The I-Don't-Know-What-I'm-Doing Bar Build

[MrFoodScientist]

So I bought a house about a year ago and one of the selling points was that the family room in the basement had a weird setup which just sort of naturally separates the room into two. It didn't really make sense for a normal family room and the surround sound wiring was sideways from how I would have set it up.
So we took the plunge and split it in half by tiling the one half where I'll be building a bar.

Step 1, tile:

I picked a wood look tile from Lowe's because I had a 10% off coupon from moving and they had better selection than home Depot. This was my first time laying tile, so I picked up a book from the library and read it from cover to cover twice. In the process and from the book I learned a few things. #1 Yeah, libraries still exist apparently. #2 if you want it to be random like real hardwood flooring, start from one side and move to the other with one row, trim the excess and use that to start the next row going the other direction. Works great and doesn't look like a brick wall. #3 it's amazing how many people will post pictures of their great looking tile shower project where they put tile directly onto the drywall. Not a good plan. #4 tile isn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I tiled right on top of the concrete, hopefully it doesn't make it too cold in the winter time.

 

[bkboiler]

looks great!
not to call you out or anything, but you did read a book about tiling before you started. i was expecting to click the thread and see some carnage. i feel slightly misled...

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Step 2 actually worked out really well. We were searching for a bigger dining room table in the local classifieds because our family is just too freaking large and I can't afford a brand new one. Anyway, I found that you can get a table at a decent price but it's the table with a set of chairs that is killer.
So I found this guy that was selling chairs and matching bar stools for $25 each and as I was perusing the classifieds I found the same guy also selling restaurant booths for $75. There's a nook in the bar room that is just a touch too small (about 8" too​ small) for a standard restaurant booth, but I went ahead and jumped on it anyway. It took trimming an inch or two off the base, but I got it to fit nicely with the table that I picked up from a second hand store for another $25 that apparently came from a TGI Fridays that was renovating.

So the booth is in. Kids wanted to play games on it right away before I could replace the kick panel strip. I want to build some drawers into the bases to store​ games and stuff, but that's still a ways off.

Random story time:

The guy that was selling them was interesting. He told me they were from a closed down Macaroni Grill that he had bought downtown and was turning into something else. He had the chairs and booths in this smallish warehouse/large garage where he also had stored a couple of vintage Cadillacs, a newer Porsche, and what looked like a restored model T sedan. He had a lady on each arm when I showed up and he had a couple of big dudes doing the heavy lifting and manning the gate. Some of them had new York accents, but not all of them. I could tell by the way they talked that they weren't Utah natives at any rate. This was like 9 pm at night, so I don't think these guys were his employees per se, more like "family". Now, I speak Italian and I recognize Sicilian when I hear it, and while there wasn't any of it spoken, it wouldn't have seemed out of place here. There had to have been more going on than meets the eye.
I bought ten chairs and six bar stools along with the booth and I offered him about $25 less than what he was asking for the whole thing. Which was kind of scary for me given the vibes I was getting from this place. I didn't want to leave there with broken legs.
He asked me what I needed the booth fit and I told him I was building a wet bar.
"A wet bar?" He says, "I thought this was Utah and full of Mormons who don't drink? Are you Mormon?"
I said I was and before I could explain my soda making hobby, he continued "Oh, so you're a bad Mormon. I suppose I can give you a discount for that."
I decided to take the discount rather than clarify my church standing.

I still am cleaning some of the gum of the underside of some of these.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

looks great!
not to call you out or anything, but you did read a book about tiling before you started. i was expecting to click the thread and see some carnage. i feel slightly misled...

Thanks!
Definite carnage to come though, I guarantee it. The tile wasn't so bad because the tools needed were minimal:
A 5 gal bucket, a cement mixer drill bit, the corner piece spacers, a couple of trowels and a sponge. I rented a big tile saw for this one, but then bought a little saw for about the same price as a rental to tile all three bathrooms in the house.

I will probably eventually re tile the kitchen unless we decide to go with an engineered hard wood or something. The current tile that came with the kitchen flexes quite a bit.

It's the actual bar that is going to get messy. Probably because I'm too cheap to buy a table saw just yet, and my woodworking experience consists solely of 7th grade shop class, and no joke that class was entirely the whole class following the teacher around from machine to machine as he ran the pieces through for them. I made a 6" roll top box and a log slice clock. Took me 4 and a half months to do both.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

We bought the house mid Feb '16, painted every wall in the house (some of them twice due to some confusion on which colors were left by the previous owner), did tile in the basement for the bar, had new carpet installed everywhere, put down epoxy paint on the floor of the garage, replaced a light fixture here and there, installed new door knobs and added dead bolts to the exterior and garage doors, and were ready to move in at the end of April. (Because that's when our rental contract ended where we were living previously). It was nice to be able to work on the house before moving, but drained the budget pretty quick.
In the meantime, my sister in law was taking with my wife and the conversation went something like this:
Sissy in law: "we want to build a house and now it's a good time to sell, so we could live in your basement while we're building"
Wife: "uh.... Yeah, that would be fun."
And before we knew it, she and her anxiety plagued husband and their two hellions were squatting in our basement.
They paid rent in the form of a specialty shower kit for the almost too small corner of the basement bathroom which I installed despite the poorly translated instructions. With the overpriced shower (about 3 times what I would have paid for everything from a big box hardware store) and the price for a plumber to rough in the supply lines, bust out concrete and install a drain, it covered about 4 months worth of rent for them (and took me just about as long to install, partly because in memorial day as I was sawing through the ceiling to install a vent fan, my wife says, "we really need to do something about the lawn" which was torn up from the previous owners dog and busted sprinkler system. So I left my knife in the ceiling and went to attempt leveling the back yard which still needs some help to this day.) It's a pretty decent bathroom now, though, compared to the dungeon it was before.

But I digress. So pretty much I put the bar build on hold because the tiled portion became the default storage area while our squatters occupied the extra bedroom in the basement and the budget went toward making the house livable for two families. Plus, my brother in law was too paranoid to put his gargantuan TV into storage, which he was too anal about to let kids touch, but was adamant that we couldn't mount it on the wall, so it went on top of this giant dresser they used as a TV stand that took up half of the usable family room area. It made it feel like sitting front row at the IMAX. So not finishing the bar was kind of my way of making them feel as uncomfortable as possible during their stay. They stayed until their house was finished in September. If I could offer advice to anyone ever considering that arrangement. Don't. Just don't. Ever.

Fast forward to Christmas '16 when we had my wife's parents, brother, other sister with husband and their two kids and their niece and nephew from Switzerland plus my own family sleeping in our house for a week. We actually had a family dinner on Christmas Eve where we had a grand total of 25 people packed in my kitchen/living room. Nothing like a hoard of in-laws to make a 1900sqft house feel like a phone booth. For some reason with all the holiday meetings and gay happy meetings, my wife agreed to let me use some of our normal house hold budget to start in on the bar build once more.

$200 in wood later and I have no idea what I've gotten myself into. I wanted the bar stools to be interchangeable with the ones in the kitchen, so I planned on only going counter height. Making this more of a kitchenette than a full out bar, but that probably adds more resale value in Utah than a real bar anyway.

So one thought I had was to pick up a set of used cabinets and work that into a bar, but the more I search, the less appealing that sounds unless I have a couple Grand to spend on a really nice set from one of the houses up on the hill. I also don't want to frame this with 2x4s because it seems like that would be a lot of wasted space, which is getting to be at a premium in my house apparently. And no ladies are going to be dancing on this anyway (unless.... Hmmmm....).

So I planned to essentially build this as a cabinet with cabinet grade plywood. Now as I said, I don't have a table saw, so let the carnage begin. $35 circular saw, don't let me down!

And right off the bat, I can't cut a straight line.

Um, I guess I better go buy a square.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Some of my cuts are straighter than others.

Especially after buying a speed square. That helps a lot.

 

[b-boy]

My advice: Whenever I do a project, I always build in a budget for tools. Get yourself a sliding miter saw and a table saw. Your life will be so much easier. There's nothing like having the right tools for the job.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Take a known straight edge, something longer than the piece you want to cut, and clamp it to your workpiece. You'll want to measure the distance from the cutting side of the blade to the edge of the baseplate of the circular saw to know how large an offset you'll need for the straightedge.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

There's nothing like having the right tools for the job.

For the most part, I agree.

But having all the tools in the world mean nothing if you aren't at least familiar with some basic usage.

FTR, a proper track saw is far more versatile for cutting down sheet goods than even some cabinet style table saws. Most of the consumer grade or contractor grade saws are far too unstable (without upgrades) for a 4x8 sheet of PW and become a tip over hazard.

 

[Soulshine2]

So I bought a house about a year ago and one of the selling points was that the family room in the basement had a weird setup which just sort of naturally separates the room into two. It didn't really make sense for a normal family room and the surround sound wiring was sideways from how I would have set it up.
So we took the plunge and split it in half by tiling the one half where I'll be building a bar.

Step 1, tile:

I picked a wood look tile from Lowe's because I had a 10% off coupon from moving and they had better selection than home Depot. This was my first time laying tile, so I picked up a book from the library and read it from cover to cover twice. In the process and from the book I learned a few things. #1 Yeah, libraries still exist apparently. #2 if you want it to be random like real hardwood flooring, start from one side and move to the other with one row, trim the excess and use that to start the next row going the other direction. Works great and doesn't look like a brick wall. #3 it's amazing how many people will post pictures of their great looking tile shower project where they put tile directly onto the drywall. Not a good plan. #4 tile isn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I tiled right on top of the concrete, hopefully it doesn't make it too cold in the winter time.

Looks pretty good for your first time. I'm a carpenter and have done tile quite a few times.
You should always measure the room and figure out how best to start . Sometimes its in the middle working to either end and trim both ends and start alternating rows with the cut offs to get a more random look without wasting much ...or start at one same end and work to one side then take the cut off and start the next row continuing until you reach the end and only have a small piece to scrap .Given the scraps to start the next row aren't the same size. This is best case scenario and rarely happens but the idea exists. When you get down to a piece less than about 4 inches it is best to start with a new whole piece. hope you gauged the tile gaps and got the right grout for that gap.
Looking at your picture , that upper right hand spot n that room begs for a bar. Should look really nice when you're done.

 

[Soulshine2]

Some of my cuts are straighter than others.

Especially after buying a speed square. That helps a lot.

cuts should always be put to trim so that you can cover it with a shoe moulding. Its not a big trick to being a good carpenter, tile layer or wood floor specialist, its knowing how to hide your cuts. Rule of thumb is always put factory edges together whenever possible.

 

[Soulshine2]

check pinterest for building saw guide...easy peasy. Doubt you need a table saw . If you have basic hand tools (hammer , screwdriver set), a drill driver, a circular saw with a quality blade for the right material , maybe a router but its not necessary. A cheap 10" chop saw (power miter saw) will do anything you want to ,again with the right blade. No real need for sliding miter box if you are keeping a budget. A small air nailer and cheap compressor will make life a whole lot easier too. A word of caution , stay clear of Harbor Freight .Garbage.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

A word of caution , stay clear of Harbor Freight .Garbage.

Disagree but, you do have to be very selective.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Thanks for all the compliments and advice. I agree that having the right tools definitely go a long way. Like 99 yards to the endzone kind of long way. So far, it's going ok, though. I did have an extra piece of pergo type flooring that I had clamped to my plywood to use as a straight edge, but I found out my pansy spring clamps didn't hold it well enough and it started to creep. +1 to having the right right tools for the job. So instead of getting some decent clamps, I just said "screw it" (like literally, out loud, I said that) and started carefully freehanding it. Then someone suggested that I should have literally screwed it and used some temporary screws to hold the straight edge instead of clamps. Oh, well, too​ late now.

I do admit I was being kind of misleading, though. That first cut was meant to be a curve. Once I got all my pieces cut, I dry fit it together and had a drink.

Yes, the first drink at the bar was a Schweppes ginger ale. Remember, I'm freehanding this.

So you can see the basic skeleton of what I'm doing. The left side as pictured (right side from behind the bar) will be an enclosed cabinet. The other side will be wide open for my mini fridge and maybe a trash can for now, my empty cornies fit nicely behind the fridge at the apex of the curve so long as I only keep two off then empty. I planned the width of that open space so that I could upgrade to a 5 or 7 cu.ft chest freezer in the future.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

cuts should always be put to trim so that you can cover it with a shoe moulding. Its not a big trick to being a good carpenter, tile layer or wood floor specialist, its knowing how to hide your cuts. Rule of thumb is always put factory edges together whenever possible.

Yeah, this picture was a bit deceptive, too. These two pieces aren't meant to go together like that, I just had one propped on top of the other so I could get a picture of how straight it was/wasn't.
Agreed on the moulding. I do have some to hide my cuts. Assuming it will bend like I want it to.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

More bracing and something for the face to attach to.
Also test fitting the piece for the countertop.

 

[b-boy]

Looks good!

 

[mj1angier]

Want a tip on how to hide/ explain a ton of faults?

Use rough cut/ reclaimed lumber and tell folks you are going for that 200 year old look!

 

[MrFoodScientist]

I like it! Is that why the rustic look is so popular?

 

[MrFoodScientist]

More bracing and the first layer of face panel on.

In my mind it made sense that a 1/4" piece of ply would bend the curve nicely, but I felt like it wouldn't offer much rigidity. So this was screwed to the vertical slats in the previous picture and glued n' screwed at the edges. In all reality, I probably could have gotten away with one layer, but I already had the second ready to go and it looked better anyway.

Layer 2:

Yeah, I used most of that bottle of private label wood glue to adhere one panel to the other. And yeah, I did put screws in it to hold it together while drying, I have a plan to hide those later. Also that carpenter knife sitting there was used to trim most of the excess, which you can see against the wall at right, meaning I was smart enough to know that there was a good possibility that I would cut it incorrectly if I were to cut this down first, but stupid enough to think that cutting the excess off by hand was a good idea. Good thing I purchased some fresh blades for the occasion.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

At this point, my sister asked me to offer expertise in serving Italian sodas at her wedding reception. This seemed like a good time to invest in a jockey box. Was it overkill? Absolutely. Was it fun? Also, absolutely.

No one wants to serve Italian sodas using bottled carbonated water, this stuff has to be legit. So I carbed to about 40psi and hoped that would be sufficiently bubbly. I picked up a 2 circuit cold plate from eBay for about $60. I already had the vintage cooler, which looked like it had survived a buffalo stampede, so most of the work was refinishing that to be wedding worthy. Through all this I had to put my bar build on hold momentarily. I put the countertop back up to organize some of my beverage gear.

I was amazed at how much junk from behind the bar cleaned up nicely and stashed away under it. That was very encouraging for when I actually get the "wet" part in behind it with some additional cabinets.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

So I have a two tap jockey box now. It performed fairly well. I have to rework some things on it because my lines from the keg to the cold plate are 1/4" ID, but the lines from the plate to the faucets is 3/16". I believe that this was what caused some sputtering at the taps, which wasn't so bad with an adequate amount of ice.
Here it is before all the decor was set up.

8 oz of crushed ice, 3 squirts of Torani or homemade syrup then fill to 16 oz with carbonated water with a dash of half and half in case anyone is interested.

 

[Soulshine2]

Disagree but, you do have to be very selective.

Astringently selective. I've bought many tools from there that ended up going back the next day because they failed. Air nailer, didn't even shoot 10 nails before it wouldn't . Hand tools -just broke ,weak metal and poor design. The screwdrivers are soft and twist before the screw tightens. I've had sockets that the insides stripped out. The ONLY thing I bought from them that worked as expected is the 13 inch aluminum folding steps. I mean for some people their tools are ok but I wouldn't make my living with them. I don't trust them.
I'm a union carpenter,24 years . My tools are my job . My son is a mechanic , same for him. If my tools fail , I can't do my job and I lose money and time. When you hold in your hand a quality tool , you'll know it. If you've ever needed to trust a tool to get you out of a spot Harbor Freights aren't the ones to use. If you've ever broken a tool and had to take it back to get another one or go to get another (better) one somewhere else, it just cost you more money and time if it didn't cost you some skin and blood first. You bought the wrong tool the first time. Buy quality tools ONCE. Harbor freight tools are cheaply priced because they're cheaply made. I'm not saying that everyone needs to go out and buy Snap-On or Matco ...I'm saying there are poorly tools that will break ,its just a matter of time. There are cheap tools ,gimmick tools, that will break or one use and they'll just sit in a tool box. Then theres quality tools that will be there every time you need them and perform every time. Then theres expensive specialty quality tools that might be better off rented if you don't expect to use them but once or a long time between. Its your money to buy with . Buy intelligently. Buy a lifetime guarantee. Buy once.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Astringently selective.

I have some HF tools that have endured 5+ years of hard use. I've also had tools the likes of Festool that burned up the first day.

If you look closely enough you will find that many of the HF tools are identical to branded tools. Same castings, windings, switches, etc..

Many of their lathes are identical to jet models. Same goes for their dust collectors and Rikon. Many of their routers are identical to PC. Not everything HF is a lemon, but you have to pay attention and put it through it's paces ASAP.

Not everything branded is a gem either. I've had my share of CS issues with the likes of Delta, Makita, and DeWalt.

 

[mj1angier]

Astringently selective. I've bought many tools from there that ended up going back the next day because they failed. Air nailer, didn't even shoot 10 nails before it wouldn't . Hand tools -just broke ,weak metal and poor design. The screwdrivers are soft and twist before the screw tightens. I've had sockets that the insides stripped out. The ONLY thing I bought from them that worked as expected is the 13 inch aluminum folding steps. I mean for some people their tools are ok but I wouldn't make my living with them. I don't trust them.
I'm a union carpenter,24 years . My tools are my job . My son is a mechanic , same for him. If my tools fail , I can't do my job and I lose money and time. When you hold in your hand a quality tool , you'll know it. If you've ever needed to trust a tool to get you out of a spot Harbor Freights aren't the ones to use. If you've ever broken a tool and had to take it back to get another one or go to get another (better) one somewhere else, it just cost you more money and time if it didn't cost you some skin and blood first. You bought the wrong tool the first time. Buy quality tools ONCE. Harbor freight tools are cheaply priced because they're cheaply made. I'm not saying that everyone needs to go out and buy Snap-On or Matco ...I'm saying there are poorly tools that will break ,its just a matter of time. There are cheap tools ,gimmick tools, that will break or one use and they'll just sit in a tool box. Then theres quality tools that will be there every time you need them and perform every time. Then theres expensive specialty quality tools that might be better off rented if you don't expect to use them but once or a long time between. Its your money to buy with . Buy intelligently. Buy a lifetime guarantee. Buy once.

Yes, no, and maybe!!

If you make your living with tools, yes buy the best you can. If you need that tool that you may use every 3 years, why spend the money. Well, unless you are tool snob with cash to burn, lol. ( or a Union guy) jk

I just built my house. I did about 20% of the work myself. 2400sf of solid red oak flooring I put in with a HF floor nailer. I think I paid $140 os so with coupon. Not the first problem with it. Sold it on Craiglist for $90 when I finished. So no real advantage in spending $$$ for a Dewalt or whatever name brand. But I also have a Kubota tractor I use 3-4 times a week. It is worth the extra money for it.

Kind of like if I was to spend $6000 for a high end brew system just to make 1-2 kegs a month. I don't have that kind of money just to have bragging rights, lol

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yes, no, and maybe!!

If you make your living with tools, yes buy the best you can. If you need that tool that you may use every 3 years, why spend the money. Well, unless you are tool snob with cash to burn, lol. ( or a Union guy) jk

I just built my house. I did about 20% of the work myself. 2400sf of solid red oak flooring I put in with a HF floor nailer. I think I paid $140 os so with coupon. Not the first problem with it. Sold it on Craiglist for $90 when I finished. So no real advantage in spending $$$ for a Dewalt or whatever name brand. But I also have a Kubota tractor I use 3-4 times a week. It is worth the extra money for it.

Kind of like if I was to spend $6000 for a high end brew system just to make 1-2 kegs a month. I don't have that kind of money just to have bragging rights, lol

I use a similar methodology with HF. If I need a tool, that I don't already have, and HF offers an option that reviews well and/or is a match to a branded product, I will usually take a chance on the HF version unless it is a painfully large tool. Then I will study the crap out of it before taking a chance.

For many tools, if the HF burns up through use (and is non-returnable) then I'll look at a branded option. Most of the HF stuff I've bought, that eventually failed, had been heavily used/abused and was worth buying again years later.

On the big tools, like the lathe. I know that I can just source parts from Jet should the need ever arise. Biggest take away here is that very few of HF tools are exclusive to HF. Most are green versions of a branded product. Skil, Rikon, Jet, Grizzly, Shop Fox, PC, and DeWalt are a few examples. I do not, however, buy any of their (HF) cordless tools. Too many battery issues.

 

[Kharnynb]

I find that when building furniture, plywood just isn't worth the minor cost difference and I tend to go for real wood unless i need something that bends or very big sheets.

With tools, the rule is that all everyday tools are blue bosch prof. line, stuff I need occasionally green bosch or Lidl's home brand.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

More bracing and the first layer of face panel on.

Layer 2:

Coming along nicely.

I "could" make a lot of suggestions for tools and methods to make things go easier, or easier to hide. But I won't. One of the joys of woodworking, for me, has always been the part of engineering how to make something happen with what I have on hand, and with minimal tools.

I will say this. The figure on that final panel is going to look pretty damned nice if it takes a stain, or an oiling well. It's all about prep and product at that point.

 

[bleme]

Air nailer, didn't even shoot 10 nails before it wouldn't .

I put on a whole new roof last year with the HF air nailer. Reading the reviews, everyone who had problems with it used the HF nails. Those that bought name brand nails had no issues.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Coming along nicely.

I "could" make a lot of suggestions for tools and methods to make things go easier, or easier to hide. But I won't. One of the joys of woodworking, for me, has always been the part of engineering how to make something happen with what I have on hand, and with minimal tools.

I will say this. The figure on that final panel is going to look pretty damned nice if it takes a stain, or an oiling well. It's all about prep and product at that point.

Thanks, Gila
Yeah I was really excited about the figure on that panel. I have struggled a little bit to come up with a good color for it, though. I wanted to go dark, but couldn't find a strain that wouldn't hide the figure. As I looked at wooden cabinets and furniture all around me, I have the sneaking suspicion that most really available wood stains are more like dilute paints.
Most of the test panels I did turned out pretty lame. What I settled on was a coat of shellac followed by a 1:1 mix of Fiebings leather dye and denatured alcohol. After that I'll put a coat of basic minwax stain to highlight the grain. I haven't settled on a top coat yet. I have read that polyurethane can only go over dewaxed shellac if any shellac is used as a sealer first. But the shellac I bought doesn't indicate dewaxed or otherwise, so I'm not sure how I want to handle it. Since I already have the shellac, maybe I try my hand at a French polish and just make it really really shiny.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

And while we're discussing tools,
Why did Snoop Dogg go to the hardware store?

Fo' chisels!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

$6 for a set at harbor freight. I'm not going to trust my life with them, but they got the job done. Actually I bought these to chip out a recess for the strike plate of a deadbolt, so pulling double duty on this now.

I had to trim the top and bottom flush so it wouldn't interfere with the floor or countertop. I may have to shim it, but all in all I've been pretty happy with how it has turned out so far given my aversion to buying a cabinet shop worth of tools.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

$6 for a set at harbor freight. I'm not going to trust my life with them, but they fit the job done.

I have some of those too. Takes some work to get a really good edge on them but they hold an edge better than some of my more expensive chisels.

Handles can get a bit fidgety tho'.

 

[Kharnynb]

I put on a whole new roof last year with the HF air nailer. Reading the reviews, everyone who had problems with it used the HF nails. Those that bought name brand nails had no issues.

Agreed, also with pop-nails it really keeps your machine working better if you buy good ones.

 

[Soulshine2]

I put on a whole new roof last year with the HF air nailer. Reading the reviews, everyone who had problems with it used the HF nails. Those that bought name brand nails had no issues.

I had bought the HF nailer for a small side job . After the 10 nail fail (yes it was HF nails) I took it back after being shut down the rest of the day and got a Bostich oil-less. Like BUTTAH.

 

[hedgie57]

I thought this thread was about a bar build,don't really care about hf tool debate.The bar is looking great!!

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Thanks hedgie. Wait until everyone finds out that I'm driving screws with a 12V cordless drill from Aldi.

True story.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Got my trim mitered to cover the screws in the face panel. I'm not entirely sure the best way to attach this to ensure that it it holds the curve well.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Thanks hedgie. Wait until everyone finds out that I'm driving screws with a 12V cordless drill from Aldi.

True story.

Meh. I still use a old Popular Mechanics electric screwdriver from the 80's. Thing is a beast and will not die.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Got my trim mitered to cover the screws in the face panel. I'm not entirely sure the best way to attach this to ensure that it it holds the curve well.

Glue and finish nails.

I'd prolly use glue, headless pin-nails, and tape.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Oh snap. As I am putting this thread together, I am now realizing that I may have just hit my worst flub so far.

I just now realized that my layer of shellac is going to make gluing this trim on rather difficult if not futile.
Don't mind the orangey color. That's Fiebing's British Tan leather dye which will soon get a layer of Sedona red minwax. I should probably figure out how I'm going to get the glue to adhere, though, before any more doses of color. Oops.