I am going to be finishing the front of my bar soon by using red oak plywood (unless I find/get recommended something else). What would be the best way to attach the oak plywood to the existing plywood? I’m not sure I like the idea of filling and sanding a bunch of nails but not sure if an adhesive would do the trick. Any help is appreciated, Josh
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Frenchie3121/HOME/Bar/IMG_0649.jpg

If you have access to the back you can screw through from the back with the proper choice of screw length. The front panel of my bar (which is padded upholstery) is screwed in place from the back side. Also FYI you can get a pneumatic 23 gauge HEADLESS finish nail "pinner" that shoots very small nails. So if you go the glue route the pinner can be used to hold things in place until the glue dries and the hole is really hard to spot.

Whatever route you go I would try stain all the pieces before they are attached and then just touch up any oops.

Here are the guns I'm talking about: I see a cheap one for $40.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=23-gauge&tag=googhydr-20&index=tools&hvadid=1099065881&ref=pd_sl_8l4xr9a9yu_b

I'm with BigMouth on the fine gauge nailer. You could also likely get away with construction adhesive. The whole trick is getting the pieces to hold in place while your adhesive dries.

you can get pins with the "heads" painted different colors. in my similar situation, i used pins that were painted brown and you can barely see them in my panels (i wasn't using plywood though, but panels of cabinet veneer i purchased extra)

Are you adding any trim on the front ? You could cover the nail holes with the trim. You could then glue the trim, use dowels, or nail with any of the above suggested methods.
If your not using any trim then I would glue it and nail only the corners in order to hold it in place until the glue dries and then you only have a few nail holes to fill in with putty or filler. Many of the stains have putty that matches the stain and do a very good job.

What does the back of your bar look like?

I second going with the construction adhesive. Look for the ones marked quick grab. You could "tack" it in place at the very top and bottom while the adhesive sets- your likely to be adding molding their anyways.

I think I’m going to go the route of adhesive and tack it at the corners and where the boards meet up and run trim work over the seam which will cover any nails and just fill the outer edge tapped nails if they are not covered by some type of trim itself. The front two spans are just over 73" so id have to do two boards anyway. Thanks for the help. devil if you mean behind the bar its is still just the frame work but i plan to box it in and put shelves. If your referring to the bar back where liquor bottle will be I plan to knock out the wall and recess shelving.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Frenchie3121/HOME/Bar/IMG_0826.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Frenchie3121/HOME/Bar/IMG_0649B.jpg

Here is a link to some photos of things so far: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Frenchie3121/HOME/Bar/

I would add some screws from the back to tighten down the middles of the sheets, Assuming that you used 1/2 inch sheathing and will use 3/4 inch plywood just grab some one inch screws. I would also drill holes in the sheathing first so the screws just pop right in.

3M construction spray contact cement (in the green can). I put wood panels on the front of my refrigerator to match my new kitchen couple of years back. Be careful, measure 3 times and dry fit the pieces first before you apply. YOU GET ONE CHANCE TO APPLY...ONCE HITS THE OPPOSITE PIECE THAT'S IT. There's no reason if your just facing the front of the bar that you can't cut and dry fit, spray and then attach whatever thinkness of finished plywood you're using. No waiting for it to dry and it'll never come off.

so dennis got me thinking as i was looking for the spray, should i go with oak plywood or a laminate. the plywood would make the front thicker but im not seeing any other benefit or a down side to laminate, i just have never used it before. what do you think is the best way to go looks wise?

Define Laminate, are you talking about a Formica wood look laminate?

Yes, sorry. "Formica wood look laminate" or actually a formica style veneer. what are the positives or negatives of using a laminate/veneer as opposed to a thin sheet of oak plywood? if i can find a formica laminate/veneer in a color that is similar to the bar rail, would that be better to use rather then plywood?

One drawback would be people kicking it. Plywood can be sanded and stained to cover scratchs, once formica is damaged it has to be replaced. Personally I wouldn't use formica on the vertical surface on the bar.

I think you will find that a 4x8 sheet of a good looking wood grain laminate veneer is going to be in magnitude 3-4x the cost of a sheet of oak veneer plywood.

I could be wrong

I really don't kicking will be a big issue...hasn't been in mine anyway. I'd go with the plywood. It should stain evenly if you do the necessary prep. I'm not sure you need 3/4" finished...can you go with the thinner stuff? Lowe's carries finished plywood I think it's burch on one side and oak on the other.

Thanks for all the input. ya BIG it is about 3x the cost plus there wasnt anything in production that Lowes had to get close to the color i was looking for so that made the choice easy. and dennis they had a 1/4" which is perfect since i had a thicker base to attach it to plus Home Depot had a nice piece of molding i plan to run down the seam so i should get started early next week with it and keep you posted. Thanks again

Post some pics when you're done. I always do a test panel first....but that's me. I don't like surprises. Are you going to stain it? What kind of stain do you use? Do you use a pre-stain? Are you going to finish it off with poly?