Keezer wooden lid

[physics911]

Good day, everyone. This is more of a woodworker question than a keezer question.
For my new keezer I have made a beautiful wormy oak top which is about 1.25" thick (32mm).
I'm considering getting rid of the chest freezer lid and just insulating the oak top and adding the seal from the lid to the wood.
I've already got c-channel on the bottom of the wood to mitigate warping, , as well as a few stress relief kerf cuts on the bottom, as that particular piece was quite prone to cupping.
Anyone have any experience with ditching the freezer lid and what impact it might have on the wooden top?

 

[Deadalus]

I have a wormy chestnut top but did not ditch the freezer top. Wondering your reasoning for considering ditching it as I may be able to offer pros and cons. What are your plans for opening the top? What plans do you have for taps such as location? I have a collar inside and my taps are in a black iron pipe tower. Are you doing the sides in wood, like a full wood surround?

 

[day_trippr]

I built a replacement custom lid for my 14cf keezer that frankly is better insulated and tighter fitting than the oem lid.
Build thread is here: My "K3" 14.8cf Keezer Build
Here's a shot of the inside of the finished lid...

Cheers!

 

[physics911]

Looks like you used plywood or some other engineered wood. I'm trying to determine how a solid piece of oak will react to the environment.

 

[Deadalus]

Looks like you used plywood or some other engineered wood. I'm trying to determine how a solid piece of oak will react to the environment.

What kind of oak is it?

 

[physics911]

Red oak.

 

[RCope]

A woodworking question deserves a woodworking answer...Oak has been used for centuries for outside doors, but almost exclusively with frame and panel construction. Have you considered making your beautiful wormy oak into a large panel and capture it floating in a frame? You could even use quarter sawn oak for the frame, which is very stable and resistant to cupping, and use your wormy oak as the center panel. Just a suggestion. You could also saw the large top into narrower sections, then glue up alternating the growth rings to minimize the cupping across the width of the panel. That might not be as aesthetically pleasing, though...

 

[Indian_villager]

Good day, everyone. This is more of a woodworker question than a keezer question.
For my new keezer I have made a beautiful wormy oak top which is about 1.25" thick (32mm).
I'm considering getting rid of the chest freezer lid and just insulating the oak top and adding the seal from the lid to the wood.
I've already got c-channel on the bottom of the wood to mitigate warping, , as well as a few stress relief kerf cuts on the bottom, as that particular piece was quite prone to cupping.
Anyone have any experience with ditching the freezer lid and what impact it might have on the wooden top?

What are the details on the rest of the keezer? Is this new lid sealing against a collar or the original freezer face? When I rebuilt mine last year due to dead freezer I attached my top to the lid. The newer lids are built a bit different in that you can't take off the inner plastic layer and move insulation out of the way. The whole thing is sealed and then some expanding foam is poured in.

I made mine out of plywood so way less cool. However what i did was drill 1/2" holes on the plastic side of the factory lid in a 4x3 grid making sure not to punch through the metal side. From there I used 1/2" long flanged screws with the following neoprene washers to poke through those holes and grab the wood. Then all those holes were filled with expanding foam, trimmed flush once hardened, and then sealed with HVAC tape.

If you are saying your board was prone to cupping and has cuts which make it difficult to seal I would keep it out of the sealing envelope of the keezer, shore it up to keep it structurally looking good. The lids on these newer chest freezers are made of thinner metal which can accomodate some flex, and the sealing rubber is generous enough to take it as well.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-100-Count-10-x-1-2-in-Neoprene-Bonded-Sealing-Washer/3036263

 

[Agent]

I put together my keezer in spring of '19, with just pine boards and a piece of 1/2" cherry plywood I had laying around. Interior grade stuff. I just tacked two layers of 1" foamboard to it.

So far, I haven't seen any issues.

 

[VikeMan]

I built a replacement custom lid for my 14cf keezer that frankly is better insulated and tighter fitting than the oem lid.
Build thread is here: My "K3" 14.8cf Keezer Build
Here's a shot of the inside of the finished lid...

View attachment 829607

Cheers!

Was the store all out of of big freezers?

(Edit: Yes, it was levity.)

 

[day_trippr]

Hmmm...I sense there may be levity there

fwiw, that was the only freezer bigger that 10cf in all of "Covid 2019 New England" at the time and I was happy to get it...

Cheers!

 

[Deadalus]

A woodworking question deserves a woodworking answer...Oak has been used for centuries for outside doors, but almost exclusively with frame and panel construction. Have you considered making your beautiful wormy oak into a large panel and capture it floating in a frame? You could even use quarter sawn oak for the frame, which is very stable and resistant to cupping, and use your wormy oak as the center panel. Just a suggestion. You could also saw the large top into narrower sections, then glue up alternating the growth rings to minimize the cupping across the width of the panel. That might not be as aesthetically pleasing, though...

The are many species of oaks and they are not all suitable for the same things. One distinction is between red and white oaks, which is more a family level. Barrels were made out of white oak but a barrel made out of red oak would leak. Red oak if referring to a species is typically northern red oak in the US. I asked because I was hoping to get an answer regarding the decision to remove the lid as northern red oak is not quite as water resistant as white oak but can be treated. N. red oak is used for flooring and can be used in countertops as well. Plus other uses like furniture, cabinets, etc.