Finally a ferm chamber build!

Obviously some sarcasm in the title. All that aside am building a ferm chamber today. Have a mini fridge that I'm going to rewire for a temp control. Going for a rustic New England barn look, being a nutmegger and all I think it only fitting. Will post pictures as I go, just about to start but am to excited to keep this to myself and the woman is tired of hearing about it.

Let it out, let it all out! BTW - what the ___ is a nutmegger?

501irishred said:

Let it out, let it all out! BTW - what the ___ is a nutmegger?

Click to expand...

From Connecticut my friend.

Here she is half built. Think its got the whole ye olde icehousey thing going. Making the doors now then insulation roof and floor. Temp control comes in Tuesday and I got myself an excuse to brew up a new batch!

Nice! Love the use of pallet material, thats a great idea. Some may not appreciate the feat, but I do. Saving full length planks off of a pallet is not for the timid.

A pain in the anal for sure. Doors on. Only one handle cause I didn't look when I grabbed them and got 2 different ones. Caulking up the gaps insulating then on with the cap. Am staining and lacquering a piece of ply to make the top a bar for serving said homebrews.

Looking good! Serving? Is this to be a ferm chamber or a kegerator?

Ferm chamber but my other fridge is going to be right next to it so I figure ill throw some seats in front of it and get 2 birds stoned at once.

I love the look.

I gotta see how you do this and wire it, I have a mini fridge just sitting in my garage collecting dust and I'd love a temp controlled environment especially for doing lagers. Subscribed.

Dylan42 said:

I gotta see how you do this and wire it, I have a mini fridge just sitting in my garage collecting dust and I'd love a temp controlled environment especially for doing lagers. Subscribed.

Click to expand...

Bought a stc-1000 from eBay. Was about 20 with free shipping. Used a thread in the DIY section titled "EBay fish tank controller build using Wal-mart parts" (don't know how to add the link with my iPod). Built the chamber so the boards will fit snug around the mini fridge. Am then going to take off the fridge door and slide this on, caulk the boards to the fridge and then caulk the insulation to the fridge. Build is on hold until next paycheck due to a broken gas tank strap that needs to be fixed so I don't blow up if the tank drops.

Not sure about your priorities, but ok......

501irishred said:

Nice! Love the use of pallet material, thats a great idea. Some may not appreciate the feat, but I do. Saving full length planks off of a pallet is not for the timid.

Click to expand...

while i like the look, there is no way in hell pallet material would get anywhere near MY power tools. Your power tools, sure no problem!

OP, nice looking build so far.

dfess1 said:

while i like the look, there is no way in hell pallet material would get anywhere near MY power tools. Your power tools, sure no problem!

OP, nice looking build so far.

Click to expand...

??? I would agree not to use the $100 Fusion blade, but most people I know that uses power tools more than once a year know to keep an old blade for just such an occasion. Besides, the only thing that typically gets damaged when acquiring and using pallet material are knuckles!

Nice look.

501irishred said:

??? I would agree not to use the $100 Fusion blade, but most people I know that uses power tools more than once a year know to keep an old blade for just such an occasion. Besides, the only thing that typically gets damaged when acquiring and using pallet material are knuckles!

Click to expand...

I'm not swapping out jointer blades or planer blades as well. Just saying, you never know what is embedded in pallet wood. Hidden nails, rocks, etc. Again, I have no problem using your tools to make pallet furniture.

dfess1 said:

I'm not swapping out jointer blades or planer blades as well. Just saying, you never know what is embedded in pallet wood. Hidden nails, rocks, etc. Again, I have no problem using your tools to make pallet furniture.

Click to expand...

Have no problems using my tools either

Mine as well. When looking for rustic, leave the jointer, planer, router, and dovetail jig in the shed. 8$ skill saw blade and an imagination will typically do the trick (belt sander with 60 grit if ya wana get fancy...)

501irishred said:

Mine as well. When looking for rustic, leave the jointer, planer, router, and dovetail jig in the shed. 8$ skill saw blade and an imagination will typically do the trick (belt sander with 60 grit if ya wana get fancy...)

Click to expand...

Exactly. Making something "rustic" does not require precision tools. The reason those old rustic furniture look...well... rustic is because they were made with mostly hand tools. No precision blades, laser guides, miter saws , etc.

If you really want that rustic look and feel to it, use hand tools and leave the power tools out of it.

Now to get back on topic: OP , nice build. Are you going to coat it with anything to seal the wood?

i like the pallet wood look. So, stupid question... any easy source for pallets?

BadWolfBrewing said:

i like the pallet wood look. So, stupid question... any easy source for pallets?

Click to expand...

You can go to a few stores like Harley Davidson, some garden stores, even Home Depot. When they get large shipments in that require pallets to transport items, they usually stack them up for disposal as they do not reuse the wooden ones. Simply asking if you can take a few is probably all you need to do.

Yea pretty much any big store will have them in the back, factories as well. they are usually more than happy to give them out so they dont have to worry about disposing of them. I got mine from the winery I work at so I was able to collect the ones I like best as we got them in.

Definitely going to put some kind of coat on it but not sure what yet, deciding between an aged grey stain or a clear coat. Didn't realize how much I would end up liking the natural color so I'm leaning toward clear. Any opinions/ideas on that topic are more than welcome!

dmcman73 said:

Exactly. Making something "rustic" does not require precision tools. The reason those old rustic furniture look...well... rustic is because they were made with mostly hand tools. No precision blades, laser guides, miter saws , etc.

If you really want that rustic look and feel to it, use hand tools and leave the power tools out of it.

Now to get back on topic: OP , nice build. Are you going to coat it with anything to seal the wood?

Click to expand...

Very little of that fancy stuff for my "rustic" builds. Give me a few basic tools, a draw knife, and some lumber/logs and I'm good to go. While I can certainly appreciate the precision and craftsmanship of a lot of the builds here on HBT, you aren't going to find any fancy dove tailing or precision trim work in my builds. Yet, they still come out pretty cool looking.

Keep up the great work OP, because your build is looking fantastic!

P.S. I'm a firm believer of not covering or altering the natural look of wood, so for me.......clear coat all the way! No stain!

Well here she is, the old "look what I found in my grand pappy's shed" ferm chamber. Gotta grab some coating and caulk tomorrow and then she's going on the fridge. Am going to eventually plank around the fridge but a bit higher so I can build a hidden compartment to mount the temp control, keep the whole illusion alive.

Grand Pappy would be proud!