My Keezer Build

I've been working on my Keezer build for several days now. Naturally it started out as a modest design idea... simple collar design attached to the lid. But the simple idea didn't last long mainly because I am not a fantastic woodworker and needed to make some adjustments to cover my mistakes.

Here are some pics in build order:

Collar assembled, prefinish -








Collar after finishing -








The Freezer lid has some rust spots so I wirebrushed it and spot painted around the edges -




My overtired, been working on it too long, mistake - make sure to measure ALL of the pieces before you assemble the collar...




To hide my "oops" I decided to build a frame that would fit over the top of the freezer lid, the edge of the collar and contain a chalkboard that can be used for labeling the taps...






See next post for remaining pics...

Rest of the pics...





Primed hardboard that will be painted with chalkboard paint...



Since I decided to do a chalkboard on top, I decided that I wanted to paint the bottom of the freezer with the same paint to pull the design elements together. Here is the entire keezer mocked up pre-assembly to get an idea of the colors and see if everything works. The freezer is only primed at this point but I'll be painting it with the chalkboard paint tomorrow as well as putting a final coat of clearcoat on the wood. Assembly will be this weekend









Let me know what you think... I'll post more pics as I finish the build.

Cheers!

snazzy.... good work.

Nice wood...nice work...did you intentionally leave space for a 5th tap in the middle?

Yes on the fifth tap... I figured, if the keezer can hold five then down the road I have a moral obligation to ensure that it is available for service!

Finished it! Here are the last details and photos:

Assembly day starts with installing the insulation and the lid insert back onto the lid. To make the top of the lid flush for the collar install I installed the lid insert under the rim of the freezer lid.

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I attached the lid to the collar with silicone caulk and weighted it down (with assorted stuff from the garage) until the silicone cured





Once the lid was attached to the collar I cut some foam board insulation and attached it to the inside of the collar with silicone. Then I installed a rubber gasket (Home Depot - auto weatherstripping) as a seal. Additionally I added two extra blocks of plywood to help distribute the force of the hinge bolts across a large area of the collar.






Once this was all done I mounted the hinges to the freezer and used them as a template to drill the collar. My SWMBO helped move the feexer and collar to the basement where I attached the two and made sure that the hinges worked properly. Then I installed the regulators, drilled the hole for the gas line, and installed the taps and backer boards and beer line clips.

All Finished and operational! Kegs installed, temp controller functioning, glasses and beer mats ready for action! Now to see if I can convince the SWMBO to let me move it upstairs!









Thanks to everyone here who helped me come up with ideas. I literally couldn't have done this without the experieces all of you shared. Hopefully this post will help others as well. Cheers!

Looks awesome. The addition to the top frame is nice, I always enjoy how making a mistake turns into an improvement.