each other to give it depth. Lets not forget the arm rail that runs the length of the bar with it's ample sweeping asymmetric cove to cradle your forearms.

  I am somewhat of an expert considering that I have spent plenty of time drinking in front of them. Trust me my friends, a well crafted arm rail cradling your arms makes a nice place to put your head down for a little nap.

   I am lucky enough to have someone who has been waiting for a woodworker to build a bar to fit into his rec room. A nice bar to compliment his lovely oak billiard table.

   Taking a cue from the billiard table (pun intended) for the bar's design it was natural to go with oak. The billiard table is somewhat contemporary but has a nice style with lots of visual weight.

  The bar will have the customary frame and panel fronts. The panels will be trimmed with custom made moldings to accentuate the paneled fields. Layers of solid oak boards will be built up at the corners and along the base to add some depth.
There won't be any fancy carved corbels under the bar top as we are sighting along with the billiard tables lines.

  I did want to add some visual interest to the broad grain patterns in the oak as it can become overwhelming (read boring). I carefully selected and cut boards to present the medullary rays and flecking that are present in quarter sawn wood. My planks aren't quarter sawn but paying special attention to the annual rings on the ends of the boards I cut and re-sawed the boards so the faces I wanted would be at a right angle to the rings. This doesn't create a true quarter saw but it has the same effect.

This is how she looks today, just starting on the top. All the trims are done.

  For the bar top I do have a couple of true quarter sawn boards with straight running grain but I haven't made the final decision for that yet.

  It will of course have the arm rail hand crafted in my shop to finish it off and give me a place to lean and enjoy a cold one with the bars owner once it is all done.

Should have an update on the top soon probably be accompanied by the installation in the rec room.

Thanks for reading.
Ken

Salvaged Headboard, New Drawers, Nice Bed

   Ryan asked me if I could make some wood side rails and attach them to some iron bed frames he had salvaged. I knew something could be done but there were doubts as to how effectively the rails could be mounted on the head and foot boards. The other option most likely to succeed was a platform with the head and foot board fastened to the ends. I can't remember who suggested it but we agreed on it. How about we add some drawers under that. Sounds good. If in the end the head and foot boards don't look right they can go without them anyway.

   For the visible parts of the frame I decided on oak. The showy grain of oak should go well with the green iron head and foot board. For the rest of the structure plywood should save on weight and time. The platform will be built in two halves so it can be easily moved. The added bonus of this setup is that the box spring will be properly supported down the edges and centre. Lack of support in the centre of the box spring ruins your mattress in a short time.

   I put some stain samples on oak and set them next to the bed frames so Tiffany could choose the colour. She went with the English Chestnut. Good choice in my opinion.The interior of the drawers will be finished with shellac. The shellac finish will not give off a volatile odour that soaks into your clothes. For a better look just click on the pictures.

Just beginning to assemble one of two frames.

One half assembled. The panels in the end were resawn from the same board and will mirror each other once the two halves are brought together.

Two halves assembled and stained and drawers are almost finished as well.

Drawers go in on the full extension self closing slides. Drawers are quite wide so they are constructed from maple plywood. It saves time and cost in the build and they are nearly indestructible. The top edge of the drawers are finished off with oak strips. The strips are left in their natural colour. I think it makes a nice transition from the stained fronts to the light colour of the interior of the drawers.

The drawer fronts for each side will be resawn from the same board so I can mirror the grain lines on the drawer faces. You won't find this at Leon's, but if you like a 39" flat screen and want to throw down two grand on particle board and cardboard go see Leon's. Do you really need another flat screen anyway?

Drawers in, looking good.

Picked these Arts and Crafts style handles up at Lee Valley. I always loose track of time in that store.

Lee Valley is the Willie Wonka's of wood working. Sadly they don't employee Umpha Loompas. They do however employ friendly, knowledgeable staff.

Here it is assembled, minus the drawers at this point. They're just going to go with the head board.

   So there you have it. Custom made. You want your headboard on that bed, no problem.

You want a well constructed piece, you got it. You want premium hardware, it's in it. You want  durability and longevity, use superior materials. Need more drawer space in the future? Just add another set underneath, plywood on top and jettison the box spring.

How's the score now?
Ryan and Tiffany 5, Leon's 0.

Sleep tight everyone

Ken

Memorial Display Case

  A couple of weeks before Father's Day I received a message from Jocelyn. She asked if I could make a display case for a jacket which belonged to a friend of hers and her husband Nathan. The jackets owner had passed away last year and they received the coat and cherish it as a reminder of him. Jocelyn wanted the case for a Fathers Day surprise and hoped that I could get it done in time.

 I told her I could have it done in time. It was an awesome idea. I felt honored to make it. I asked her to spirit the coat over to my house so that I could begin work on the case right away.

   I wanted the case to convey a feeling of times passing but not so much as to distract from the coat it is harbouring. Think of an old wooden railing on a boardwalk, the weathered wood grain raised up and polished smooth by many hands. The case would feel old to the touch and the light should play well off the textured surface. Yes, that would do nicely.
 
  There is an ancient Japanese technique to accentuate the texture of the wood grain which they call Jin di sugi. To do this the wood was buried in earth for several years allowing it to decay. I didn't have that much time so I used a wire wheel on a grinder to remove the early wood and leave behind the late wood.

  A little explanation may be in order here. If you were to look at the annual rings in the end of a log one would see that there are wide rings and narrow rings. The large rings are early wood which grow during the spring into summer. The narrow rings, called late wood form in the late summer into winter. Late wood is much denser than the early wood and therefore the wire wheel will brush away the soft early wood leaving behind the raised texture.

  The case is built from oak with an ebony stain and a little shellac on top. The glazing in the door is acrylic as glass would be to fragile here. White felt finishes off the background area. Click on the picture for a better look.

  Jocelyn and her children presented the case to Nathan on the Saturday before Fathers Day in his office. One could tell he was deeply touched. We hung the cabinet on the wall so he can look at it often.

As always thanks for reading.
Ken