DIY – Bar Cart – Invisibly Imperfect

I decided to build Paul a bar cart for his birthday this year. I was (of course) inspired by something on Pinterest.

Materials I used

Salvage wood (from Second Use)

Eight x 3/4 inch 90 degree elbows

Twelve x 3/4 inch Tees

Sixteen x 3/4 inch 10 inch nipples

Six x 3/4 inch 12 inch nipples

Twelve x 3/4 inch 5 inch nipples

One x 3/4 inch 8 inch nipple

Four x 3/4 inch couplings

Twelve pipe clamps

Two x 1/2 inch flanges

Two x 1/2 inch 90 degree elbows

One x 1/2 inch coupling

How much it cost

Probably around $180. Those pipes are expensive!

How I built it

So this is trickier than I thought it would be to build! I built the two sides of the frame separately and then try to connect the two together – doesn’t work! I only have one connecting bar in the end, and you can see the spot for the piece I wasn’t able to connect!

My advice: build from the bottom up! So use my below steps as a guideline

I mapped out the framework for the first side on the floor (I actually did this in Home Depot when buying the pipes!) and connected the pieces together. I then mapped out the second side framework.

Before I went to buy the pipes, I actually measured Paul’s bottles and saw that I needed to create the bottom shelf to be at least 16 inches tall so that his taller bottles could sit on the bottom!

I decided to go for three shelves. I used 90 degree elbows on the bottom and top of the frame.

I used Tees and five inch nipples to provide a ‘seat’ for the top two shelves.

For the top shelf, I used couplings to connect across the top barrier.

I was then able to connect the two sides together (but only in one spot because of how I started – you can actually see the nearest side can’t be connected if you look closely).

The shelves I used were pieces of salvaged wood connected together using tie plates. I attached the main piece of salvaged wood to the framework using pipe conduit straps.

I then created the bottom stability bar using smaller 1/2 inch pipe fittings.