They asked for it - Keezer build

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beeboy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
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Location
Spokane, WA
OK, the project started with my $25 craiglist find. It’s kind of old, and looks like it was used as a hockey goalie, but it works!

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Inside it will hold 4 corneys on the bottom, and a 3 gallon on the hump.

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Next step was to make a mobile base for it. I ended up wrapping both top and bottom of the base in plywood after this for strength.

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Next step was a collar. I wanted a collar so I would have a place for electrical and my regulators to mount. I didn’t want a huge collar though as it would be too hard to get stuff in and out of it. I knew I was going to do a coffin as well, so I made the collar 3 ½” using some scrap wood I had. In this picture I am gluing the collar to the freezer with construction adhesive. You can also see the 1 ½” Styrofoam I am using for insulation. The collar would then get another layer of wood on the inside later.

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Here is the Love controller installed in the front of the collar.

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Wiring the outlet box on the rear of the keezer.

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Testing the outlets. One side is always hot for running the fans, the other side is controlled by the Love controller.

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Love controller being tested. I will later cover the collar in some thin oak plywood.

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Next step was to work on the lid. I skinned the lid in some ½” baltic plywood I had. This will then get covered in oak. Skinning the sides of the lid makes it wider than the base so when I add the finish oak to it, it will cover up the lid seal. Plywood is glued and screwed to the lid.

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Here I have the top layer of oak plywood on, and am fitting the side pieces. The top is ¼” oak plywood with the MDF core. The sides are ¾” solid oak strip. I cut the sides long enough to hang over the top of the collar so you won’t see any gaps or the rubber seal.

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Here I have all of the oak attached. I have just rounded over the edges with my router.

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Next step was bodywork! This thing was covered in dents.

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Next step paint! I initially chose a rustoleum hammered copper finish. I initially had doubts about how it would look with the oak, but I loved the color on the can.

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I should have followed my instinct, the copper looked horrible with the oak. Another trip to the BORG for more paint. This time it’s rustoleum hammered black. In many of the build threads I read, I always favored the black anyways. So with this hammered finish paint, ignore the instructions that say to apply light coats. It will look like normal paint of you do this. It has to be sprayed heavy.

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Now it is time to do more woodwork. I cut oak boards to cover the wheeled base, and the gap between the base and the keezer. Here they are being finished. I stained them with Minwax golden oak stain, then topped with some gloss exterior urethane. This urethane sucked. I had a hard time getting it to harden. I ended up having to put the pieces out in the sun to cure. I should have just used normal polyurethane.

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Here I am finishing the top. The sides got 3 coats of urethane, the top has 5.

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I also covered the collar with the thin oak plywood, then attached the top.

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Looking good so far!

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I picked up the regulators on ebay.

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Playing around now, crash cooling some Kolsch while I work on it.

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Playing with keg placement. Four on the bottom and a shorty on the hump.

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On to the coffin now. I didn’t take many pictures of it. It is basically a box made from ½” plywood. It is then skinned with the same oak plywood as the top. I lined it with 1” Styrofoam for insulation. I added a cross brace for mounting the shanks through. I left enough gap at the top of the insulation for a piece I have glued to the bottom of the lid.

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Here it is with the lid sitting on it. I spent quite a bit of time playing with faucet spacing and placement. I measured about 4 times before drilling the holes. I used 3 ¾” spacing.
I then made some trim for the bottom of the coffin with the same cove pattern as the lid. I made some trim to cover the corners too, so that you can’t see the edge of the plywood.

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Here is the view inside the coffin. I have a PC fan in there running off of a 12v transformer. This is plugged into the always on side of the outlets on the back. I didn’t take pictures of the holes I put in the top. I made darn sure I have the coffin where I wanted it. I used my jigsaw to cut the hole for the fan. I have a smaller hole on the opposite side for the beer lines. Four bolts hold it on to the lid. I have a 2 foot tube under the fan to help in sucking air from down low in the freezer.

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That is basically it. I did add another fan in the base, I was getting a 10 degree temperature difference between the bottom of my kegs and the top of them.

I got my faucets from Farmhouse. Shanks and the drip tray came from homebrewstuff. Handles are off eBay.

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Awesome build.

I wish I had the time to build something like this.
 
That's one of the best looking keezer's I've ever seen. A fine accompilshment!

(If I ever decide to gussy up my keezer, I'm going to refer to your build for ideas.)

BTW, an easy way to deal with an oil-based polyurethane marine/spar varnish is to thin it 50% with mineral spirits and wipe it on. You'll have to double the number of coats, which means more sanding between coats, but it goes on smooth and even and dries quickly.

I like that Minwax Golden Oak stain. That's what I used on my keezer collar too.
 
Curious about the 5 taps and only having room for 4 kegs inside...

Awesome build though. If I had space inside the house, I would truly be inspired right now...
 
The Love controller is a nice touch; you clearly have some woodworking skills. I'll be in from time to time to check on your coffin cooling. ;-)
 
BTW, an easy way to deal with an oil-based polyurethane marine/spar varnish is to thin it 50% with mineral spirits and wipe it on. You'll have to double the number of coats, which means more sanding between coats, but it goes on smooth and even and dries quickly.
Thanks for the tip! I like wipe on poly.

Curious about the 5 taps and only having room for 4 kegs inside...
A 3 gallon one will fit on the hump.

beeboy: nice job! are your faucet nuts stainless and where did you get them??
I got them and the tailpieces from CHI Company. It does not indicate that they are SS.
 
I'm not going to include the kegs, ball lock fittings or tap handles in this price.

525S Faucets $129
SS Shanks $100
SS Tailpieces/nuts/washers $33
Drip tray $31
Tygon tubing $50
CO2 tubing $12
CO2 tank w/regulator $35
bank of regulators $60
Wood (most was scraps I had) $30
Paint $18
Urethane $12
Stain I already had
Electrical $20
Fans I already had
Love controller $62
Screws/glue I already had.
-------------------------------$592
 
Are the regulators from chi? Been looking for manifolds that have individual adjustment, other than a simple ball valve.

Nice oak work.
 
Are the regulators from chi? Been looking for manifolds that have individual adjustment, other than a simple ball valve.

Nice oak work.
No, I got them off of eBay. It was a bank of 6, I pulled one off and gave it to my brewing buddy for his kegerator.
 
Very nice, I miss doing woodworking now. If I ever have a surplus of cash I will do this to my useless chest freezer that is sitting in my garage.
 
I'm about to make a keezer, but I'm now going to have keezer envy the whole time because I don't have the skill to make something like that. It is everything I want my keezer to be.

Thanks for the thread!
 
Any more info on this deal? I can't find anything close to that price on ebay.
All I can say is keep watching. Learn what they go for and wait it out until you find a deal. New ones cost $$$ but you can find steals on used ones if you are patient. I started gathering my parts and pieces about 3 months before I got started on the build.
 
Absolutely gorgeous work Beeboy!

I'm not going to include the kegs, ball lock fittings or tap handles in this price.

525S Faucets $129
SS Shanks $100
SS Tailpieces/nuts/washers $33
Drip tray $31
Tygon tubing $50
CO2 tubing $12
CO2 tank w/regulator $35
bank of regulators $60
Wood (most was scraps I had) $30
Paint $18
Urethane $12
Stain I already had
Electrical $20
Fans I already had
Love controller $62
Screws/glue I already had.
-------------------------------$592

Adds up fast eh? I have a list somewhere I was going to post on the blog but didn't want the wife to realize just how much it cost. Been almost a year now so could probably get away with it now.
 
Adds up fast eh? I have a list somewhere I was going to post on the blog but didn't want the wife to realize just how much it cost. Been almost a year now so could probably get away with it now.
Now I realize what the SWMBO was grumbling about all the time :)
 
beeboy, that looks great! What kind of cooling are you getting in your coffin box and are you enclosing the wiring/box of your Love controller on the inside in any way? Thanks for the pictures!
 
beeboy, that looks great! What kind of cooling are you getting in your coffin box and are you enclosing the wiring/box of your Love controller on the inside in any way? Thanks for the pictures!
Last I checked, the coffin was running about 10 degrees warmer than the kegs. The wiring and controller are all hidden by the collar and its Styrofoam insulation.
 
All I can say is keep watching. Learn what they go for and wait it out until you find a deal. New ones cost $$$ but you can find steals on used ones if you are patient. I started gathering my parts and pieces about 3 months before I got started on the build.
Can you post a link to the auction to help us figure out search terms?

Awesome build, your woodwork is especially inspiring.
 
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