19.7 Monster Coffin Build

Well here we are again. I built a full coffin decked out keezer from a 7.2 magic chef. I threw that sucker on Craigslist for twice as much as I thought it was worth, and that plan backfired, it sold! So now I bought a brand new 19.7 ct GE cheat freezer. I am doing just a collar on this build and keepin it more simple in regards to the design. Bought some supplies from home depot tonigt and will start on the second keezer build now. Check out my profile if you want to see how badass the first one turned out.

So first thing I plan on doin is sanding the freezer down and painting it black. I took the lid off tonigt and broke that down. I'm trying to just spray paint the stock lid seal black and see how that turns out. My collar will be attached to the lid so everything lifts up and out of the way. It's night one and not much work got done but stay tuned for more action.


Lid off, seal removed as well as the shell under the lid. Pretty damn easy to take off.




Ya, that's red maple. In Alaska, this stuff is 10$ per linear board foot, so I'm kinda going all out. I bought some "gunstock" color stain for the collar that I think will look sweet with the black freezer. We shall see...

How many kegs you planning on getting in there?

You're just running the taps through the collar?

I kno it will fit atleast 12 cornies. I plan on running a mixture of homebrew and commercial beers so there will be various sizes of kegs in it.

Ya my taps will be ran threw the collar. I built a coffin on the last one and don't feel like doing that on a 20 cf freezer.

Order my keg parts from "learn to brew" so we will see how quickly they get it up to Alaska for me.

I just got my hands on a 19.7 CF from my Grandfather and the wife has stated that for it to come in the house it has to "look like it belongs" i.e. not like a freezer so I'm watching your build to see if I can pull this off with just a collar or am I going whole hog on a coffin build.

Nice. You could easily spend like 2500$ building a coffin style from a freezer this size. And the lid on my 7.2 build was obnoxiously heavy... Have my doubts if I could even lift a finished coffin top on a 20 cf freezer with tiles and 6-12 taps. I would like to see it done though!!

907_fellow said:

Nice. You could easily spend like 2500$ building a coffin style from a freezer this size. And the lid on my 7.2 build was obnoxiously heavy... Have my doubts if I could even lift a finished coffin top on a 20 cf freezer with tiles and 6-12 taps. I would like to see it done though!!

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I keep telling her that, but she wants me to "at least price it" and then figure out how to make it "not be that nasty color" meaning something that doesn't match the furniture already. So make it nice and let me show yours off and I won't have to fight her on it

Subscribed for version 2.0!

Mine is just going to involve painting the exterior of the freezer black, adding the 1x8" red maple color with a "gunstock" stain, and adding the same thing on the bottom ( basically a 1x4" collar that will cover up the wheels and such on the bottom). This one won't look like a peice of furniture as much as a coffin build but I am still going to try and make it look nice. Here is a pic of my previous build. That one cost me $1250.


My plan tonigt is to ruin the brand new 19.7 cf freezer and sand it enough for the new paint to stick .

Have a 12 tap on mine I can fit 14 kegs plus 2 3gallon kegs on the hump I went with a coffin

What size collar? Can't fit 5 gallons on the hump?

Well if you want to kno how to void the warranty on a $650 freezer that you haven't even plugged in, this is one way...


Sanded her a bit with 220 grit and threw one coat of primer on her. No more time tonight, off to the girlfriends house for dinner....

907_fellow said:

Mine is just going to involve painting the exterior of the freezer black, adding the 1x8" red maple color with a "gunstock" stain, and adding the same thing on the bottom ( basically a 1x4" collar that will cover up the wheels and such on the bottom). This one won't look like a peice of furniture as much as a coffin build but I am still going to try and make it look nice. Here is a pic of my previous build. That one cost me $1250. View attachment 72948


My plan tonigt is to ruin the brand new 19.7 cf freezer and sand it enough for the new paint to stick .

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You sold that one for $2500?

That's correct

907_fellow said:

Mine is just going to involve painting the exterior of the freezer black, adding the 1x8" red maple color with a "gunstock" stain, and adding the same thing on the bottom ( basically a 1x4" collar that will cover up the wheels and such on the bottom). This one won't look like a peice of furniture as much as a coffin build but I am still going to try and make it look nice. Here is a pic of my previous build. That one cost me $1250. View attachment 72948


My plan tonigt is to ruin the brand new 19.7 cf freezer and sand it enough for the new paint to stick .

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I saw that work of art on craiglist (I'm in Anchorage)! Good luck on the new build, looking forward to the final product.

Kershner_Ale said:

I saw that work of art on craiglist (I'm in Anchorage)! Good luck on the new build, looking forward to the final product.

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You should have bought her! Know anyone else that wants to buy one up there? It sold to a lady on fort rich

I already have one taking up room I don't have to spare in the garage That one will get converted to a ferm chamber and I'll be building a new keezer this winter. I don't know anyone looking to buy one, you could try asking on Great Northern Brew Club's facebook page.

Hell, if I knew there were such a strong market for kegerators in AK I'd start building my own to sell!

Kershner_Ale said:

Hell, if I knew there were such a strong market for kegerators in AK I'd start building my own to sell!

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No you don't want to do that. I got in locked down. Don't need any others encroaching on my potential clientele!

On another note, anyone have problems with primer sticking to the freezer? I used an automotive primer and it didn't want to stick all that well. Kinda did the whole crack and run thing. I have seen spray paint do this before when painting interior automotive parts but I didn't think it would be an issue on the freezer, since I sanded the whole thing. Hopefully the appliance enamel will go on better.

907_fellow said:

On another note, anyone have problems with primer sticking to the freezer? I used an automotive primer and it didn't want to stick all that well. Kinda did the whole crack and run thing. I have seen spray paint do this before when painting interior automotive parts but I didn't think it would be an issue on the freezer, since I sanded the whole thing. Hopefully the appliance enamel will go on better.

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Don't they make appliance paint specifically for these applications or am I wrong?

They do. That's what I am using for the top coat, but I tried to lay down some automotive primer and the freezer didn't bond with it. I'm sure the appliance paint for the top coat will stick better.

What did you clean with after sanding?

Might just be the enamel on their is not compatible with auto paints.

I used a latex primer one coat covered it all. I also went white to black

I sanded, whipped down with a damp rag and also paint thinner. No worries though, the black appliance paint stuck like a dream.


Now I need to kick this nasty hangover so I can start working on the collar. Had an open house get a little out of hand last night...

I'm gonna blame the paint thinner. That's like rubbing oil all over the metal.

For an automotive paint, you need a wax and grease remover to get rid of all the oil and then a final wipe with a dry tack cloth.

Paint thinner is designed for oil based paints. Glad the other paint stuck!

It only did it in a couple spots so I don't kno. Oh well though, it's painted and looks like it came from the factory. To hungover today to do any work. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive...

Made some more progress today. Got the coffin cut and glued. First tried to miter the corners, However my miter saw didn't have a big enough blade to cut all the way threw the 1x8" boards and I just couldn't make it work. So I got pissed and just did butt joints ha.


After getting that clamped and secured for curing over night, I built a base for it to attach the wheels. It's made from 2x4"s and I will cover the outside of that with 1x4" hardwood (same as the collar). It turned out good, just gotta wait for my clamps to be freed up so I can attach the hardwood to the base.



Good progress today. More to come tomorrow.

I'm also doing a collar build from white to black. I haven't done the painting yet but based on other threads I have read I don't think the paint will adhere to the white collar gasket. Someone here has used black plasti-dip with success. It comes in a spray paint and it is basically sprayable rubber. It's in Home Depot paint dept.

Plasti dip is a savior

Punity said:

Plasti dip is a savior

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Is Plasti-Dip what you used? I saw your pic in another thread with the black gasket connected to the collar. Looks great.

watched a guy plasti dip his entire truck with it. i didnt use it on mine but i believe i steered a fellow member to use it becuase its that great

I used the appliance paint on my gasket. It stuck great and doesn't look like its coming off easily. The gasket might be slightly more rigid now, however I don't think it is enough to cause any issues.

Had time this morning before work to mock up the collar and see how it will fit. It's gonna look nice once its sanded and stained. Got 5 faucets coming in the mail from " Learn To Brew" but I think eventually I will go to 8.

907_fellow said:

View attachment 73379

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you sure that those wheels connected to a horizontal board with the weight of several full kegs and a freezer will hold?

It's lookin sweet Jon!!!!

slakwhere said:

you sure that those wheels connected to a horizontal board with the weight of several full kegs and a freezer will hold?

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Guess we will find out wont we? I can easily stand on each one with zero flex. They are wedged in tight enough I had to hammer them into place, then several 3" wood screws. That is an easy fix if It does break...

One coat of stain, and 5 tap holes drilled last night.

Coming along nicely. Got the lid glue to the collar, and the base with wheels completed. Tonight, install the seal gasket around the bottom of the collar, put my new plywood top on the underside of the lid to cover the insulation in the top, and install hinges. Taps and all remaining parts arrive Friday from "learn to brew". Almost done!

Finished all the hard work tonight.



Installed my new plywood top for the lid.



Installed the spray painted factory seal, with the plastic factory clips to the collar.



Installed hinges to the collar and freezer using new bolts to hopefully strengthen it up a bit...seems very solid.



And the lid opens!!



Threw on some foil tape to clean up the edges of the insulation.



And here it sits, waiting for my taps to arrive tomorrow!

Totally impressed

Good idea on the foil tape I'm stealing that haha. I was wondering what I was gonna do about the little white balls I had flying all over my garage