After a nearly 3 year hiatus I'm back to the homebrewing scene. I've been lurking on these forums for Months and this is one of my first posts. As I just picked up a chest freezer (19.7 CuFt) and having resurrected my old kegarator with only two taps, I changed my game plan for more taps. The chest freezer I got off craigs list for $50 it's around 10 years old, but upon inspection was keeping sub zero frozen temps.
Before I go further I want to express my gratitude to Jester369 for his amazing Keezer build
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-project-31221/. It gave me more then enough inspration.
My condolences to Joe C in his monsterator project
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/project-monsterator-111298/
But to help lift Joe's spirits I'm going for a hybrid of their two builds with a total of 12 taps
Here's my start:
Old Kegerator
Start of my project:
It's a nasty beast
Test fit of kegs:
Top removed sanded and began priming:
Outside primed and retested fitted to ensure 12X kegs:
I removed the top lip of the freezer to help grind down the rust. To my dismay the top plastic cap was dry rot and shattered during removal. This ended up to be a good thing as I realized there were two holes in the bottom of the freezer that allowed moisture to enter the foam insulation. Three weeks later with the freezer upside down in the dry Colorado climate I think I got ~95% of the water drained from the insolation.
I ground down the inside and outside and primed with Rustolum rust conversion primer to help with the rust problem.
I next purchased some 1X3" boards to replace the top plastic cap that was ruined during removal. Some careful trimming of the existing insulation, a few passes on the table saw for a rabid edge to fit over the inner lip of the freezer, and 4 coats of laqure primer on the 1X3's netted the following:
I added some additional foam (Spray) sealer to assist in glueing down the 1X3's and allowed to cure. After curing I added some silicon sealing around all the joints and allowed to cure.
After two days I realized I didn't put enough weight on the 1X3's to keep them flush with the top of the freezer. No problem abit of plaining and sanding later produced a perfectly smooth/flush (Slightly angled inwards) surface for the lid collar.
I also finished up the inner edge with a 1/2" round router pass:
Next up as funds become avail I'll refinish the lid by adding 1.5" foam insulation to replace the crap fiberglass pad that was frozen solid upon removal. I'll cap off the lid with 1/8" paneling and 2x4 collar. I'll plane and sand the collar as flat as possible to match the freezer top.
As for the sides of the freezer I'm not going to do like Jester nor Joe C with his plaid paint. I have something else instore, but you'll have to wait for it.
Grim's Tavern Reborn - Keezer Build
Linear Mode
