I would like to preface my post by saying I could not have done this without those that went before me and shared their work. I pulled lots of inspiration from Jester, lilrascal, specialized and the many others that have built coffin keezers. I would also like to thank Jester for sharing his sketchup drawings w/ me. It made things go a lot easier. So with all that said, I felt I had to share my build in hopes that it will also inspire or help someone at a later date.
My build had couple of unique requirements so some of the processes and materials used were very different from others.
First, we simply do not have space in our house for a keezer inside. We also do not have a garage or basement. However, we have a huge covered deck where we host all our parties. There is also a dedicated beverage refrigerator outside so a keezer on the deck makes sense.
Secondly, termites are a HUGE problem in hawaii. At night, they actually fly around like flies or mosquitos. So, a nice wooden cabinet sitting outside on the deck has the potential to get destroyed rather quickly.
Third, I HATE staining wood. I've done it a few times and it never turns out the way i want it to. I wanted to try to avoid this as much as possible.
Because of these problems/requirements, the decision was made to frame the keezer out of treated lumber and plywood. From there, it would be vaneered and trimmed it out with hard wood flooring. The hard wood flooring chosen is a brazilian cherry that is so hard that the termites will not touch it. It was so hard in fact that while we were cutting it we had to go very slow or it would stall the table saw. The added benefit is that the hard wood flooring is already finished. The downside is that it came in 3 foot sections so there is a seam in a few places on the keezer but I can live with it.
Enough talk, on to the pics!
My build had couple of unique requirements so some of the processes and materials used were very different from others.
First, we simply do not have space in our house for a keezer inside. We also do not have a garage or basement. However, we have a huge covered deck where we host all our parties. There is also a dedicated beverage refrigerator outside so a keezer on the deck makes sense.
Secondly, termites are a HUGE problem in hawaii. At night, they actually fly around like flies or mosquitos. So, a nice wooden cabinet sitting outside on the deck has the potential to get destroyed rather quickly.
Third, I HATE staining wood. I've done it a few times and it never turns out the way i want it to. I wanted to try to avoid this as much as possible.
Because of these problems/requirements, the decision was made to frame the keezer out of treated lumber and plywood. From there, it would be vaneered and trimmed it out with hard wood flooring. The hard wood flooring chosen is a brazilian cherry that is so hard that the termites will not touch it. It was so hard in fact that while we were cutting it we had to go very slow or it would stall the table saw. The added benefit is that the hard wood flooring is already finished. The downside is that it came in 3 foot sections so there is a seam in a few places on the keezer but I can live with it.
Enough talk, on to the pics!