Hey, Rick Uzubell again from Cabaret Design Group, answering the question:
"How do you design a build a curved bar top?"
What's the secret to building a curved bar top? Discover the design tips for the
proper clearances, layout, fabrication and installation of radius bar tops.
Over the years, I've noticed that many people have a preference for curved
surfaces in bar and nightclub design projects. Long, flowing and clever curves
are very popular, but this comes with a hefty price tag. The finished product, no
matter what type, is the end-result of extensive, painstaking detail. To achieve
a first-class finished product requires a fair amount of experience and
attention to detail, that culminates in practical design, fabrication and installation.
This is especially true with commercial bar design, because there are
so many interacting components and everyone who's involved with the
process has to take extra time to ensure all details are correct. The key to
successful radius bar top design is consistency in the finished product.
To illustrate, this let's look at an example of one of our recent projects. Here are
the key factors for a successful curved bar top:
As illustrated in this example, the overhang at the ends is 8 3/8 inches (which is 21.27 cm),
which is the same as the overhangs on the return legs,
here and here, but the maximum overall depth cannot exceed 32" --
the maximum recommended depth for a radius bar top.
In order to ensure accuracy in the overall finish of your bar, here are a couple of design tips:
I'll highlight this object (which says "Bar Tops" down here in the object layer),
and then I'll highlight this object, which down here indicates "Bar Underlayment"
-- that's that layer.
-- that's short for "computer numerical control"
-- (it's an automated machine tool).
You'll normally furnish your digital information in the
the form of an electronic file in the '.DWG' or '.DXF'
format. If the finished top is a solid surface, you'll want
to have the underlayment cut on a CNC router, as plywood isn't compatible with water-cutting.
Your contractor should install the bar base and underlayment, and can
also install wood bar tops. However, installation of solid
bar tops is usually performed by the vendors who fabricate them, who use their own
installation crews, as this work is more particular.
The installation is the "Make-it-or-break-it" phase of
every project, and here's some tips to help ensure your project's success:
Please reference the downloadable cut sheet.
That would be this area
right here folks. Do not use mitered corners. I deliberately used butted seams for this
design for this very reason (that's this joint right here).
Experience goes a long way to any successful bar installation, but the above design tips
and advice should help ensure a very satisfactory result. Best of luck!