vonZwicky's keezer build

Alright, guys. This is where I am on the road to homebrew bliss. In an attempt to do everything completely backwards, I've decided to build my keezer first. So I bought this Frigidaire 7 cu. foot freezer:

Right now I'm just using it to keep some commercial beers cold.

I gave it wheels:

That's a good start. Are you going to go with a Collar or Tower?

Here's some pics of the collar I built out of some nice cypress lumber, and some other components, which are all still works in progress:

More to follow soon. Right now I'm in danger of being late for work, so I gotta run!

Thanks, Yankee Hill. I'm going with the collar approach, as you've probably already seen.

Before I go any futher, I want to give credit where credit is due. I didn't even know what a keezer was before I found this website. I spent hours reading and looking at photos of all the keezer builds that have been posted here. My inspiration has come from the great work that's been done by many of you. I'm just trying to synthesize it all and put my own spin on this "craft."

A keezers a keezer a keezer, but your initial pics look interesting!

Thanks, and your right, cowgo. A keezer's a keezer. If I were walking down this road alone, I would have had this thing slapped together and operational weeks ago. As it is, I'm trying to make it nice enough that maybe SWMBO will let me move it from the loft to the main living area downstairs, where I only have to carry kegs up one flight of stairs, instead of two.

There's also a liability issue when combining drinking and so many stairs.

Lookin good!

vonZwicky said:

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Interested to see where this comes into play.

Very interesting thus far.

Can't wait to see this thing put together.

Thanks guys. I just figured out how to insert decent sized photos, so I just went back and replaced all the crummy little thumbnail pics I had posted before.

Huh. I am looking forward to this. I applaud straight keezer build though. Not wasting any time are we?

This is the facade, which will cover the front of the freezer and the collar. It will be easily removable to allow for easy access in the event that I need to access the drain in the front of the freezer, or I need to heft a half barrel keg into this thing. The oval hole top center is where (eventually) the 3 faucets will pass through. If my measurements are correct, I should be able to remove the facade without undoing any faucet plumbing. The whole thing is built like a big picture frame, so I can fill in the other holes with whatever fields I choose. I'm thinking chalkboard space for now, but (more expensive) glass/metal work might be coming in the future.

I'm almost to the point where I can make the the "dry run," where I can assemble it all to make sure it all fits as planned, before I take it all apart and commit to the final sanding and finishing work.

vonZwicky said:

Thanks, and your right, cowgo. A keezer's a keezer. If I were walking down this road alone, I would have had this thing slapped together and operational weeks ago. As it is, I'm trying to make it nice enough that maybe SWMBO will let me move it from the loft to the main living area downstairs, where I only have to carry kegs up one flight of stairs, instead of two.

Click to expand...

That was my hope too, but unfortunately SWMBO still won't let me bring mine out of the basement. Just gives me extra reason to finish the basement and get my bar built I guess.

Cypress! Nice looking wood. You LA guys are fortunate to have that material available. It looks amazing so far! can't wait to see her all done up!

I agree with you, MMTG. This cypress is the cat's arse! I'm use to buying cheap pine from Lowe's for my little wood working projects... but I decided to go all out on this one. I've really been enjoying working with a truly beautiful wood species. Cypress is easy to cut, easy to route, and a pleasure to work with.

Even in these parts, you won't find cypress in every lumber yard. I had to drive about 25 miles to neighboring Pontchatoula, and then back again when I changed my design and realized that I didn't buy enough the first time. I've spent about $110 dollars on wood alone for this build, but I'll be left with some nice sized scrap pieces for future (small) projects (hand carved tap handles top the list).

Ok. I accomplished a few things today. I was able to route the dado grooves on the back of the facade to acommidate chalkboard, mirror, or whatever:

And some more pics in preparation to fit it all together:

And the dry run:

All and all, it fits together pretty well. The main reason for assembling it now is so I can mark off exactly where to fix this onto the collar:

One minor annoyance that I didn't anticipate. The port for the faucets in the facade rises just a little bit above the top of the collar, so I have a little daylight coming through.



This can be fixed. I'm just glad I discovered it now rather than later.

The battery died in my camera, so that's it for pics today. I've since taken it all apart, and now it's mostly sanding and lots and lots of polyuerathane from here on out.

I doubt I'll get much done tomorrow, because <insert understatement> there might be one or two good ball games on the tube... WHO DAT!!

I did all of the final sanding today, and I attached the drip tray shelf to the facade. Now for the finish work. Traditionally, cypress is not stained, so I'm simply applying a clear coat with a marine grade polyurethane:

Here's a few pics of the first coat going on:

Alright, that's one coat down, and two or three more to go, which I should be able to knock out during the week. I'm getting excited, because the end of this build is in sight. I think there just might be beer flowing out of this thing this coming weekend, even if I haven't filled in all the empty spaces in the facade.

Very interesting design idea. I'm intrigued by your thoughts and would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

Thanks NewBrewB. I just finished looking at your keezer build. I like. Especially the bamboo. I'm not sure I even have a "newsletter," but feel free to stay tuned. I have one or two ideas for projects I want to share here after this build, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Like the coach always says: "One game at a time."

Very nice build!
Great design idea, and beautiful material and workmanship.

I appreciate it, Layne. Cheers, to a fellow Louisianian!

just one question...when you remove the facade w/ the hinges, will you be taking off the tap handles?

I made the port in the facade just big enough to clear the faucets, but yes, I would have to remove any tap handles (which isn't a big deal).

Nice design! Good luck with it!!

Thanks JohnnyO. I have a 1/4 keg of Abita Imperial Stout in the freezer that I won't tap until I have this keezer functional. It's my motivation for hurrying up and getting this thing finished.

Cold weather and a busy work week have conspired to keep me from getting as far with this as I would have liked. But this is where I'm at:

I bought a sheet of 2 foot by 4 foot birch plywood (1/4 inch thick) for about 9 bucks. It has a very smooth surface, which should be ideal for the chalkboard paint.

I really handn't wanted to do this, but the weather finally forced me to move the finishing operation inside:

Alright, this is after the third coat, and I'm hoping that I can stay up late enough to apply a fourth (and final) coat. I think I can put down the paint brush tomorrow.