Jersh's Coffin keezer build - second attempt

Here is the the bar top after attaching the coffin and pouring the epoxy....

And here is the final product! I finished everything up tonight, all that is left is to attach the gas quick disconnects and I will do that tomorrow before I pour the first pint!





I have some more photos of the build to post, I'll do that later this week.

Looks great. Nicely done.

holy smokes that is a work of art!

nice job!

Your keezer looks great. I too am in the process of making my keezer and want to do a bottle cap top. I have a few questions in regards to that and your coffin if you don’t mind answering.



1. What epoxy did you use and how much did it take?

2. Did you use anything to protect the wood while pouring?

3. Why did you paint the MDF underneath and what did you use? Do you feel it is necessary?

4. Do you have any other tips on the bottle caps/epoxy combo?

5. What height is the centerline of your taps related to the MDF top and what is the dimension in between the centers of each tap?

6. What is your overall height/depth/width of your coffin?



Thanks for taking the time to answer whatever you can.



Coy94

That is really very nice. You did a great job.

Here are the obligatory First Pour photos... I'm pouring a big imperial stout that I brewed about a year ago, it was intended to go into my 5 gallon whiskey barrel but I wasn't pleased with the beer at the time so I just kegged it and put it in the closet... Time worked wonders, this beer is ridiculously delicious after aging!





Coy94, I'll answer your questions tomorrow

coy94 said:

Your keezer looks great. I too am in the process of making my keezer and want to do a bottle cap top. I have a few questions in regards to that and your coffin if you don’t mind answering.

Coy94

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm happy to answer your questions...

1. What epoxy did you use and how much did it take?
- I used Glaze Coat from Lowe's... I started off with a gallon and that should have been enough for everything, however I ended up having to get an additional quart to use for a 2nd pour on the bar top. See explanation here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/need-help-fixing-blemish-epoxy-keezer-top-398119/

Cost was $62 for the gallon and $22 for the quart

2. Did you use anything to protect the wood while pouring?
-Nope. I probably should have but I was careful. I did have a few drips that got on the finished wood but I was able to wipe them off immediately and the finish on the wood is fine.

3. Why did you paint the MDF underneath and what did you use? Do you feel it is necessary?
-I'm guessing you mean the MDF underneath the bottle caps? If so, the reason is simply because I wanted the visible gaps between the bottle caps to be black. I used standard spray paint for this.

4. Do you have any other tips on the bottle caps/epoxy combo?
- I used a hot glue gun to glue all of the caps down before pouring the epoxy. I just put one good dollop of glue inside each cap and put it into position, allowing the glue to then run down and set. So each cap only had a small area glued down. This was the quickest and easiest way that I found to get them down and prevent them from ‘floating’ up after pouring the epoxy, however obviously each cap was pretty much an air bubble waiting to happen. I was successful in keeping the bubbles at bay in both the coffin top and the coffin backsplash, however I ended up with a bunch of bubbles in the main bar pour. I had NO problem with bubbles when I poured the 2nd layer on the top, but that was because all of the caps were already covered. I think the only way to prevent the bubbles would be to some how seal the caps completely. Two ways I thought about doing this, first would be to completely fill the inside of the cap with hot-glue. 2nd would be to pour a small amount of epoxy for a thin layer over a smallish area, and then put the caps into this…. I think the 2nd way would be best, but would also be pretty challenging as well. It would be more manageable if you had someone to help you. Beyond that, just make sure you work in a warm room. The first two pours I made it was probably around 55-60 degrees in my garage. The epoxy was pretty thick. The main bar pour it was around 75 in my garage and the epoxy was a lot thinner and easier to work with.

5. What height is the centerline of your taps related to the MDF top and what is the dimension in between the centers of each tap?
- centerline of taps is 12.25” over MDF. Taps are 3.5” between centers

6. What is your overall height/depth/width of your coffin?
-13 7/8” H x 12” D x 26.5” W

VERY nice!

Jersh,


Thanks for the quick reply. That is some great information that will come in handy.

Coy94

Here are the final photos of my build.... I had so incredibly much fun building this thing. I'm drinking a beer from it as I type this....

Here is a view of the storage space for the tanks... Also you can see here how I mounted my secondary regulators. I wanted them to be easily accessible but out of the way, so this was the best spot for them.



Here is a view from the back. I ended up taking my jig saw to the 2x4 along the top after I took this photo , I cut it back some to make it easier to get the tanks in and out.



Here's a view of the back of my coffin.



Here's a view of the inside of the coffin after all the tubing was installed. I used aluminum foil tape to try to seal the openings around all the lines. I'm sure it's not perfect but it's gotta be better than nothing.



And here is the final image... This is looking into the coffin from the top with the 'lid' to the inner insulated chamber installed. I used the aluminum foil tape to seal the lower pieces of insulation, however for this top piece I want to have access to the coffin without destroying the insulation so I got a couple thick but easily compressible sponges to place on of the insulation. When I put the lid to the coffin on and screwed it in it compressed the sponges and should hold the lid on pretty tight (hopefully at least).




And that is all she wrote folks!

Awesome build, if I ever build a keezer it will be like this.

Looks great- saving for later