Post #205388 by JimTandem on Mon, Jan 2, 2006 7:30 PM

What do you do with a huge old wooden shipping crate? You turn it into a tiki bar housewarming gift for your bro-in-law of course.

This is the crate on my back patio. It's 8.5ft long, 3ft deep and a perfect 42 inches high. It's 1 inch tongue-n-groove construction and its mounted on an extra wide beefy shipping pallet, so the bottom is lifted off the ground by 5 inches. The curious guy on top of the crate is my 17 yr old bar building helper "Fuzzbutt":

The crate in my garage. I've gone over it with a palm sander to smooth out any rough areas. I've taken off the backside panel and the sides are double thick:

This is the plywood that will be the tabletop. This was the biggest challenge of the project. The original tongue-n-groove top had warped boards and would be too hard to smooth out, and it would then have grooves that would need to be covered with a big piece of glass for a solid surface - not an option. I wanted a 3 inch overhang on the sides, and an 11 inch overhang along the bar front so people could eat there also. I had to go with a mammoth 4 x 10 sheet of 3/4 inch ACX plywood. The X means that the plywood glue is waterproof and will not delaminate in the weather. Here's the bottom side with a coat of tinted green primer:

These 2 pieces of plywood will make up the interior walls and will separate the box into 3 chambers and support the tabletop. All the wood inside and out will have a good coat of primer and semi-gloss latex paint to protect it from the weather:

The box and top with paint:

My first mistake. I had the 4 main bamboo poles cut 4 inches too small when I got them from Bensons Imports. I wanted 7 ft to the canopy base, so they were cut at 6ft 8inches to account for the bottom pallet. I forgot that the bartender will actually be stepping up into the middle of this bar, and you want plenty of head clearance. So I added these 4 inch wood blocks that I bracketed to the floor:

All the brackets will be double nutted to prevent loosening:

I recessed the outer bolt heads so that the future matting will lay flat:

I have to add this. Please use the proper safety stuff when cutting and drilling. I have safety glasses too. Be safe:

Heres the bartop installed with my cutouts for the bartender and main poles:

The backside view with inner walls:

I attached the bartop to the base with these smaller brackets. I used 22 on the inside and 10 on the outside. I also had to have good support for the 11 inch overhang. I was able to use these 2 large L brackets that will be covered with split bamboo later:

This is the canopy base bolted up. I used 1/4 inch hex bolts:

I used 2 inch L brackets to make the A frames:

The finished canopy:

The canopy with thatch on. I got a large bag of white zip ties and used a lot. I got the thatch from Oceanic Arts because on thier 4 x 3 ft pieces they give you an extra 6 inches on the bottom for free. It's nice to have extra and trim it, then the other way around:

This is the trim I found at Lowe's that will edge the bartop. It's called "Greek Alphabet" but it looks tiki to me:

I installed the trim with wood glue but added some trim nails for added security:

I feel a personal touch for the future bar owner makes it that much more special to them. For this bar, my bro-in-law has a boat and loves boating, so I decided to make him a ships wheel glass rack to go up in the canopy. I used an old table top that I cut in half. I downloaded a ships wheel pic off the internet and laid out the basic design, then cut out the wheel:

After sanding and staining golden oak:

I painted his families names on the wheel with red and metallic gold paint pens. I gave them all pirate/nautical rates. I had to cut one spoke off to offset the future glass rack to the bartenders right. Here's the wheel bolted up but not spar varnished yet:

This is my favorite:

The bar with lauhala matting and split bamboo trim added. The top has been stained golden oak and has 3 coats of marine spar varnish, lightly sanded with 220 grit between coats:

I added a shelf under the left side but forgot a pic, and I left the middle and right sides for my bro to add shelves or coolers or whatever he wants.

The finished bar delivered to my bro's house in Corona, Ca. just in time for his New Years Eve party:

You can see the glass rack here. We draped some fishnet and tiki lights above the wheel in the canopy:

Add some red rope light under the bartop and its party time: