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A local client came to me asking if I could spray some wooden ("some assembly required") wine storage cubes he had purchased online.  I said "Sure, bring them by the shop".  Well, when I opened the first box and saw the condition of the wood, I knew there were going to be problems.  I removed the wood for the first wine cube from the box and tried to clamp it together to see what we were dealing with.  Well, the wood was so warped and cupped that I couldn't even bring together the corner joints.  And then we discovered that the wood for the center dividers wasn't cut correctly,  They were too short.  I couldn't spray them if I couldn't even assemble them!

 

 

The client had purchased these wine cubes with the intention of using them as a backdrop to tables that were going to serve as the bar at his daughters upcoming wedding.   The country club where the wedding was going to be didn't have actual bars in the area they planned to use for the wedding, so this was the proposed solution.  But using the cubes he purchased online was not an option, so I spent some time getting a better understanding of what he had in mind.  There was going to be a pair of these 'mock bars', one inside and another exact duplicate on the other side of a large window behind the inside bar. We discussed building eight wine cubes, and then decided that I'd build a pair of actual bars for the cubes to sit on.  This is what I offered to build for him:

 

My client approved the design so I started the build.  The fact that the bars had to be in place at the country club in less than two weeks added a slight bit of pressure...

 

Since the actual bars were going to be completely covered in fabric, and most likely not used again, it was decided that they'd be made using 2 x 4's and plywood.

 

With the bars addressed, it was time to move on to the wine cubes.  Since the entire project was going to be shot with black lacquer, the wine cubes were constructed of plywood that was edge-banded with oak veneer.  The corners were rabbeted then glued and nailed to make sure they held up to the potential weight of the wine bottles.

 

 

 

The client was supplying the glass that was going to create shelves between the stacked cubes.  When this glass was delivered to the shop, it was instantly apparent that it was too lightweight to support anything.  In fact, it sagged a little under its own weight spanning the four foot gap!

 

The solution for this was to build small boxes to act as supports in the center of each shelf. The large opening in the center box was going to contain a little added surprise for the client. 

 

 

With the bars and cubes done, it was time to start spraying.  The only actual construction left was to build a topper for both bars with a crown molding face, and wooden cleats to hold the glass shelves.

 

Once everything was sprayed with black and a few coats of top-coat, it was time to assemble the bars to see how they looked.

 

  

All that was left was to install and wire up some low-voltage LED lights and a dimmer for each bar.

 

  

Here are shots of the bars installed at the country club.  They were a big hit with everyone...even the wait staff that usually has just tables to work and serve from at events.

 

The INSIDE bar

The OUTSIDE bar