Sewing Machine Powered Coffee Bar

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p96Pb6Y4W_c

Hello people of the internet! If you like coffee, read on with haste. If not, just read normally.

I apologize in advance for all spelling and grammatical errors.

So, for the longest time we've had these old Singer sewing machine bases that we never knew what to do with. Well, my brother had this old hand crank coffee grinder, and he had the awesome idea of hooking the two up so you could just grind your coffee by pedaling. Of course, we had to try it, so this video is a time lapse of how we made it.

We began by wanting to make a top for the table to be the base of the bar. And, much to our delight we found a table top that our dad had made years ago special for that table buried deep within the shop. It was a beautiful rosewood slab with routed edges at a 45 degree angle and inlaid ebony around the sides.

So our first challenge was that the sowing machine had a horizontal axis and the coffee machine had a vertical axis. After much thinking and searching we found an old crank drill that would work perfectly. We then made a rosewood mount for it removing the side and crank handles. Then we attached a pulley wheel, but I'll say more on that later for a good reason.

For the sides we had a six foot long and one inch thick rosewood board that we cut in half then routed and fancified by cutting small triangles off the top corners and mounted them to the foot. Then we cut large grooves about a half inch from the back for the back panels to sink into using the table saw. Then we used the circular saw to cut a groove in the left side for the shelf.

Before we attached the sides we had to add all our small shelves/hook things. On the top right is a small shelf that holds a mason jar for coffee grinds. On the left is a shelf thing with a slot cut out for it to hold either a chemex (which floats about a half inch) or pour-over with room for a cup underneath. Then we attached the drill and pulley system to the right side and mounted a small shelf with a hole in it below to hold the grinder. All these pieces we made out of rosewood and mounted using wood dowels and wood glue. (The only screws used in this whole project were to attach the coffee bar to the Singer base)

Before we put on the back we attached both sides and the entire grinding mechanism. We then got a leather cord that are used for the sewing machines and measure how much we needed and marked the holes for the table and drilled them out. Then we attached the belt using wire to attach the ends together. However, once we got it running, we realized that the pulley size we used didn't have enough torque to grind the beans, so we had to step up the pulley size and replace the old one much to my brother's chagrin because he was the one that spent all that time lashing it on. But, it worked great after we replaced the pulley.

Before we cut the grooves we had to decide what to use for the backing. It just so happened that we had some leftover unfinished rosewood flooring from our uncle's house (the same flooring I used for the Bear Mug, if you want to see that Instructable click this link BEAR MUG!!!). This ended up being the most beautiful part of this project in my opinion, excluding the concept. First we put a single board across the bottom in order to make sure all above were true. Then we pretty much floored the back putting wood glue between each piece and on the sides, making sure the ends were cut off first so they would glue well to the sides. We also had to make sure to leave a slot for the pulley. Then we used three full length flooring boards for the top attaching them with dowels and wood glue as well. Then we clamped it after we made sure everything was true and squared.

For the main shelf we used a thin piece of walnut and stained it with COFFEE! The shop smelled amazing. However, we did also finish it with linseed oil after the coffee soaked in. We used a larger rosewood board to support the end, gluing it in place and pegging it to the tabletop, and a thinner piece of rosewood to divide the space for the french press and whole beans from the filters.

Then we sanded all glue spots and finished the entire thing with linseed oil. Then once it dried we drilled a hole in the top for a light fixture and put in an Edison bulb.

Well, that's pretty much it. My brother and I had such an awesome time making this and cant wait to see what people think. I hope you enjoyed reading and watching. If you have any comments or questions on how we did anything please feel free to ask. And as always Thank you and God Bless!