The Whisk(e)y Bar Shelf

Capturing the visual notes

What is it?

This bar shelf, while seemingly simple, had a lot of pieces and parts. It is all Red & White Oak and Cherry. It is now setup in its new home at the Oak Note Theater whiskey bar.

The wood was selected to fit a “whisk(e)y” theme. The Oak represents the oak of whiskey barrels. We used a vinegar ebonizing technique to recreate the toasted look of the inside of whiskey barrels…without the mess. Cherry was selected for the shelves and inlays to capture the rich brown/red color of whiskey.

For the wine rack, we went with the grid style to increase efficiency of space use. We are able to fit twice the number of bottles over the crosshatch technique (18 vs 9). The drink holder on the right will give a nice place to store cans and bottles for mixers and can hold 45 cans or 30 bottles.

What did we learn?

A lot of learnings on this project. Finished with Rubio Monocoat, it took two coats to really bring out the beauty of the cherry.

The inlays on the legs, while achieving the look we wanted, reminds us to check the depth of the dados at the saw table. We had a couple of high spots that needed correction during the build.

Ebonizing of wood does not bleed into adjoining wood once dried. Ebonizing is a reaction with the tannins in the wood and the vinegar / metal solution. Some woods turn black (like Oaks), whereas others brown (like Hackberry and Ash). We were concerned that it would bleed into the Cherry as Cherry also turns almost black in the ebonizing process.

We also practiced different types of joinery on this project. We used mortise & tenon to join the legs and outer shelf supports, and custom dowels for the cross-supports.

In Closing…

We are so thankful to the Heavenly Father for the inspiration and resources to bring this project to life. It took quite some time to build, and a lot of patience, but we’re happy with the results!