The Lousy Smarch Coffin Keezer build

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

smarch0

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
75
Reaction score
41
Location
Winnipeg
Just thought I would post my build as I know I enjoyed looking at other peoples pictures and got many ideas along the way. Thanks to Jetlink1983 for the initial concept as my design is based on what I saw in his.

Here is the final product to wet your lips!
IMG_2134.JPG


I purchased my freezer for $60 from our local online buy and sell...it was in good working condition, clean and the guy even delivered it, haha!

I had very little wood working knowledge going into this project but luckily had help from a friend who also is a contractor. Thank god for him or this would have been a disaster! Why call a 2x4 a 2x4 if it is 1.5"x3.5" :cross:

Sorry some of the images are blurry, half are from my cellphone camera.

Here is what you get for $60
2012-05-24%252019.36.01.jpg


I also had very few tools to start...tried to buy a $99 miter saw which did not workout well! so close to cutting all the way through but not quite there. It went back right quick!
IMG_1982.JPG


Had to find a way to get beer during the 3 month project!
2012-05-24%252019.36.40.jpg


Got everything all framed up, tested how the lights would fit. left a 3/4" lip all the way around for the 1 by material to sit on. Make sure your materials are straight when you buy them! also that your framing is accurate as everything else is based on this!
IMG_1992.JPG


Got the finish lumber put on with liquid nails as well as a nail gun for a little extra support. Another tip is to only cut 1 or 2 pieces at a time then remeasure your next cuts!
2012-10-19%252016.46.59.jpg


Next we started on the lid, cut off the plastic inside and wound sold foam insulation, which makes things easier. Went with a simple sandwich concept with some T-Nuts and adhesive. Added a 2x4 boarder to nail finish wood onto.
2012-11-12%252012.15.22.jpg


Put the freezer on the base and reattached the lid. Used 2 auto trunk air shocks I found at PrincessAuto for $10 each! I didn't plan it but the spacing just happen to work out for the shocks to fold in beside the freezer...there was some luck involved in this project :ban:
2012-12-07%252007.30.12.JPG


A quick dry run with the new style brushed stainless steel top I am going to use.
2012-11-27%252014.40.49.jpg


What a difference a good saw makes! perfect joints! Although I did wood-fill them later.
2012-11-27%252014.40.13.jpg


Next I decided to fill everything and stain this bad boy up. This was probably the most tedious part of the whole project.
2012-12-08%252007.30.12.JPG


Then using the tile dry run I built the box to size. Went with 14" tall and it came out about 24" long.
2012-12-21%252016.35.02.jpg


Installed an LED light from China that ran $14 and has a billion settings and is remote controlled. Oh China what will you think of next?
2012-12-22%252017.04.59.jpg


Skip to the final product all lit up!
IMG_2112.JPG


Last thing to do is to epoxy the top to protect it, as well as grout the tile.
IMG_2120.JPG


The pictures make it look dark, but it is a nice mahogany color that still shows the wood grain. Has a nice shine that only shows at certain angles.
IMG_2126.JPG


A closeup of the coffin box and my first tap handle given to me by the brew master at our local brewery.
IMG_2128.JPG



That's it! 3 months and many hundreds of dollars but even swmbo is pretty impressed (not an easy feat)!
IMG_2116.JPG
 
WOW! Looks great, good job.

Thanks for taking the time to post your write-up. I might have to copy this one! :)
 
Nice job! The lit panels in front remind me of a light box my dad made when I was a kid (loooong time ago) that had colored lights that would "dance" to the music in my room. Hmmm gives me an idea for my next keezer......
 
Did you use frosted glass? Plexi? Or?

It is actually just very thin white plastic I found at the big box hardware store, I guess it would be used as a lighting cover in an office building?

Not to sure, but it was way cheaper than actual glass but still looks quite good with the darker wood I think.
 
Can you post a pic of it in final w/ the lid open? And this is an amazing job here, btw!!
 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RCs2RKiLlA]Lousy Smarch weather.[/ame]

That's a really slick looking project; nice job.
 
Can you post a pic of it in final w/ the lid open? And this is an amazing job here, btw!!

Not sure which 'lid' you meant, so here are a few more blurry pics taken with my call camera..

Top down view inside the coffin, solid foam insulation on the sides and in the middle to reduce air space, foil tape to seal air in at joints.
2013-02-12%252017.59.05.jpg


There is a 1" lip and a matching 1" thick foam insulation piece adhered to the coffin lid that fits in to seal everything up.
2013-02-12%252017.59.38.jpg


The LED wiring is flat so it is just squished between the pieces of wood and run behind the insulation inside. It has a remote to operate which I hung off the back (seen on left corner).
2013-02-12%252018.00.34.jpg


And if you meant the main 'lid' here that is, the only computer fan I had lieing around is way to big for the hole but it moves a lot of air! Also the air pistons are nice piece of mind as it attaches the freezer to the base so I don't need to worry about it going over backwards, which I could see as a real possibility!
2013-02-12%252018.01.55.jpg


There is JUST enough room for 4 kegs and 1 carboy for lagering, got lucky! Also some harvested yeast on the hump :ban:
 
Hey smarch0,

Thanks for posting your build. I ripped it off in damn near every way!
About the only thing I did differently was to use a 2-part pour epoxy on top. I embedded some grains, hops, and a drip tray in the epoxy.
IMG_0405.JPG
 
Is your drip tray a self draining one? If not, how do you get the spilt beer out?
 
The base tile, is that the self-adhesive one?, I saw it at Lowe's. I was thinking of using the same thing. Back splash tile, same type of thing?
 
Drip tray has no drain as I didn't want to have to complicate the inside with drilling another hole and running more tubing. My plan is to just mop it out when needed with a bar rag.

The backs plash tile I got at Home depot. Not self-adhesive, but it was on a mesh netting. I used a adhesive/grout combo to stick it to the ply-wood and grout it.
 
Looks great! Did you pour the epoxy then set the drip tray in or pour around it with it in place? Roughly, how much did you buy and use? I'm assuming it's Envirotex or something similar?
 
Yeah the top looks awesome, nice job! A very clever use of the epoxy! Thanks for the props and glad I could help, your finished product looks great!

The epoxy I used is shown below, I almost made it with 1 box (1L) or ~32oz for you yanks, but had 1 or 2 spots not quite covered. So I let it dry, then re-poured another layer and it blended seamlessly! So it sounds like 64oz (2L) is the going rate for epoxy tops, final epoxy cost was maybe $90 after taxes.

I would recommend a heat gun for popping bubbles, I tried that and a hair dryer but the heat gun worked much better.


The epoxy I used
Y236000_4.jpg



Hey smarch0,

Thanks for posting your build. I ripped it off in damn near every way!
About the only thing I did differently was to use a 2-part pour epoxy on top. I embedded some grains, hops, and a drip tray in the epoxy.
 
The base tile, is that the self-adhesive one?, I saw it at Lowe's. I was thinking of using the same thing. Back splash tile, same type of thing?

If you mean my tile top, yes they are the self adhesive ones. I had to do a lot of "pre-planning" to make them all fit perfect.

They have a black backing so you can't see between them, but at some of the seams you could just barely see the wood. I fixed that by using a sharpie to color the wood black so it is not noticeable :)
 
If you mean my tile top, yes they are the self adhesive ones. I had to do a lot of "pre-planning" to make them all fit perfect.

They have a black backing so you can't see between them, but at some of the seams you could just barely see the wood. I fixed that by using a sharpie to color the wood black so it is not noticeable :)

Yeah those are the ones. I may end up using those as my back splash and some black polished stone for the base. I didn't plan the lid around tile, so it'll be fun to cut and make everything fit pretty.
 
Yeah the top looks awesome, nice job! A very clever use of the epoxy! Thanks for the props and glad I could help, your finished product looks great!

The epoxy I used is shown below, I almost made it with 1 box (1L) or ~32oz for you yanks, but had 1 or 2 spots not quite covered. So I let it dry, then re-poured another layer and it blended seamlessly! So it sounds like 64oz (2L) is the going rate for epoxy tops, final epoxy cost was maybe $90 after taxes.

I would recommend a heat gun for popping bubbles, I tried that and a hair dryer but the heat gun worked much better.

Man I didn't even realize you used epoxy also! Looks like I'm even more unoriginal! haha I used a torch on the bubbles which worked well. In the directions on the envirotex it says the C02 pops the bubbles not the heat and you can exhale on them and it will work also. I didn't believe it but the part I exhaled on they all vanished in a cascade which looked super cool. Torch was better for not having to lean over and put your face that close! I also dropped an awesome LED flashlight I had in the epoxy and ruined it :( :drunk:
 
Man I didn't even realize you used epoxy also! Looks like I'm even more unoriginal! haha I used a torch on the bubbles which worked well. In the directions on the envirotex it says the C02 pops the bubbles not the heat and you can exhale on them and it will work also. I didn't believe it but the part I exhaled on they all vanished in a cascade which looked super cool. Torch was better for not having to lean over and put your face that close! I also dropped an awesome LED flashlight I had in the epoxy and ruined it :( :drunk:

It was either epoxy or grout and I saw samples at the store of the metal tile and grout and it just did not look as nice. And as for being "unoriginal" are we not all for the most part copying some one else's idea anyways :p

And on the topic of LED lights, after seeing your top I had a crazy idea that you could take those LED rope lights or maybe LED light strips and epoxy those into the top!

It would suck if they ever burned out but LED's are supposed to last a long time...right? I'm sure some one could think of an awesome design with lights in the top!
 
It was either epoxy or grout and I saw samples at the store of the metal tile and grout and it just did not look as nice. And as for being "unoriginal" are we not all for the most part copying some one else's idea anyways :p

And on the topic of LED lights, after seeing your top I had a crazy idea that you could take those LED rope lights or maybe LED light strips and epoxy those into the top!

It would suck if they ever burned out but LED's are supposed to last a long time...right? I'm sure some one could think of an awesome design with lights in the top!

That is an awesome idea!:mug:
You could line the edge and it would make the entire surface light up I would think! Maybe hide them by overhanging a bit of the surface wood. Man I wish I thought of that!
 
That is an awesome idea!:mug:
You could line the edge and it would make the entire surface light up I would think! Maybe hide them by overhanging a bit of the surface wood. Man I wish I thought of that!

Think of it this way, you have plenty of time to think and plan it for the next one ;)
 
"Put the freezer on the base and reattached the lid. Used 2 auto trunk air shocks I found at PrincessAuto for $10 each! I didn't plan it but the spacing just happen to work out for the shocks to fold in beside the freezer...there was some luck involved in this project"

What was the final measurement of spacing between the freezer and your framing? I am starting to design my own spin-off of your build.
 
Back
Top