FlashRedGLS18T

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Looks great and very clean.

Quaffer

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Thank you.
I have learned most of the tricks needed for this project right here on this board. Look at many projects and you'll find the right combination for you, and ask questions if in doubt. I found the Show us your Kegerator thread very helpful, but it has grown into a monster thread that is almost unreadable now, at least from start to finish.

BSBrewer

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Looks great! I am in the process of converting the same freezer myself - just cut all the wood and pre-stained them today. I went with 2x8 as well but am slightly less concerned with the overall look as its going into my laundry/boiler room with lines run to the tower on my bar.

Good idea with the cleats though - was trying to figure out how I was going to affix the collar to the freezer.

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MMTG

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OUtstanding! Love the clean lines of your keezer. Thank you for sharing

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DirtyPolock

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After seeing all of the builds on the "show us your kegerator" sticky and looking at your thread, I really like you keezer build for its simplicity and classy look. It has inspired me to want to build my own version, likely along the same lines of your build. I just have a couple quick questions.

1. Are you able to get four corny kegs on the floor without having to go on the compressor hump? Looking at EdWort's sticky thread it is showing 3 kegs on the floor, and your set-up is leading me to believe that you can fit four.

2. If you were to attach the collar to the lid, how difficult do you think that it would be. I'm not much of a DIY'er and I would prefer to attach it to the lid, but depending on the work needed I may instead just attach the collar to the base.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Quaffer

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Thank you DP. I am glad I can inspire like I have been inspired.

EdWort is right. Three on the floor and one (easy) or two (harder) on the hump is it. To have a Corny on the hump you will need a collar 7.25" tall which happens to be the actual height of a 2x8. That is the primary reason I chose to use 2x8s for the collar. If I remember correctly the similar Magic Chef freezer can fit four Cornies on the floor, therefore it needs a less tall collar to fit four, but I know little about that freezer.

When I first got the Frigidaire I played around with empty cornies and carboys to see what I could fit. I could fit three Cornies on the floor, one on the hump + one 5 gal carboy if I built a shelf that extends the hump out on the floor a bit on one side. I have not yet built this shelf, and that was before I added all the other junk such as manifolds and faucets, but it should still fit. Currently I have one really wide fermentation bucket on the hump and three Cornies on the floor, and I cannot fit anything else in there. A carboy is slimmer and opens up the space so that I could fit a fourth Corny. By the way, the carboy is there to ferment lager beer which I also like, Oktoberfest and real pilseners for example.

A lot of people like attaching the collar to the lid, so it is probably a good idea in many cases. The reason I did not attach it to the lid is that I need a 7.25" tall collar to fit a keg on the hump and that is a lot of wood to hang from the lid, especially if it is built from 2-bys without thinning them first like I did. The benefit of attaching the collar to the lid is that you do not need to lift the full (heavy) kegs as high as I do. I need a foot stool to stand on to get the full kegs in there. Not a problem for me since I have a stool in the same room, to sit on to light the wood stove. Another inconvenience with a body-mounted collar is that I cannot reach the floor inside with my hand. I clean the bottom with a sponge mop and pick up stuff in there with a picker-upper claw.

The benefits of attaching the collar to the freezer body are: You do not need to move the seal from the lid to the collar. You do not need to worry about the weight added to the lid since there is none. With a lid-attached collar you will need more free space behind the kegerator to open the lid. It is a judgment call where to mount the collar. For you it may be a different choice than mine. I'll be glad to answer any further question you may have during your build, or any other reader of this thread.

SankePankey

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Hey-

I am in the process of turning a Magic Chef 7.2 into a keezer and thought I'd post about my design. It's not all that special (except that it's MINE), but a couple of things I though were worth mentioning. I am doing a collar attached to the lid. Don't have any pics yet but...

I used a 1X8 for the collar and I used a tongue and groove siding board from Lowes. The tongue fits perfectly into the top lid's groove for the freezer's seal. And the seal itself then fits perfectly into the groove on the board with no glue or anything on either. I probably will attach the collar to the lid with a couple L-brackets just for extra support, but I can say that it is so tight that it doesn't even seem necessary. It was difficult to cut nice 45 degree angles so the tongues and grooves would fit together as necessary with just a circular saw and not a mider saw, but it got done. I had to some bathroom caulk in the cracks, but I plan on painting it instead of staining it, so that's not an issue.

The hinges are plenty strong for the 1X8 and I don't see why a 2X8 is any better if you are going to use rigid insulation on the inside like I did. I think the benefits of attaching the collar to the lid are greater so everything gets out of your way when you want to open and you don't risk banging a shank nipple with a heavy keg.

As of this point I have made no modifications at all to the freezer and I could take er apart and sell her as is with no problem, but after all the work I decided I can't for see ever wanting to do that and would likely take er with me if I moved.

Party on, Wayne.

Quaffer

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If you are attaching the collar to the lid then 1x8 lumber is a better choice than 2x8, for sure. The reason I used 2x8 thinned down to 1.25" is that in a collar-on-body setup the collar serves as the seal surface, and my seal is 1" wide. Any less than 1" surface width and the seal will not perform as well. With the collar-on-lid installation the original seal surface is retained.

The risk with collar-on-lid is that the hinge springs may not be able to support the lid in the open position, and you may not find out until you add the last components and it will not stay open. One could then use a rod to prop up the lid, like on some cars and trucks. But if the suspended weight is kept low it will probably work without additional support.

Good luck with your project

erikhillard

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"Quaffer" you've done a great job here. I'm quite impressed and am really considering doing a chest conversion with a black freezer. Yours looks very nice. Thanks for all the photos. I'll definitely come back and look closely at your details again when I closer to building.

I do wish there was a good way to do a Tower on a chest freezer, but it doesn't seem like it would work out very well.

Xtant

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Very nice. Exactly what I want to build and the look I am going for. Hopefully mine comes out looking half as nice as yours does