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**krenshaw** · 07-12-2012, 01:23 PM

i wanted to document my keezer build to inspire other as i have been inspired by many threads on here..

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/chest-freezer-keezer-conversion-mikees-diy-build-242624/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/converting-frigidaire-7-2-cu-ft-chest-freezer-162225/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ge-7-cf-fcm7suww-keezer-conversion-192208/

i have the collar done, so i wanted to get some pics up as i'm waiting on all of the rest of the materials to be delivered..

i started out with my chest freezer.. we bought it new around 5 years ago to use for food, but we recently upgraded to a huge upright so i got to use this one to convert to a keezer! i sold my old 2 tap kegerator on craigslist for some seed money for all the hardware for this..

i decided to go the 1x10 dual hinged collar route because i liked the flexibility of being able to open either just the lid, or the lid and the collar (or should i call it a quad hinged collar?).. doing this i was also able to make it fit snugly on the inside lip of the freezer, but still have it look flush from the outside.. seems to be a little more work overall, but really will be worth it in the long run..

**krenshaw** · 07-12-2012, 01:24 PM

for the actual collar i went with 1x10 oak for the outside, rigid foam insulation for the middle, and some leftover plywod i had lying aroudn for the inside.. i did the sections because i wanted the look of the oak on the outside, but didn't trust the small thickness of the wood to be strong enough..

i mitered the oak and used L-brackets to hold them to form.. next i added some bracing on the inside to be able to attach the plywood later, and to have a good mounting location for the hinges in the rear..

**krenshaw** · 07-12-2012, 01:24 PM

once the bracing was set i glued all of the insulation on the inside so it was flush with the bracing..

then i cut and added the plywood on the inside so it was flush with the lip on the inside of the keezer.. that way i'll have 2 staggered locations for which weatherstripping will sit to provide a good seal from the outside.. i also added caulking just about every place that appeared to have a crack our wasn't flush..

**krenshaw** · 07-12-2012, 01:25 PM

here is when i took a break for a saturday 3-brew day.. wife and daughter were out of town so i had to take advantage.. too bad the heat was killer all day!

**krenshaw** · 07-12-2012, 01:26 PM

i used some inspiration from a keezer metioned in the above links to use aluminum flashing to cover the finished areas to make it look a bit more complete.. without any sort of bender for the material it was a bit difficult to get it to do what i wanted to, but i made it work after a lot of bending and hammering and gluing.. be sure to always wear gloves when working with stuff as it is sharp!

after i had the flashing all set up, i put the new weatherstripping in place on both parts of the underside.. you can see from this image the difference in size from the inside and the outside portions.. the longer part with the weatherstripping sits nice and snug on the inside lip of the freezer..

currently i do have the hinges set up and ready to put on the casters that should be on my doorstep when i get home tonight.. i'll post more pics soon..

**krenshaw** · 07-14-2012, 02:19 PM

here is an image from the inside with the hinges installed and the flashing all finished.. the seals ended up nice and tight and haven't noticed any problems with how its working.. i have one keg of apfelwein in there, but sadly no way of drinking any until my AHS order comes in on tuesday..

the dual hinge design works quite nicely.. from taking inspiration from other builds, i will be able to open just the lightweight top if i need to make an adjustment or get a bottle of something out, or i can open the collar to switch kegs w/o having to worry about the shanks in my way.. you'll notice i had to slightly adapt the hinges i purchased as the only ones i could locate that had the right pattern on were a little small..

**krenshaw** · 07-14-2012, 02:21 PM

i decided to make a little sled for the keezer to sit on rather than drill anything into the bottom.. no place on the bottom seemed easy enough/secure enough to put the casters on, and this way the taps will be at a nice comfortable height.. here is me in the process of making the little sled.. pocket screws were a good way to hold the nice oak front on..

and here is how it looks as of now, waiting for some more deliveries to make it an actual working keezer! glad the timing will work out well with the beers i currently have fermenting..

**krenshaw** · 07-14-2012, 09:46 PM

this morning i received my new tank, regulator, and some air tubing.. i needed a way to attach the tank and regulator to the keezer, but since i have a dual hinge it is slightly more difficult to keep it stable when opening both hinges.. i adapted a way from aluminum stock to secure a mounting bracket using the hing screws already in place.. that let me be able to secure everything without having to worry about drilling into the side of the keezer.. i was sure to make it strong/large enough to be able to hold a beer gas tank as well for when i add that as a fourth tap in my setup (hopefully around xmas time).. here are 2 pics, one with just the regular semi-permanently mounted, and the other with the tank on its shelf.. its quite easy to remove the tank to get it refilled, and i'm planning on adding a velcro strap or two to keep it secure as well..

**Yaason** · 07-16-2012, 05:31 AM

Looks good.

**ChuckO** · 07-16-2012, 01:53 PM

Great looking job. I like the flashing installed on the inside of the collar.

I've started planning a conversion of a Frigidaire 8.8 cf freezer to a keezer and will definitely use your build for lots of ideas. My only change so far would be to either locate the co2 bottle and regulators inside the freezer, or build the shelf as an extension to the base. That way the base would protect the regulators from being bumped into a wall.