Treasure Chest Keezer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Toymaker

Arrgh!
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
147
Reaction score
26
Location
Livonia
DSC01565.JPG

I built my keezer about 4 years ago now. It has been working great since I built it.
It'll hold 4 Cornelius kegs, or 3 kegs and a carboy (handy for lagering in the Summer time).
I have about 40 hours into building and procuring materials. Another 10 hours into finishing the wood.
It is completely independent of the freezer. I can turn it back into a freezer in about 20 minutes. I did that just in case I had warrantee issues. I started with a Holiday 7 CuFt. chest freezer that my wife got me from Lowes for Christmas 2012.
DSC01367.JPG


I wanted to make it somewhat portable so I made a cart with casters. I made it just the right size to hold it securely. I mitered the corners and screwed it together. I also cut a slot around the front and the two sides with a router. The slot was ½” wide and was ½” away from the sheet metal of the freezer. The slot is to hold the façade of the final treasure chest skin.
DSC01372.JPG

DSC01373.JPG


The lid of the chest freezer was removed. A collar was made from pine to route the faucets through. It is made from 2 X 6 and 1 X 6 this was built like many others except it was much larger on the outside. It stuck out much further on the sides and the front. Besides the holes for the faucets it has a slot on the bottom along the front and sides to match the bottom cart. This also traps the facade. So the only thing holding the whole treasure chest front and sides is the slot cut into the collar and the base.
DSC01384.JPG

The bottom side of the collar also has a recess that fits snugly to the top sealing surface of the freezer. The ring was painted with about 10 coats of white and black Rustoleum. The recess was lined with foam gasket material to seal tight to the top of the freezer.
DSC01393.JPG

The holes in the collar were drilled counter bored and painted.
DSC01395.JPG

At this point it would have worked fine as a pretty cool Keezer. I wanted something a little bit different and extraordinary…
DSC01404.JPG
 
I started with the front and sides. I built them from ¼ oak plywood and 18 awg sheet metal. I had the metal bent at a local heating and cooling fabricator. I cut the plywood to fit nicely between the groove in the base cart and the groove in the collar. Because I used the sheet metal for the corners side to side dimensions were not critical and could have been off a ½”. I cut and assembled everything before finishing the wood. I did not get many pictures during this phase but they are unnecessary.
DSC01426.JPG

IMAG0541.JPG

DSC01428.JPG




All the sheet metal that was attached to the plywood used 4-40 round head slotted machine screws and nuts. They look like brass rivets unless you get close. Instead of painting the sheet metal I had a friend powder coat the pieces.
DSC01431.JPG

DSC01429.JPG



After that the cleats were added they are just pine screwed from the inside to hide the screws. The top and bottom cleats hide the slots that the façade fits in.
DSC01434.JPG

DSC01435.JPG

DSC01436.JPG

DSC01438.JPG



The façade just drops into the slot in the cart.
DSC01442.JPG

Then the collar drops down on top of the freezer holding everything together!
DSC01443.JPG

The freezer hinges mount to the freezer lid and to the back of the collar.
DSC01390.JPG

I also had a sheet metal skin made for the collar. This was the only piece I messed up on and had to get remade. I just had an angle made. I cut and trimmed it to fit. I wanted clean corners so it was a little tricky mitering the corners.
DSC01446.JPG

So far so good!
DSC01452.JPG




The top was a bit of a challenge, because it’s rounded. I started out making a frame the size of the collar on the outside and the inside was the size of the freezer lid. It took some work on the planer to get the right thickness wood. I rounded the end pieces and made them a little beefier to allow support for the bent plywood. Bending the plywood was too hard without splitting so I ended up cutting partly through the plywood lengthwise. This allowed it to bend easily over the arched ends.
IMAG0539.JPG

DSC01411.JPG

DSC01414.JPG

Too keep the lid in place I made blocks that fit into the handle slots in the freezer lid. Sorry no pictures.
I added cleats and black sheet metal to the top also so that it matched the rest of the Keezer.
 
All the brass hardware I made from old brass door kick plates from the local scrap yard. I stacked up all the pieces and machined the holes on the mill and cut them out on the bandsaw. After getting the rough shape I sanded each one on the belt sander to get some nice clean non-sharp edges. I also spent some time polishing and clear coating them.
IMAG0579.JPG

IMAG0580.JPG

IMAG0581.JPG

DSC01401.JPG

DSC01511.JPG




I don’t have any pictures of the inside but I have a triple bank of individual regulators and gages so I can adjust the pressure on each keg separately. The temperature is controlled by an Automaton Direct temperature controller driving a relay. It is also located inside the keezer. For the last 4 years it has run flawlessly.
I have Perlick Pearl polished brass faucets with custom made handles. The handles are made from deck spindles. They were cut to only use the round sections. I used ¼” rope hot glued to the outside to give it the nautical feel. The handles have a paint mixing stick painted with chalkboard paint tied on with the rope as well. The chalkboard paint makes it nice when you change out your kegs, so you know which one is which.
DSC01544.JPG

DSC01561.JPG
 
Great job, hard act to follow not like I can go down to Home Depot and pick up every thing I need, very unique build. the metal around the collar is that one long piece and cut at the angles and folded in? And what does the back look like is it open?
 
You definitely have mad skills I'm going to try to duplicate your work thank you for the pic and info, The siding how does that fit in that half-inch gap is it tight and I see you cut the top in half was that just easier to install do you think if I used 1/8 inch oak paneling Woodbend easier
 
Great job, hard act to follow not like I can go down to Home Depot and pick up every thing I need, very unique build. the metal around the collar is that one long piece and cut at the angles and folded in? And what does the back look like is it open?
The back is wide open for airflow. The top piece wraps around the front and both sides in one piece. I had to make that one twice because I go the miters wrong :(
 
You definitely have mad skills I'm going to try to duplicate your work thank you for the pic and info, The siding how does that fit in that half-inch gap is it tight and I see you cut the top in half was that just easier to install do you think if I used 1/8 inch oak paneling Woodbend easier
The plywood is 1/4" thick and the grooves are 1/2" . Plenty of room! If you look close you can see that the plywood sticks up higher than the pine cleats. This tab fits into the collar's slot. There is a matching tab and groove in the bottom.
 
Is the collar glued down to the freezer or does the recessed area on the bottom keep it snug to the freezer just curious if you have any issues when you open the lid. and did you put A polyurethane finish over the metal as well? Looks pretty shiny. Just curious if you still had the template for your bracket.. And what about a drip pan do you just have a towel down on the floor in case you spell? I could see why you might not put a drip pan and might take away from the look.
 
Is the collar glued down to the freezer or does the recessed area on the bottom keep it snug to the freezer just curious if you have any issues when you open the lid. and did you put A polyurethane finish over the metal as well? Looks pretty shiny. Just curious if you still had the template for your bracket.. And what about a drip pan do you just have a towel down on the floor in case you spell? I could see why you might not put a drip pan and might take away from the look.

The collar is recessed and heavy enough that gravity holds it together. I've never had it even try to come up off the freezer even with the lid open. I used an acrylic clear coat spray on the brass corners only. The black sheet metal is just shiny black powder coating. I don't have the template for the brass corners, sorry. I don' use a drip pan. I use the beer faucet caps like this http://rapidswholesale.com/american-beverage-beer-faucet-cover.html?gclid=CPCrq4yB-MoCFVE0aQodO1ICpg
 
Everything looks great but the DIY brass hardware and the tap handles are especially distinctive. I hope you found a sufficiently prominent place to keep it because it deserves to be shown off.

Is the top of the pirate chest hinged to the collar?
 
Everything looks great but the DIY brass hardware and the tap handles are especially distinctive. I hope you found a sufficiently prominent place to keep it because it deserves to be shown off.

Is the top of the pirate chest hinged to the collar?
The top is actually the freezer lid and uses the original hinges from the freezer.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top