Finally got my new keezer build finished. I went with 1" of pink foam board sandwiched between 1/2" MDF, then enclosed it with MDF on top and an 8" MDF face board (front and sides). This would give me a collar that was 2" wide, which is the same dimension of the freezer rim that it would sit on. It came out perfect, but partially because a little luck was on my side. When I picked up the pink board I actually bought the 1/2" board because it was a few bucks cheaper than the 1" board, and since I didn't need much I figured I'd just go with 2-ply of the 1/2" and have less scrap left over.
Tip for future builders: I highly recommend using a table saw for everything, I simply set up the saw at 4.5" and cut all my MDF and pink board at the same time - this ensures everything is cut precisely the same and will fit up perfectly when you assemble the sandwich.
I did a quick dry fit of everything to make sure it was all good, and this is where the problem showed up. The "half inch" pink board was actually 9/16" and since I was doing a 2-ply board all around, that increased all my dimensions by 1/4". Not a huge problem fortunately, I went back to my sketchup drawing, re-dimensioned the pink board to 9/16" and then adjusted the rest of the dimensions and re-cut the lengths that changed. The only boards that I had to scrap were the 2" top pieces as those now needed to be 2-1/4" ... and that's where things almost got derailed. Adding that extra 1/4" now meant the collar would sit into the freezer space and I was concerned it would interfere with the lid. Luckily the lid fit it like a literal glove, probably not a 1/32" to spare on any side ... if it ain't tight it ain't right!
To assemble it i used tight bond wood glue on the MDF corners and shot in some 1-1/4" brad nails to hold it all together while it dried. I used Loctite adhesive spray to glue the pink board together to create the 2-ply board, then used the adhesive spray to glue the pink board to the outer MDF part, then sprayed the inner MDF part and slipped it tightly into place. I then clamped it all together and let it sit over night. The next day I attached the mitered top pieces with glue and brads, then attached the 8" mitered face boards the same way. I used wood filler for the brad holes and then sanded everything smooth before applying Zinsser Seal Coat to the entire thing ... since there can be moisture in the keezer I didn't want the MDF soaking any of that up and swelling up on me. After the sealer I gave it a couple coats of white primer and went on to install it.
I was in a time crunch to get this done before hosting a poker night so I stopped at the primer coating ... and finished the full assembly 15 minutes before people started showing up. I'm still not sure how I'm going to finish it, but the plan was to do a STL Cardinals theme keezer so I may paint the collar red and add some Cardinals decals / stickers, and then I'm going to turn some mini baseball bats for tap handles. The 20# CO2 tank will eventually be put outside, just haven't had time for that yet. I also still need to build a mount / bracket to mount my fan on the inside, right now it's just standing up on the top of the CO2 tank. And it's hard to see in the pics, but I was able to mount my home made temp controller on the stud wall to the left of the keezer.
Anyway, sorry for the long post ... here are some pictures!
No i don't typically serve my home brew in Red Solo Cups, but they do get brought out for drunken poker nights!
Tip for future builders: I highly recommend using a table saw for everything, I simply set up the saw at 4.5" and cut all my MDF and pink board at the same time - this ensures everything is cut precisely the same and will fit up perfectly when you assemble the sandwich.
I did a quick dry fit of everything to make sure it was all good, and this is where the problem showed up. The "half inch" pink board was actually 9/16" and since I was doing a 2-ply board all around, that increased all my dimensions by 1/4". Not a huge problem fortunately, I went back to my sketchup drawing, re-dimensioned the pink board to 9/16" and then adjusted the rest of the dimensions and re-cut the lengths that changed. The only boards that I had to scrap were the 2" top pieces as those now needed to be 2-1/4" ... and that's where things almost got derailed. Adding that extra 1/4" now meant the collar would sit into the freezer space and I was concerned it would interfere with the lid. Luckily the lid fit it like a literal glove, probably not a 1/32" to spare on any side ... if it ain't tight it ain't right!
To assemble it i used tight bond wood glue on the MDF corners and shot in some 1-1/4" brad nails to hold it all together while it dried. I used Loctite adhesive spray to glue the pink board together to create the 2-ply board, then used the adhesive spray to glue the pink board to the outer MDF part, then sprayed the inner MDF part and slipped it tightly into place. I then clamped it all together and let it sit over night. The next day I attached the mitered top pieces with glue and brads, then attached the 8" mitered face boards the same way. I used wood filler for the brad holes and then sanded everything smooth before applying Zinsser Seal Coat to the entire thing ... since there can be moisture in the keezer I didn't want the MDF soaking any of that up and swelling up on me. After the sealer I gave it a couple coats of white primer and went on to install it.
I was in a time crunch to get this done before hosting a poker night so I stopped at the primer coating ... and finished the full assembly 15 minutes before people started showing up. I'm still not sure how I'm going to finish it, but the plan was to do a STL Cardinals theme keezer so I may paint the collar red and add some Cardinals decals / stickers, and then I'm going to turn some mini baseball bats for tap handles. The 20# CO2 tank will eventually be put outside, just haven't had time for that yet. I also still need to build a mount / bracket to mount my fan on the inside, right now it's just standing up on the top of the CO2 tank. And it's hard to see in the pics, but I was able to mount my home made temp controller on the stud wall to the left of the keezer.
Anyway, sorry for the long post ... here are some pictures!
No i don't typically serve my home brew in Red Solo Cups, but they do get brought out for drunken poker nights!
