Yet, Another Keezer Project.. My build..

[Kplum]

I hope these keezer threads are not getting old.. I wanted to show you guys mine.. well at least where I am at with it..

I hope to get some advice and information by doing this thread. Maybe some good advice about what to get, where to buy, etc..

I hope you guys enjoy.. I am very excited about embarking on this project..

 

[waazupdoc]

Keep the pics coming.... what are you planning on putting in there besides beer

 

[DFoster]

So what color is it? White? Urine yellow? Or black?

 

[Kplum]

So what color is it? White? Urine yellow? Or black?

It is black.. Just painted it.. It started out the almond.. I dont know why it looks white in the first picture.. I took down the collar and am now staining it. Hopefully tonight I will put the collar together and do another trial run on top of the freezer..

Keep the pics coming.... what are you planning on putting in there besides beer

I thought About building some kind of Beer Mug Holder.. Its a big fridge.. Potencially 8 kegs on tap in there.. I didnt really need the collar to be so high.. I am going to put the collar on in the next few days and trial lifting a keg over the collar, may have to cut the collar down a bit..
Unless I can attach the collar to the lid.. I would need some gas springs.. Does anyone have any ideas or expierence on this?

 

[Hunlock]

Nice work! That paint looks great!

Can't wait to see the finished product!!!!

 

[bckyrdkid420]

Paint job looks great! What type of paint did you use? And did you sand/primer it first?

 

[jordanpace]

maybe you can purchase some gas springs from an auto parts store (that go on car trunks or something)

 

[Kplum]

I have thought about the gas springs.. I am pretty sure I can go that route.. I used the rustoleum appliance paint.. I just sprayed it on.. I sanded the rough spots, but mostly cleaned it then sprayed it on.. The collar is not coming together just right.. I am going to have to work a little bit more on it.. I cannot seem to get the edges to match up on my butt joints.. I may just cauk it and go on..

 

[spitfire]

What kind of wood are you using? Looks like pressure treated lumber in the picture?

 

[Kplum]

What kind of wood are you using? Looks like pressure treated lumber in the picture?

It is treated lumber.. I have not seen anyone use it.. Thought I would see how well it did.. I plan on using foam on the inside of the wood to insulate..





Still need to touch it up a bit.. It doesnt fit perfect.. I think it can be fixed with a little cauk. Makes me think it would be better attached to the freezer rather than the lid.. Not sure where to go with it as of yet.. I will work on it more this weekend i think

 

[spitfire]

My concern with treated lumber is the fact that it is very wet wood. So when it dries out it will move and that could be a good reason why you are having alignment troubles.

When that wood is sitting inside it will dry to a lower moisture content thus making it a greater risk of warping.

I like the idea of using something that others have not but maybe consider using a more stable wood source. Something that is more dry.

Even when you buy wood from Lowes you should let it acclimate to your house before cutting it to reduce the chance of warping.

 

[Kplum]

My concern with treated lumber is the fact that it is very wet wood. So when it dries out it will move and that could be a good reason why you are having alignment troubles.

When that wood is sitting inside it will dry to a lower moisture content thus making it a greater risk of warping.

I like the idea of using something that others have not but maybe consider using a more stable wood source. Something that is more dry.

Even when you buy wood from Lowes you should let it acclimate to your house before cutting it to reduce the chance of warping.

That makes sense.. I guess I will toss this and start it again.. I appreciate the help.. That might have saved me some heartache in the near future spring and summer coming on..

 

[whoneedsabeer]

Yeah - I would definitely not use the pressure treated wood. They use some nasty chemicals to pressure treat the wood, and it's not safe to use in indoor applications because of it. Let alone on a item that you're going to serve beer out of.

The paint looks good, though.

 

[joety]

Yeah - I would definitely not use the pressure treated wood. They use some nasty chemicals to pressure treat the wood, and it's not safe to use in indoor applications because of it. Let alone on a item that you're going to serve beer out of.

The paint looks good, though.

Your beer is not going to come in contact with the wood unless you have a really f'd up setup. They don't recommend cutting treated lumber indoors, but once it's cut it's not a hazard. What exactly are you concerned about?

Yes, Lowe's sells wet crappy lumber. It is possible to find dry treated lumber from a better source or simply dry it yourself for a year. You can generally tell by how heavy it is as to how dry it is.

 

[joety]

Even when you buy wood from Lowes you should let it acclimate to your house before cutting it to reduce the chance of warping.

Lowe's, HD, Menards, etc., all sell the same crap. You need to do more than acclimate it; that's what you do to lumber that's already dry. Lumber generally takes one year per inch of thickness to properly dry. Dry lumber takes about two weeks to acclimate to the surroundings.

 

[Kplum]

So i need to pick up some dry wood that has been untreated? Or is there another type of wood that you would suggest?

Thanks for the help

 

[spitfire]

Your right their wood is not the best quality but all you need to do with the wood from Lowes is acclimate it because it is already dried wood. I'm talking about their Pine-Poplar-Oak boards not their treated lumber.

You are correct that wet, just sawed wood takes on average 1" per year to dry but the wood from Lowes has not just been cut and has already been through the drying process.

The best option would be for the OP to go to a sawmill and purchase kiln dried lumber to a moisture content of around 7% but even that you want to acclimate to your surroundings. I would assume because the OP was using treated lumber they do not have the tools to mill the rough lumber down so a more viable option would be for them to go to Lowes or the similar and buy pre dried pre milled stock or see if their local sawmill will mill it for them.

I have over 400 board feet of various wood types in my workshop and even though it has been kiln dried to 7% I still pull the wood from the wood pile and acclimate it for 3 days before I start milling it and another 2 after milling it before making final cuts.

Lowe's, HD, Menards, etc., all sell the same crap. You need to do more than acclimate it; that's what you do to lumber that's already dry. Lumber generally takes one year per inch of thickness to properly dry. Dry lumber takes about two weeks to acclimate to the surroundings.

 

[bolts]

I picked up S4S (surfaced 4 sides) wood from a local woodworking store. I went with 'Philippine Mahogany' aka lauan given it was cost effective compared to CVG fir/cherry/maple/etc.

The dimensioned wood I used is about 7 1/8" x 3/4".

You can see my build here:Keezer Build

 

[joety]

Your right their wood is not the best quality but all you need to do with the wood from Lowes is acclimate it because it is already dried wood. I'm talking about their Pine-Poplar-Oak boards not their treated lumber.

You are correct that wet, just sawed wood takes on average 1" per year to dry but the wood from Lowes has not just been cut and has already been through the drying process.

The best option would be for the OP to go to a sawmill and purchase kiln dried lumber to a moisture content of around 7% but even that you want to acclimate to your surroundings. I would assume because the OP was using treated lumber they do not have the tools to mill the rough lumber down so a more viable option would be for them to go to Lowes or the similar and buy pre dried pre milled stock or see if their local sawmill will mill it for them.

I have over 400 board feet of various wood types in my workshop and even though it has been kiln dried to 7% I still pull the wood from the wood pile and acclimate it for 3 days before I start milling it and another 2 after milling it before making final cuts.

The treating process actually re-moisturizes the lumber even though it's kilned so that if you are worried about it twisting (in most applications it's not a big issue) a little you would need to redry it. The regular lumber is kilned and not normally a big issue as you say. I've had treated lumber from HD spray juice at me when driving screws.

Another good option would be Doug Fir. Since it dries with very little twisting it is generally not kilned by the mills. I've had great luck with it in many applications. It's also fairly moisture resistant, something to think about when you are keeping a non-frost free freezer above freezing. It gets damp and moldy in there.

I have quite a bit of rough lumber myself (about 200 bf of cherry and 300 bf of black walnut as well as small amounts of other wood) and I do something similar. Generally I will rough dimension it on the planer to within a sixteenth or so of my target measurements, then let it sit two weeks, and plane it to final dimensions.

Edit: Also wanted to mention that with the new treated lumber, they use many times more copper to make up for the lack of arsenic, and it is VERY tough on fasteners. I generally stick with stainless steel, however, you may get away with some coated or galvanized screws depending on the quality. For a small project like this, if you want to stick with treated, I'd definitely use stainless fasteners.

 

[brewagentjay]

Can't see any pics in this thread.

 

[Kplum]

Can't see any pics in this thread.

I see them..

 

[Kplum]

One More Question..

I was at lowes tonight looking for wood.. Oak is pretty expensive.. I was looking at $70 just for the 1x8's.. Thats out.. What other wood could I trust to use.. Should I stay with hardwood? I just do not want to have to rebuild this collar once a year.. What is a good sturdy wood to use?? Thanks for the help..

 

[boomernintysix]

One More Question..

I was at lowes tonight looking for wood.. Oak is pretty expensive.. I was looking at $70 just for the 1x8's.. Thats out.. What other wood could I trust to use.. Should I stay with hardwood? I just do not want to have to rebuild this collar once a year.. What is a good sturdy wood to use?? Thanks for the help..

I have never built one myself but if your looking for a good looking wood finish you might want to look at getting some MDF board, really cheap stuff, seal it up then use a wood veneer like This to make it look nice. probably wouldn't cost more then 30 or 40, but then again I have had a few home brews so I could be completely wrong.

*Edit* Haha never mind its only 48 inches long... that would be pricey. Maybe some Lauan plywood, would do the same for the finish

 

[JakeTheHopDog]

One More Question..

I was at lowes tonight looking for wood.. Oak is pretty expensive.. I was looking at $70 just for the 1x8's.. Thats out.. What other wood could I trust to use.. Should I stay with hardwood? I just do not want to have to rebuild this collar once a year.. What is a good sturdy wood to use?? Thanks for the help..

Good old Southern Yellow Pine. Easy to work with, stable, nice grain patterns, stains nice but watch out, as it will really suck up the stain and get to dark, and priced pretty good. I've got a dart board all framed out with pine out on the pool deck that I built 4 years ago and it looks as good as the day I hung it up.

 

[Kplum]

yeah.. I might just go with that.. I just hope that it doesnt warp

 

[Photopilot]

Good choice in dumping the pressure treated. Nasty chemicals even if it does not come in contact with the beer, off-gassing could be an issue.

Lumber from a real lumber yard will be of a better grade than the HD, Lowes etc. Look for KD kiln dried. I have seen some nice cedar at HD. It looks better than oak in my opinion and possibly cheaper.

A hardwood distributor, in medium to larger city, would have better prices and choices. If you can find some hardwood, you could probably barter a sixer of homebrew at a cabinet shop to get it milled if you cant find sanded 4 sides wood.

 

[bolts]

You could consider a quality 3/4" plywood (not OSB). It's pretty easy to find 2' x 4' sheets making it easier to handle. You'll have to work a bit harder on the joinery with internal blocks supporting the corners as you can't just drive screws (unless you have a pocket hole jig).

Whatever you do, go with a few coats of a decent varnish (or marine varnish) and consider a solution for controlling humidity. I have two of these inside mine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFD2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[joety]

Good choice in dumping the pressure treated. Nasty chemicals even if it does not come in contact with the beer, off-gassing could be an issue.

Lumber from a real lumber yard will be of a better grade than the HD, Lowes etc. Look for KD kiln dried. I have seen some nice cedar at HD. It looks better than oak in my opinion and possibly cheaper.

A hardwood distributor, in medium to larger city, would have better prices and choices. If you can find some hardwood, you could probably barter a sixer of homebrew at a cabinet shop to get it milled if you cant find sanded 4 sides wood.

Off-gassing is not an issue. New homes use this stuff where the deck contacts the foundation and it's fully exposed to the air in your basement that you and your family breath every day. What IS an issue is the contact between your hardware and the faucet assembly where the level of copper in new treated lumber would cause corrosion.

I agree on independent lumber yards. They are the way to go.