What wood for keezer collar?

My options at Lowes seem to be oak poplar aspen pine or cedar? Obviously looks and ability to resist scratches/dings are important.

I'm partial to oak myself. Cheap, durable, easy to work with, and looks great with lots of different finishes. Cedar would hold up to condensation better, but if you seal the wood, any of them will last a long time.

Yeah, it's LARGELY going to be appearance choice. Since you're going to have insulation behind it the properties of the wood itself are largely irrelevant.

I went cheap. Bought a 2x8 piece of pine and stained it. I think it looks decent.

Mine is collar free but I used pine for the top and the coffin box and it's worked very nicely.

I wanted to avoid cupping, twisting, and bowing that tends to come along with 2x8 on up. I suppose I could have picked through the lumber but I had some plywood already so I built mine out of that. You can see it here if you are interested.

Red oak choice boards for the win! I've done a lot of woodworking with red oak for nice furniture-grade aquarium stands and it's FAR better than pine with a TON more character.

Build it, sand it really well, fill in any nail/screw holes with a mix of sanding dust and wood glue (mixed to form a putty consistency), sand down the filled spots, coat in your favorite stain with a couple of light coats, then grab a can of minwax polyurethane semi-gloss. Give it a very thin coat, let it dry. Give it another very thin coat, let it dry. Wet sand this coat so that it is nice and smooth. Then give it two more coats as above and you're done with a finish that is super slick and will last forever.

@deadboy:

You've got your kegerator; now get to work on those game cabinets!

Haha, well the TRON and the "Street Fighter" already work. Actually the SF cabinet is a MAME/Entertainment center. The Golden Tee is a future project. Supposed to be converting it and another cabinet into MAME machines when friends raise the scratch. Here is a pic of the big one:

Edit: actually I should take some new pics of the MAME. I've added cup/bottle holders and a pop up panel for a keyboard.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Resume speaking of wood

If you're going to paint it use poplar. Pine is fine too but it's softer and tends to warp easily. Oak is nice with a finish but I find the price ridiculous at the big boxes so I avoid it. It's really heavy too and a little rough on tools because it's so hard. Actually the price for any of them at a big box is ridiculous but unless you have a planer you don't have much of a choice. Never used cedar but as someone else mentioned it'll hold up to moisture.

If you want to get interesting, find a cool colored stain. I built a toy shelf for my wife's collectible toys, used a green stain on the outside and painted the inside white. Looks really neat.

deadboy said:

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Resume speaking of wood

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Errr ummm yeah..... wood If you are going to stain then then go with the oak, cedar would be cool but pricey. I'd go with the poplar and paint it.

klyph said:

I'm partial to oak myself. Cheap, durable, easy to work with, and looks great with lots of different finishes. Cedar would hold up to condensation better, but if you seal the wood, any of them will last a long time.

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+1
This would be one of the more durable. Oak's density really keeps up against the constant dings, maintenance, and contact that may occur around the faucets. The grain on oak is also a wonderful thing (if you stain).


One that many people don't think of, is poplar. Lowes and HD have this as their mid grade type. Poplar is denser than pine, but not as solid as oak. It holds screws and very well, better than pine in many cases. It also is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than oak. I use it a lot, as the price point is considerably less than the finer woods, and I can say, "it's just a little more than pine".


If you are just building a functional keezer, not a furniture showpiece a pine would be fine as well. A keezer hanging out in a garage, using pine, would work fine.

FWIW I have a pine collar and it's fine, looks OK and solid enough for the job but... for the sake of a few bucks, I regret my choice. It's a one-time operation so get something you're happy with and... live with it! Pine is perfect for that cheap furniture strapped to freezer look but it's the beer that counts

Thanks for all the replys! It looks like oak is the winner! I'm on my way to the hardware store now to pick up a miter saw.

I'm also considering mounting the digital temperature control to the front of the collar. This is really my first wood working project and was wondering what is the best way to make the cut out. My tool selection is pretty slim but I'm not opposed to spending money to add to it if need be.

I used a Control Products TC 9102D HV Temperature Controller. I mounted it on the back of my coffin box and just drilled a hole thru the wood and ran the thermometer down into the chest. You could do the same on the collar. all it takes is 4 screws to mount it to the wood. Just be sure to use some silicone or caulk in the hole for the thermometer to keep out moisture.

Good choice on the Red Oak. Like others I used a Love TS-13010 controller. I like how it looks mounted in the collar and it was straight forward to wire in and configure. There is also a lot of good doc here such as -TH-'s wiring diagram.

If you gave the means, use repurposed oak. It's half the price and has a good character about it. Something about used wood really is nice.

divi2323 said:

If you gave the means, use repurposed oak. It's half the price and has a good character about it. Something about used wood really is nice.

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I agree 100%.

One of the ways I actually talked my Mrs. into letting me pick up this hobby was that it is a real way to recycle all the time. I actually reuse (TRUE recycling) old bottles and kegs. I can use the spent grain as compost or in bread. All my keezer stuff is chock full of repurposed wood and PVC.

I used 6" red oak for mine and just used a clear satin finish. The color looks great and the durability has been excellent.

I used poplar for mine turned out nice. I painted mine black.

Here's mine, stained poplar...

Fell a tree in the Redwood forest, something of the 1,000 year old variety.
Have a bonfire party.
Don't tell a soul.
Revel in the most beautiful collar on earth.
Live without shame.

That is my suggestion...

Schnitzengiggle said:

Fell a tree in the Redwood forest, something of the 1,000 year old variety.
Have a bonfire party.
Don't tell a soul.
Revel in the most beautiful collar on earth.
Live without shame.

That is my suggestion...

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I can think of no better use for a thousand year old redwood.

Gritsak said:

Here's mine, stained poplar...

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How did you attach your drip tray?

2x4.

tellyho said:

2x4.[/QUOTE
Really? Would you mind sharing some close up photos? Did you drill anything into the Keezer wall?

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