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Welcome to my tutorial on the coffin bar I made last year. I will do my best to try and explain how I made it. I did not write down directions at the time and a lot of this I had to figure out on the way. I will do my best and if you have questions please ask. One change that may be worth considering is the height of the coffin sides. I went with 1X12's and while it works great for most things certain types of liquor bottles are to tall for it and hits the lid when closed.
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Start off making the base for it. This is for hiding the fog machine and plumbing and also to store extra beer and drink supplies. I used 4X4's for the corners and 2X4's for the frame. I got all the brackets and lumber at Home Depot. What I wanted was the top of the coffin to be a height that keeps it easy to lift the lid and at a comfortable height for people to make their drinks. The 4X4 legs are 18" and I bought 4 locking 3" caster wheels.
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I stopped the shelf part way so I could fit any taller items under it if needed. The top plywood is about 32"X 86"
I started the coffin by first drawing the size I wanted out on a piece of plywood and cutting that out. I made mine about 7'. Cutting the boards for the coffin was a little challenging for me. This was my first time really building anything from wood. I cut the lenghts needed from the 1X12. 55" for the bottom sides 31 1/2" for the top sides and 19 1/2" for the top and bottom. Remember that these are not cut be a professional and may vary a little bit. To get the proper angles I just used a protractor and got as close as I could. I told my wife that I just "Had to have" a miter saw to get this done. Hehe I got one, woo hoo, I love it.
After all the plywood base is cut and the side 1 X 12's are cut I places the sides of the coffin on the plywood base and marked off where they are sitting properly. I cut 1 X 2 peices and screwed them into the plywood base to give the 1 X 12's something that I could attach to. I put the side boards on top of the plywood so I could get as much height as I could from the bottom of the plywood to the lid. That gives as much room as possible for the liquor bottles.
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After the coffin is complete I put decoritive molding on the top and bottom of the sides. This will hide the screws you use to attach the sides to the 1x2 that is secured to the plywood base.
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Next you need to attach 1x2's at the tops of the side boards. This is what the top peice of plywood is going to be mounted to. The depth of this is going to depend on what thickness board you use for the top of the inside of the coffin and what thickness rope light you use. The top board is going to be cut so it sits inside the coffin on top of these 1x2's.
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Leave room on the back side of the coffin for the hinges to fit in spaces in the 1x2's. You can see at the top where the head would go that I left a spce there too. That one is for the wiring that will need to pass through to light the cross that is mounted to the top of the lid. I would also leave a small opening at the front part of the head side. That would allow the wiring and plug for the rope light to come through. I had to cut it out later.
The top peice I used is a very thin peice of plywood with like a vineer top. Just pick one that you like. I think mine is redwood, not sure though. Remember that this is what they will see when the open the lid so just make it nice. Remeber too that this will get a little wet from people making drinks and stuff.
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Next I cut paper templates of how I wanted everything laid out. I found some holders for the piquor bottles at The Container Store. They are about 4x4x10. Whatever your going to use just make the templates accordingly. This is also when I decided what sizes I was going to make the ice chests. If you want to use premade ice chests it would be a LOT cheaper and easier. I custom made mine because I wanted a certain look for it.
At the same time place the coffin on the base centered and screw it down into place.
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I made the ice chests from PVC, cardboard and fiber glass. When you lay out tyour paper templates you will be able to see what size and shape works best for you. The smaller ice chest is for frinking ice and the larger for beer and soda. This part of the build was the hardest, dirtiest, and most expensive part.
Start by making a PVC skeleton in the shpe of the ice chests you want. remember if your doing this yourself that when your calculating the height if them that you have to add in the thickness of the fiberglass for the overall height. This was a mistake that I made, I was a little to tall about 1/8th in. You want to measure from the top of the 1x2 that was screwed in at the top of the sides of the coffin to the plywood.
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Next take cardboad and cut peices to fit aroung the bot sides of the pvc skeleton. This works as an insulator. I was even going to use Great Foam and spray it inside but decided to skip it.
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TO BE CONTINUED....
Start off making the base for it. This is for hiding the fog machine and plumbing and also to store extra beer and drink supplies. I used 4X4's for the corners and 2X4's for the frame. I got all the brackets and lumber at Home Depot. What I wanted was the top of the coffin to be a height that keeps it easy to lift the lid and at a comfortable height for people to make their drinks. The 4X4 legs are 18" and I bought 4 locking 3" caster wheels.
I stopped the shelf part way so I could fit any taller items under it if needed. The top plywood is about 32"X 86"
I started the coffin by first drawing the size I wanted out on a piece of plywood and cutting that out. I made mine about 7'. Cutting the boards for the coffin was a little challenging for me. This was my first time really building anything from wood. I cut the lenghts needed from the 1X12. 55" for the bottom sides 31 1/2" for the top sides and 19 1/2" for the top and bottom. Remember that these are not cut be a professional and may vary a little bit. To get the proper angles I just used a protractor and got as close as I could. I told my wife that I just "Had to have" a miter saw to get this done. Hehe I got one, woo hoo, I love it.
After all the plywood base is cut and the side 1 X 12's are cut I places the sides of the coffin on the plywood base and marked off where they are sitting properly. I cut 1 X 2 peices and screwed them into the plywood base to give the 1 X 12's something that I could attach to. I put the side boards on top of the plywood so I could get as much height as I could from the bottom of the plywood to the lid. That gives as much room as possible for the liquor bottles.
After the coffin is complete I put decoritive molding on the top and bottom of the sides. This will hide the screws you use to attach the sides to the 1x2 that is secured to the plywood base.
Next you need to attach 1x2's at the tops of the side boards. This is what the top peice of plywood is going to be mounted to. The depth of this is going to depend on what thickness board you use for the top of the inside of the coffin and what thickness rope light you use. The top board is going to be cut so it sits inside the coffin on top of these 1x2's.
Leave room on the back side of the coffin for the hinges to fit in spaces in the 1x2's. You can see at the top where the head would go that I left a spce there too. That one is for the wiring that will need to pass through to light the cross that is mounted to the top of the lid. I would also leave a small opening at the front part of the head side. That would allow the wiring and plug for the rope light to come through. I had to cut it out later.
The top peice I used is a very thin peice of plywood with like a vineer top. Just pick one that you like. I think mine is redwood, not sure though. Remember that this is what they will see when the open the lid so just make it nice. Remeber too that this will get a little wet from people making drinks and stuff.
Next I cut paper templates of how I wanted everything laid out. I found some holders for the piquor bottles at The Container Store. They are about 4x4x10. Whatever your going to use just make the templates accordingly. This is also when I decided what sizes I was going to make the ice chests. If you want to use premade ice chests it would be a LOT cheaper and easier. I custom made mine because I wanted a certain look for it.
At the same time place the coffin on the base centered and screw it down into place.
I made the ice chests from PVC, cardboard and fiber glass. When you lay out tyour paper templates you will be able to see what size and shape works best for you. The smaller ice chest is for frinking ice and the larger for beer and soda. This part of the build was the hardest, dirtiest, and most expensive part.
Start by making a PVC skeleton in the shpe of the ice chests you want. remember if your doing this yourself that when your calculating the height if them that you have to add in the thickness of the fiberglass for the overall height. This was a mistake that I made, I was a little to tall about 1/8th in. You want to measure from the top of the 1x2 that was screwed in at the top of the sides of the coffin to the plywood.
Next take cardboad and cut peices to fit aroung the bot sides of the pvc skeleton. This works as an insulator. I was even going to use Great Foam and spray it inside but decided to skip it.
TO BE CONTINUED....
Thanks for posting this, I love it.
