Knotty Pine and Cedar Log Keezer Build

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Hoppopotomus

Cedar Hollow Brewing
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
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Location
Ortonville/Oxford
I finally got my hands on a 7 cu. ft. GE chest freezer. I bought it from a couple on CL who only had it 3 months and decided that they didn't need it. I picked it up for $125 and they are about $100 more than that new!
I am attempting to build an oversided cabinet with casters and dressing it out with T&G knotty pine and cedar logs to match my bar decor. I want to build a collarless, coffin style Keezer. I really want to thank everyone who has take the time to post their pics of their keezers and to those who chronicled their builds from start to finish. I especially want to thank the likes of Jester, Brew Pastor, Jake The Hop Dog (Keith), Lilrascal, Clubbinaz, and Kegtoe to name a few who have made phenomenal keezers!

Attached is a couple of older pics of my bar. It is all done except drop ceiling at this point, so these pics. are a couple of weeks old. Here are the pics of the bar. Pics of my build so far will follow.

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OK, here are a few shots of the freezer. It is in perfect shape, so I'm pretty excited with my find. I plan on making a 3 (possibly 4) tap system. Three 5 gallon ball lock kegs fit on the floor easily. After talking to a few people that have coverted the 7 cu. ft. GE, I guess 4 will fit, but it's a pretty tight squeeze. I really don't want to build a collar, so I'll most likely prep it for 4 taps and cram a 4th in or I may use a 3 1/2 gallon on the hump for rootbeer for the kids. I'm going to line the bottom with rubberized material that Keith (Jake the Hop Dog) did with his keezer. Thanks for the ideas Keith! :mug:

Here are the pics. of the freezer.

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I got to work on framing the cabinet earlier today. I have been working crazy hours, but did manage to spend about 4 hours on it today. The first group of picturs are how I framed the base and installed the casters. I went with 175 lb. rated hard rubber, swivel casters.

I want to warn you in advance that I am not a master carpenter like some of the guys that I have mentioned. I am truly impressed with the craftmanship of some of the builds on HBT. Your not going to see a lot of mitering, dove tailing, routering, etc. on this build. I'm not using any fancy design software, I'm just winging as I go, like I did with the rest of the bar. Just rustic, easy to work with materials and milled logs to trim it out. Simple, easy, and not a lot of precision required. ;)

Spent about $50 for the 2"x4" studs, screws, and 3/16" T&G knotty pine. Still haven't purchased the materials for the top.

Here's the base.

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Here are some pics. that I took as I was framing the oversized cabinet for the keezer. The 7 cf GE calls for 3" of space around all surfaces. Since this unit does not have cooling coils on the back like the Sunbeam that Lilrascal used, I wanted to create more than enough space around the outer skin of the freezer to prevent overheating. I PM'd several people who have used this unit and there hasn't seemed to be a problem with overheating as long as there is adequate space around the unit. I framed it so that there is a 5" airspace between the inner walls of the cabinet and the freezer walls. I then decided to leave the back completely open and vent all 3 sides of the cabinet to be safe. Here are pics of the framing.

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I was also able to get the cabinet covered with the T&G knotty pine and installed all of the vents. The GE has the compressor in the lower right side of the unit with a large vent for cooling. I have also heard that heat build-up dissipates through the skin of the unit on all sides. I decided to put a 6" x 10" vent in the right side of the unit at the bottom, so that heat can escape and not get trapped in the cabinet. I then put a 3" x 10" vent on both the right and left side of the unit, but higher on the cabinet to allow any rising heat from the skin of the unit to escape from the cabinet. For these three vents, I used cheap white wall vents from HD ($15 for all 3). I decided to place a 3" x 12" vent in the front of the cabinet as well to allow heat to escape. For the front vent, I used a brushed nickel vent ($12), so it will match the SS drip pan and faucets when complete. I probably went waaaaay overboard with the venting, but what the hell. Better to be safe than sorry. Here are some pics. :mug: Is it possible for this thing to overheat? Any feedback would be great. I really don't want to install fans if I don't have to.

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Here are some pics with the freezer slid into the cabinet. It fit like a glove and I am pleased with the progress that I made today. I am heading to my parents this weekend to get more red cedar logs to mill for trims to match the bar. My dad has a lot of red cedar trees that have fallen over, uprooted, or simply died while standing. All of the logs used in my projects (see My Basement Bar Build) were harvested off of his property. Once I have the log corner trims in place, then I'll move onto the top. I'm doing a coffin, so I need to start planning it out. :)

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Finally...the last couple of pics for the day. Just a shot from the top and from the back. Once the top is completed and I'm ready to start using this thing, I'll put a brace across the back to prevent the unit from sliding. I'm open to any and all feedback and suggestions at this point. Also, I still need to purchase either a 3 or 4 tap system, so anyone that has leads on the best place, with the best prices to purchase these components, please let me know. Thanks for following my thread so far. I'll update it periodically as I progress with the build. :tank:

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Awesome! I'm excited to see the progess.
And even though you claim to have no skills, you got a heck of a lot more done in 4 hours than I ever would have. Congrats on the great start!
 
Thanks STP! I absolutely love building things, but I just don't have any custom cabinetry or trim carpentry experience (or the tools for that matter). Thankfully with the rustic lodge decor that I am going for in my basement, precision isn't crucial. As you can see by the pics, I simply roughed the cabinet in and then covered it with knotty pine and popped a few vents in. When you look at the work that many of the others on HBT have done, like building custom, recessed panels for their cabinets, dove tail joints, fancy routering, etc., that stuff is waaaaaaay harder than what I'm doing. The hardest part of this project is going to be milling corner log trims on a table saw. Thanks again for the compliment. Cheers! :mug:

Awesome! I'm excited to see the progess.
And even though you claim to have no skills, you got a heck of a lot more done in 4 hours than I ever would have. Congrats on the great start!
 
Thanks starrfish...good to hear from you. I'm going to try to drill out deer antlers to use as tap handles. They are a b*tch to drill out, but I'm gonna give it a go. I made a towel hanging rack for my hot tub out of a red cedar slab and deer antlers and drilling the ends of the racks was horrible and it smelled like burning hair. Took me forever to drill 4 of them!!! If anyone knows what kind of drill bit would help out the process please let me know. Thanks again starrfish. I look forward to your brew day pics! :mug:

That's looking AWESOME!!!! I just replaced my standard tap handles with these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...5MRDxKw%3D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I saw them recently on an old episode of "Cheers" the rival bar "Gary's Olde Town Tavern" had all their taps done with these. I liked the short look it gave the taps.

At some point I may try to make some tap handles...
 
Thanks starrfish...good to hear from you. I'm going to try to drill out deer antlers to use as tap handles. They are a b*tch to drill out, but I'm gonna give it a go. I made a towel hanging rack for my hot tub out of a red cedar slab and deer antlers and drilling the ends of the racks was horrible and it smelled like burning hair. Took me forever to drill 4 of them!!! If anyone knows what kind of drill bit would help out the process please let me know. Thanks again starrfish. I look forward to your brew day pics! :mug:

Nice bar, start with a small bit and work you way up and yes it stinks.
Where did you get the bar top ?

Pat
 
I'm going to try to drill out deer antlers to use as tap handles.

What a good idea! :D

It's looking good already and I hate to say it, but i'm not feeling the brushed nickel vent on the front. Other than that it looks perfect and i'm very jealous.

When you say you're doing a coffin, you mean an actual coffin top, right? Not just a tower or two? I have faith that it'll look as awesome as the rest of the basement. Look forward to the progress!
 
Thanks Pat. I got the bar top from Artisan Redwood Burl in Berkely, CA from a guy named Jim Parodi. Took me forever to find the top and with me being in Michigan, it was pretty scary buying something like this that I couldn't see first. He was great and emailed me tons of pictures to put my mind at ease. I would strongly recommend his company. DO NOT try to go through www.redwoodburl.com! They claim to have 100's of slabs, but over a 3 week timeframe failed to send me a picture of anything useable. They sent me two pictures over 3 weeks and one slab was covered in mud and water damaged and the other was 46" wide and only 6' long. They just couldn't produce proof that they had what I wanted. Eventhough their website has tons of pictures of beautiful redwood slabs, they are old pics. I did some looking around and they seem to have a history of not shipping what was pictured on their site. Thanks for the advice on drilling the antlers.

Nice bar, start with a small bit and work you way up and yes it stinks.
Where did you get the bar top ?

Pat
 
Yes a coffin top with 4 tap handles. I'm coming up with ideas on how to not only build it, but to also cool it as well.

Yeah, I'm a little on the fence with the vent in the front as well. I really wanted to make sure that there was plenty of ventilation, but with the back being open, vents on the sides would have probably been fine. I went with the brushed nickel, because eventhough the entire basement is in a rustic lodge decor, all of the fixtures are brushed nickel. We used a lot of the leftover fixtures from building the rest of the house and actually the brushed nickel seems to go fairly well with the rustic decor.

Lets take a poll: Who likes the vent and who hates it. I'll get everyones feedback and then decide if it stays or goes. Thanks for the response. :mug:

What a good idea! :D

It's looking good already and I hate to say it, but i'm not feeling the brushed nickel vent on the front. Other than that it looks perfect and i'm very jealous.

When you say you're doing a coffin, you mean an actual coffin top, right? Not just a tower or two? I have faith that it'll look as awesome as the rest of the basement. Look forward to the progress!
 
I do not like the vent in the front

I think with the back open and side vents you have NOTHING to worry about


-=jason=-
 
i say remove all vents. the whole back is open, right? just don't push it right up against a wall and you're golden.
 
Thanks starrfish....I was really starting to think that everone was going to respond with a big ole " I hate it". I'm on the fence but my wife likes it, so I am leaning towards keeping it. Mainly due to the fact that I used finish nails and liquid nails, so it's going to be a b*tch to get the knotty pine back off. I'm going to get started on the top and the log trims on Sunday and then I'll see how it looks. At that point if it looks a little out of place, then I may go through the effort of removing it. I honestly think that it won't look nearly as out of place once I have the SS components incorporated, but we'll see.

I like the vent..
 
I honestly think that it won't look nearly as out of place once I have the SS components incorporated, but we'll see.

That's what I was thinking too. Once you get all the stuff on top decked out the way you want it, with all the taps and drip tray and stuff, it's probably not even going to be that noticeable or take away from anything.
 
Looks Good, after your done you can help me build one.... If you like the vent then leave it and like you said it will match the rest of fixtures.
 
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'll see after I start attaching log trims and building the top. Removing it is not out of the question, but for now I'll keep it. It doesn't look all that different than a side mounted drip tray on a collar keezer that has the faucets coming out of the side of the collar. Thanks for the response and feedback. :mug:

That's what I was thinking too. Once you get all the stuff on top decked out the way you want it, with all the taps and drip tray and stuff, it's probably not even going to be that noticeable or take away from anything.
 
When I'm done, I'm wanting to move on to the single tier all grain system. Already have three 15.5 gallon SS kegs and the steel, now just need the time and components. Oh yeah... somewhere along the way I need to get the drop ceiling and carpeting installed in the rest of the basement. :drunk: My wife really didn't want me to start this keezer project until the ENTIRE basement was done, but I guess we just have different priorities. :D If I start the brewing rig before the basement is completed, she's really going to get pi$$ed!

Looks Good, after your done you can help me build one.... If you like the vent then leave it and like you said it will match the rest of fixtures.
 
Hey pottomas,
What casters did you use for the build? The only thing I would be careful about would be to make sure they don't leave black marks if you need to roll this thing around. A guy that I met had one in his basement and his black casters made some really bad marks on the floor when it was loaded with 3-4 kegs and a couple cases of bottles.

I'm VERY glad to see you kept with the theme of your bar! A big white freezer would look out of place. I don't know how I feel about the vent on the front. It looks to me like a wooden diffuser would look better than the metal one, but that's just my opinion and I don't know much. :)
GREAT build, and you absolutely have some wood shop skillz!!!
 
Interested in casters too. Was thinking about replacing feet on danby mini fridge. rolling would be so much easier than sliding/picking up to get it to back mini deck for bbqs with friends in summer.

Again, with the vents Once the chrome tower and taps are on there.... it will tie in nice... sink behind bar is stainless too (see his build pics) need a little tie in so what little steel/chrome doesn't stand out too much. I have a 1940's chrome stand ashtray I use for cigars that has a small table around it for cocktails that came from a philly hotel lobby. I Had it in an all wood paneled man room/office with chrome drawer pulls, door knobs, and hinges when I was a married man. Tied the wood & chrome together nicely! I even did window latches bright shiny. any metal was that way, brushed or chrome. brought it all together... I went as far as to replace the trim rivets on a couch with nickel finish ones... I wish I still had pics.
 
Gridlocked/Starrfish,

I got the casters at HD. They had 2 different selections....one was a hard plastic and one was called soft rubber. At the advise of the HD worker in that department, I spent a couple of extra bucks each on the soft rubber ones. Eventhough the soft rubber casters feel hard to the touch, when they are loaded with significant weight they actually compress and increase the surface area of the wheel on the floor, which increases friction and prevents sliding of the caster on the floor surface. The hard plastic ones do not compress, which means less surface area in contact with the floor surface and poorer "traction" so to speak. They tend to be more prone to sliding and leaving black marks on the floor. Since this thing is going on the slate floor, which is inherently an uneven surface, I'm hoping the rubber ones work better. I think they were the 2" and rated for 175lbs. each, but I'll have to double check. They were around $4 each, so pretty reasonable I think.

Maybe I should carefully climb inside of the freezer and have my wife push it around on the smooth concrete to see if it make any marks on the floor. I may try it to test the theory out.

I looked at the wooded diffusers at HD, but couldn't find pine (just Maple and Oak) and they were $20 each. This one was only $11.95, so that's why I went with it. Swapping it out is still not out of the question, but I'll wait until the end to see what it looks like with the other SS components.

Hey pottomas,
What casters did you use for the build? The only thing I would be careful about would be to make sure they don't leave black marks if you need to roll this thing around. A guy that I met had one in his basement and his black casters made some really bad marks on the floor when it was loaded with 3-4 kegs and a couple cases of bottles.

I'm VERY glad to see you kept with the theme of your bar! A big white freezer would look out of place. I don't know how I feel about the vent on the front. It looks to me like a wooden diffuser would look better than the metal one, but that's just my opinion and I don't know much. :)
GREAT build, and you absolutely have some wood shop skillz!!!
 
Right on! Looks like you've done your homework. :) Yeah, I hear you about those wood diffusers being silly expensive. You should just make one! You've clearly got the skillz and a pile of scraps...

*Edit* I hope your family feels better! Our family was sick for a month, and it was terrible. A week and a half later, I started feeling the crud again, one of mine has a cough and the other spiked a fever again last night. This SUCKS!
 
An update on the build..... I'm supposed to go out of town to visit my parents this weekend. I was going to pick up the cedar logs to trim this out. My daughter (6 y/o) came home from school yesterday with the flu. She was up all night vomitting and is still not feeling great, so we may have to postpone the trip until next weekend. My son (8 y/o) also has a nasty cough, so it's a big germ fest. at my house right now. :( If my daughter starts to miraculously feel better throughout the day, we may leave later tonight or tomorrow morning, but I'm not holding my breath.

I need the vertical corner trim logs installed on the cabinet before I can size the top, so about all I can do in the meantime is start designing and building the coffin for the top.
 
I was able to make it down to my parents to visit and get some cedar logs. Working 14 hours today, but 1/2 day tomorrow. I plan on getting some work done on the keezer starting tomorrow. Just waiting for some of the snow to melt, so I can rip the logs on my table saw outside on my patio. I'll post pics tomorrow of the progress. :mug:
 
I'm going to start milling logs today when I get home from work to trim this thing out. Once they are fitted and installed, I can then size my top and get to work on the top end of the unit.

Are any of you guys really good with the electronics side of things? I'm ordering a Love controller (TS model) for temperature control over my keezer. I haven't a frickin' clue how to overide the existing thermostat controls. If any of you guys could offer some "how to" advice or point me in the right direction on HBT, I would appreciate it.

I also went to HD this a.m. and was looking around the heating/cooling department. I found 4" booster fans for in-line duct installation. They are called the Inductor Booster Fans and are 80 cfm. I was thinking about using a couple of these to cool my coffin on top. I was going to cut two 4" holes through the bottom of the coffin and the freezer top one at either end. These fans are already mounted in 4" ductwork. I was going to have one side be the intake for cold air from the freezer chest into the coffin and one as an exhaust to circulate out of the coffin and back into the freezer.

I guess I'm wondering if this is overkill? Is there anyway to wire them to a speed controller to slow them down? Is there a way to tie them into the Love controller, so that when the freezer compressor kicks in, they come on? Should I wire them to a seperate thermostat inside of the coffin, so that they kick on as needed to keep the coffin temp constant?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but this is my first go around with thermostatic controls. Any advice would be great. Thanks guys. :mug:
 
As for the wiring of the Love controller this is the thread that I used to wire mine up just this past weekend:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/love-temp-controller-series-ts-wiring-diagram-2008-a-88369/

I did the TSS2-2100 since I was doing a fermentation chamber and needed heat and cool temps. But there are diagrams for all the models on that thread. There should be a wire diagram on your freezer that should lead you to the wire you need to connect to.

Awesome job so far on the keezer!

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Oooor if you want you could do something like this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another-tss2-controller-box-build-195713/

I actually went with the controller box method for my setup. It's quick and very portable. Just plug the fridge in and unplug if you want it to be normal again. With a Keezer I would just do 1 plug for cooling. Or you could do an 'Always On' and plug your fans into that. Or if you have a double outlet you could plug the fridge into 1 and the fans into the other, which would give you the fans turning on with the compressor. :) Lots of options.
 
THANK YOU!!! :tank: Just the information that I need. I already have a bunch of outlets and romex left over from wiring the rest of my basement. I might just as well go with the second option and not have to start cutting and splicing into the keezer's power cords. This is exactly what I was looking for and I appreciate you taking the time to provide this for me. I'll keep you posted.:mug:

As for the wiring of the Love controller this is the thread that I used to wire mine up just this past weekend:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/love-temp-controller-series-ts-wiring-diagram-2008-a-88369/

I did the TSS2-2100 since I was doing a fermentation chamber and needed heat and cool temps. But there are diagrams for all the models on that thread. There should be a wire diagram on your freezer that should lead you to the wire you need to connect to.

Awesome job so far on the keezer!

LoveWiring2.jpg


Oooor if you want you could do something like this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another-tss2-controller-box-build-195713/

I actually went with the controller box method for my setup. It's quick and very portable. Just plug the fridge in and unplug if you want it to be normal again. With a Keezer I would just do 1 plug for cooling. Or you could do an 'Always On' and plug your fans into that. Or if you have a double outlet you could plug the fridge into 1 and the fans into the other, which would give you the fans turning on with the compressor. :) Lots of options.
 
I made a little more progress on the keezer today and one hell of a mess in my basement! :( It was waaaaay too cold to do this outside and my lower patio has about 18" of snow on it, which I was too lazy to shovel off. My basement was clean before I started this project, but now it's a nightmare! I knifed the cedar logs, sanded, and milled them for my verticle trim pieces on the cabinet. What a pain in the a$$! I used an my antique double handled knife to strip the logs like in the rest of the basement, which worked great. Then I used a table saw to rip the two rear verticle logs and to make a 90 degree notch out of the front logs. This is always a chore to get nice straight cuts. I only wasted one log and it took me a while, but I got the job completed. I have a buddy with a Wood Mieser milling maching, but these logs are too small in diameter to waste the time setting it up. Attached are a few pics.

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Cool, subscribed.........
...... and I like the vent. If your wife likes the vent, I really like the vent.
 
Here are the vertical trim logs fastened to the corners of the cabinet. Once I got them on, I realized that the left front log doesn't have a hell of a lot of character. :( I really wish it had more knots and character, but I am not in the mood to strip and mill another log. Overall I'm happy with it so far. :mug:

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Pics with the freezer slid back into the cabinet. I can't wait to get the semi-gloss poly on the cedar logs and the satin Sikkens on the knotty pine. It will make the logs pop and really stand out like the bar base. This thing is getting much larger than I originally planned. I oversized the cabinet to let the unit breath and with the vertical logs in place, it's already 52" at the widest point. Next, I will size the top and then rip 1/2 logs and miter the corners to create a horizontal log trim across the front and sides of the top. Once it is all put together, the total width will be about 56" to 58" depending on the thickness of the logs after ripping. :confused: I only have a 60" space to slide this into, so I'm cutting it pretty close, but I have faith it will fit in the end! :tank:

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