DIY Drip tray, Recessed

Well i thought it was time for my first DIY.

After much searching for reasonably priced drip tray, i decided to try and make one myself. I did what any resonable man in my situation would do.... walk around home depot for hours looking for something that could be cobbed together... until i found this:



It turns out that a floor heat duct/register is the perfect size for a recessed drip tray

First take off the top (it just snaps off), then take out the louver that allows you to open and close it



Then I cut a piece of 1/8" plexiglass to fit into the bottom. you'll notice that on the home depot registers there is a clip, that works perfectly to press fit the plexi. On the Lowes register there is a lip that the plexi can be glued too.



Then just run a bead of caulk on the inside to make it water tight, snap the lid back on, and you are ready to go

Total Cost under 20 dollars

good thinking. i'd like to see the installation.

agreed, let's see her finished! good idea.

here are some photos of my kegerator that i made. The top is layed up maple with a 1/4 inch skirt to cover the top of the sanyo fridge. the wood top is made to press fit over the original top, and the screws for the rails hold it all together.






you will notice that the drip tray is different. after i started modifying the home depot one, i found one i liked better at lowes...



The last picture is the aluminum billet tap handle that my gf got me for christmas....she custom made the emblem that is inset.

Weird. I just started building my collar for my freezer today. I was thinking of just making a drip tray. I was planning on using a vent like you did. Beat me to it.

They say great minds think alike! lets see yours when you're done with it.

Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing! Would you happen to know if Home Depot has 18" registers? Preferably 6" wide?

It won't look as pretty as yours. When putting the collar together, I seemed to fail in the most basic woodworking. It is definitely ghetto rigged.

Iceman,

I can't remember what sizes they have. I know i didn't get the biggest register they had, I just can't remember whether they had a 18x6.

Julohan,

Some people had hunting dads, others had car mechanic dads, i had a dad who is essentially a master carpenter. I owe everything i know to him.

If you want to send me a couple pictures, i may beable to give you some tips to spruce it up

That second one is nice. is it stainless though? Worried about it rusting?

wow that is some hotness.

very nice!
Can the tray come out for cleaning?
Dumb question #2- where did you get the guard rails?

Wow, Sjlammer, You and I must be on the same wavelength, because I picked up the exact same floor registers at Home Depot last Friday to be the drip tray in the Keezer I'm building.

Great idea about the plexi inserts, that makes alot more sense than my plan of just bending some duct sheet metal around the bottom of the hole.

It is not stainless, it was coated metal, which i ended up spray painting with chrome paint because i didn't like the color and how it matched... Im not worried about it rusting, three coats of paint wet sanded, and five coats of spray clear coat will say NO to rust

the whole unit comes out of the wood bar top, and then the catch tray (plexi and plastic) comes off the metal top.

The guard rails are long drawer pulls from Lowes, ten bucks each

While this is pretty cool you can get a 19" SS drip tray from $15 from barproducts.com.

Stainless Steel Drip Pan

I saw that one, it is a great deal, but i wanted one that was shorter, and was recessed.

Either way, the drips will get caught

Wow, awesome implementation of that 'custom' drip tray.

I was in Lowes today looking for some materials for a cheap DIY drip tray...saw the registers and looked forward to getting home to post the suggestion on HBT..... man, I don't know the last time I had a truly original idea!

damn thats one beautiful kegerator. love the wood top and the drip tray built right into it

great idea. i'll have to incorporate that into my build this weekend.

it's funny that we say: great minds think alike. In german they say: 2 idiots, one thought!

this counts as an inventive thought, one for the americans!

sjlammer! Great Kegerator.
Can you elaborate a bit more on how you did the wooden top?
I have the same Sanyo fridge on which I added a 2 tap tower, but it's been a long time I thought of finishing it with wood. Did you remove the top plastic completely, or adjusted your wodden part on top of it?
If you had closeup pictures of "under the wood" would be great!.

Thanks for all the tips - I know what I will be doing in the next couple weeks