" Maui Waui" Custom Bar Top

[Intarsia Mike]

Hi Everyone

This past summer I was asked to create a custom bar top for one of my sons . We originally talked about using slate to fill in the top and would use table top resin to make it smooth. It would maybe have a nice wood frame and would sit on a knee wall in his man-cave. After taking some measurements and discussing options,  I suggested  maybe doing a custom Intarsia inlayed into the top. He liked the idea so I suggested he find a photo he would like to use as a subject. He sent me a photo  he took while on vacation in Hawaii, I thought it would be hard to do as an Intarsia but would see what I could do. I drew up  scaled plans for the  top showing the layout for the framed intarsia along with the field for the rest of the top. We decided to go with Peruvian Walnut for the frame and accent diamonds and tiger maple for the field pieces . I chose to use 3/4" MDF as a base to build from mostly for overall stability . Did all the millwork for the frame and decided to do accent inlays of Ebony and BE maple around the perimeter. Got all of the maple pieces, diamonds and frame for the intarsia cut and fit into place. On to the custom intarsia.

[lew]

That is going to be incredible!

[Grandpadave52]

48 minutes ago, lew said:

That is going to be incredible!

x2 & WOW!

[Gerald]

Amazing

[Cal]

I'm going to be watching this one

[Gene Howe]

Bootiful!!!

[Intarsia Mike]

Now that I have the bar top pieces and frame for the intarsia all locked into place I can concentrate on the custom intarsia. I made a copy of the subject photo  with the proper orientation and drew grid boxes to correspond with the scaled up grid boxes on the pattern sheet. I hand drew the outlines of all the palm trees  by matching what is in the subject photo  grid boxes. This keeps everything to scale. Once  the pattern is finished it is cut to size to fit the frame. At this point I can begin the intarsia.  I like to build my project from the bottom up, so after determining  the thickness of the  wood I will need to use I start with the beach in the picture. I also cut the first palm tree. Because this project will be encapsulated with table top resin I decided to to an overlay instead of an inlay for the intarsia. Now it's a matter of tracing all of the pieces onto sticky back label paper, cutting  all of the palm trees and background pieces to create a masterpiece  Woods used for the intarsia  so far are Australian Lacewood (beach). Blue Mahoe (water) ,  Tulipwood (sky) ,Yellowheart (sun),  Lignum Vitae (Palms) and Fishtail oak for the tree trunks. To be continued-

[Intarsia Mike]

So up to this point in the project I have all the Palm trees cut, detailed and glued together into sections. I have inlayed the sun into the background and will make the little lawn chairs. Standing back and looking at it, there seemed to be something missing to balance the upper part of the scene. Discussing the situation with my son we figured that another palm tree was needed in the center. After more discussion (among other things) we decided to include a picture of the fabled " Maui Waui Hemp Palm" into the project. Oh Yeah, that'll work! Do the chairs, a boat, and some birds and it will come to life. To Be Continued!

[Grandpadave52]

Gorgeous Mike. I'm speechless!

[Cal]

No clouds yet Mike!  That lacewood for the beach is a stroke of genius, beautiful

[Intarsia Mike]

At this point in the project I have everything glued in, blew off the dust and moved into the house for the final steps -adding the Table Top Resin to seal it and make the top smooth and level. After extensive research I decided on the  epoxy-resin I would use.  Having never used this kind of  product before, I decided  I better make something to experiment on to get my technique right before I did the bar top. I chose to make a couple of coasters with bookmatched Intarsia scenes using the same woods as the bar top .After I got the resin and supplies  it was time to "go for it".

[Grandpadave52]

AWESOME! Good luck on the pour Mike. Can't wait to see the finished product(s).

[Gene Howe]

Total Boat. Top of the line. But, you'd want nothing less for that beautiful work. 

[Intarsia Mike]

" Part Of The Wall "

So after spending considerable time watching videos  of table top resin installation procedures and techniques  I jumped right in with mixing and pouring the first batch of resin on my test coasters. Learned that mixing the 2 parts properly is the most important part of the process. The first pour is the seal coat which is 1/8" thick.  You only have a few minutes to torch any bubbles that rise through the resin  before it starts to set-up  Important to cover up the finished pour to keep dust from settling on the resin. The second pour is the final coat (up to 1/4" thick)  using the same procedure (mixing, torching the bubbles and covering up). Overall  was a good skill learning experience and will be useful on future projects . After 72 hours the resin is cured enough to be touched and handled without worry of scratching. So here are a few photos of the finished " Maui Waui Custom Bar Top" This was a fun project

[Gene Howe]

Mike, I've been following you since you posted Monticello on LJs. That piece was awesome but, you seem to have added some interesting techniques to your work. This latest one is even awesomer. Just stunning. 

[Grandpadave52]

Shame to use that as a bar top. That should be in a gallery as a wall-hanger work of art.

Absolutely gorgeous Mike. Even the angle supports are designed with class.

Thanks for taking us along this amazing build.

Ya' done good "pops"! Real good! 

BTW, love his guitar collection display too.

[Danl]

Very nicely done.   Danl

[Cal]

[Intarsia Mike]

Thanks all for the comments concerning my Custom Bar Top project. Decided to make this framed plaque with the description of the woods used for the project. Now the project is complete. Made from Peruvian Walnut, Ebony and Birds Eye Maple.

[Thad]

That was an awesome build!  The finished product is amazing!