My Tiki Bar Christmas Gift

Hi there. I'm new to the board and love reading about all things tiki. I built my brother in law a tiki bar for Christmas. He really liked it. Here's a few pics(I hope they come through!)





I can't wait to build another one for myself. Did anyone else give tiki gifts for Christmas this year?

Well I got the pictures in there, but they sure are small. How do I enlarge them? Thanks for any help.

Welcome Jim,
That bar looks really good. Congratulations. Make yourself another, have a drink, and have fun in Tikicentral.

Jim -- go to Help/FAQ and it explains how to get photos in here. Kind of finicky, but one gets used to it. There's also a "test message" area to play around in until you get the hang of it.

I went to the test area and practiced enlarging the pics( thanks Satan)...so here goes...


The bartop I got at a tent sale for 25 bucks..

Heres the plywood surfboard/martini glass rack shelf up above the bar...

Me...
Thanks to my wife for the extra hands when I needed them!

Looks awsome! You must really like your brother in law...

[ Edited by: Tiki Matt on 2005-01-04 13:00 ]

Excellent work -- if it were mine, I'd start looking for a tiki mask of some sort to put on the front!

Terrific bar,Jim! You've certainly come to the right place to have people oooh and aaahh over your bar-beautiful job!

Very nice! I love the "Surfboard" glasss rack in the rafters! Great idea.
Aloha,
:tiki:

Super looking bar. All that it needs is Rum and coconuts.
HappyHappyHappy

FANTASTIC BAR JIM!
I might have to 'borrow' that surfboard glass rack idea! If I use it, I'll be sure to give you the credit.

That tabletop looks great! Gettin thirsty over here!

SJN

Jim your bar is great. Are you just really handy or have you built a few of these before. Don't tell me this was your first (Even if it is just tell me otherwise) Also how long did it take you.

Welcome to Tiki Central

Thanks to all for the kind words.
Tikilee, sorry to say that yes, this was my first one. It took me about 4 good weekends to build, I was just wingin' it and only had pics from this site and the internet to pattern it after. Plus many trips to Homedepot or Orchards for small stuff, plywood, drill bits, lag bolts, etc. that would pop up as I went along. I'm lucky enough to be close enough to Oceanic Arts and Bensons Imports for the bamboo, thatch, and matting.
I ended up joining the bamboo with "L" brackets as I just didn't have the time or enough tools to join them with holes and glue. I got a "lot" of 100 brackets with screws on Ebay and used almost every one! I really over bracketed that thing but I figured better safe than sorry, and it turned out the bamboo framework was really solid when done. I covered all the joints with burlap wrap from the craft store and anchored it with a hot glue gun. Then I completely soaked each wrapped joint with marine varnish till they were dripping. It took 3 days for them to dry out, but when they did they were rock hard. I'm hoping they hold up ok in the weather, so we'll see. I tried initially to wrap the joints with sisal rope...no way!....and I was in the Navy! There must be a secret to the rope wrap and I ain't got it! My pics show the burlap looking like two different colors, that because i used two different brands of varnish on them, a mistake for sure, but I ran out of time before Christmas.
I figure all told about $250 dollars for all the materials. Now that I got that one under my belt and learned what to do and not to do, I'm sure the next one will go quicker.
I say give it a go, I'm in no way a craftsman or wood worker so if i can, you can too! When I started, my wife thought I was nuts. But as the project progressed, she started getting into it as it began taking shape. P.S. noteworthy is giving up the one side of my garage that i can park a car in for one whole month. Thanks, wifey, for understanding!