My Keezer Build, Help with a Few Odd Collar Parts

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BHowe

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First off I'm amazed at the amount of tinkerers here. I've been researching our Keezer build for the last few weeks and have been impressed with what everyone else has came up with.

Here's what we currently have;

Brand New White Kenmore 8.8cf (similar to some black ones I've seen)
We want to put a collar on it.
We would like to be able to turn it back to "stock" if possible.
Requires 2X8's to get enough height to put stuff on the hump.

That being said I went shopping today for my build parts only to come home pretty empty handed. Hit both big box stores and Ace.

I like the idea of a double hinged top, (no glueing or extra holes to mount the collar), however you don't have to lift over the collar and you can still open the simple lid to get inside in a pinch.

Here's where I need some help:
1: 2X8's are hard to come by in anything better then a #2 DougFir. I don't trust the trueness of these and really don't want to have to spend hours sanding to get them to look decent once painted. Would 1X8 suffice for the collar material?
2: I couldn't find any type of hinge to go from the collar to the original lid. Short of ordering some hinges from Sears, what has everyone else used? All I could find where self closers.
3: Collar to box seal, what kind of weather stripping did everyone use? Nothing I saw today looked like it was worth a damn.

I have everything else here I need and my first two brews that are ready for carbination. Short of painting the whole thing with chalkboard paint I think we are redeye.

Any help you guys can shed on these little nit picky things would be greatly appreciated.

Brandon
 
I used the 2x8's from Home Depot. I borrowed a friend's planer for the rough work. This save a ton of time with the palm sander. Sanding went really fast, just a med-rough grit, then medium grit and called it good. I filled any cracks or knots with stainable putty, then stained, and used about 6 coats of poly urethane. Turned out really nice I think.

I've seen the double hinged setups. They look really nice, and maybe I'm missing something but I don't see the advantage. 8" is isn't that much to lift a keg over. Plus if you do lift the whole collar up, you'll need a helluva lot of clearance between the back of the keezer and the wall. Not a problem if it's in the middle of the room, but mine is up against wall and I need the room.

The collar I built sits right on top of the freezer, no glue and no caulk. The collar is really heavy and doesn't need to be physically attached for stability, it works just fine as is. Good luck with the project, you will love it when you're done.

keezer1.jpg

keezer2.jpg

keezer3.jpg

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ebeer, that looks really, really sharp. I may have to re-build mine!

agreed, two hinges more trouble than it's worth.
 
With an 8" collar I could see it being a bit hard to clean the bottom, thus the attraction of the collar.
 
Good point on the cleaning. Mine is new enough that I haven't had to clean the bottom yet. But when I do, I'll just lift the whole collar off, clean, and replace.
 
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