Cutting into the interior lid of a chest freezer

[triple-oh-six]

Similar to this:

that's fucked up, is that what happens when you try and share a pic frrom their forum?


I say go with Bug's plan, sounds like a winner to me.
I'm about to build a collar, I'm going to cover mine with aluminum though.

[San_Diego_Matt]

My collar is made from ordinary 2X6's but I then covered that with a nice stained poplar 1X10 to make it look good and also help keep the collar from sliding off. With this construction it would be real easy to stick a 1X2 or 2X2 underneath the 2X6 where it would never be seen, yet give you all the height you need.

The 1X10 also gives me enough room below my taps to put a shelf to hold my drip tray.

Wayne

Do you have any pics of yours? I think I understand your setup, but let me see if I can explain what I'm picturing in a way that makes sense to you and then you can let me know if I'm right or if I've been smelling too many dane farts.

I understand your 2x6 collar just fine and that it sits right on top of your freezer. I'm going to assume that the lid of the freezer is bolted to the 2x6 collar and just the lid hinges rather than some keezers I've seen where the collar lifts up as well as the lid.

So, this 1x10 piece. It's attached to the front/outside of the 2x6 collar and the top of the 2x6 and the top of the 1x10 are flush. This kind of makes a sleeve out of the collar that sits around the top of your freezer (assuming there are also 1x10's on the sides) and there is a 4" overlap of the 1x10 down the front of the freezer?

I guess the 1x10 , at the top of the 2x6, could stick up 2" over the top of the 2x6 so that it would cover the front lip of the lid of the freezer and then it would only stick down 2" over the front/sides of the freezer, but would still keep it in place rather than having to glue/silicone the 2x6 collar to the top of the freezer?

Does any of this make any sense?

[siwelwerd]

Does any of this make any sense?

Yup. You seem to have the idea. Here's a link with some pics:

http://knol.google.com/k/how-to-build-a ... -kegerator

[BDawg]

Why fuck up a perfectly good chest freezer? Just bite the bullet and build a taller collar.

+1

[TheDarkSide]

My collar is made from ordinary 2X6's but I then covered that with a nice stained poplar 1X10 to make it look good and also help keep the collar from sliding off. With this construction it would be real easy to stick a 1X2 or 2X2 underneath the 2X6 where it would never be seen, yet give you all the height you need.

The 1X10 also gives me enough room below my taps to put a shelf to hold my drip tray.

Wayne

I think I'm liking this setup Bug. A couple questions:

1. Do you cover the back with a 1 x 10 as well. I was thinking the hinge would still need to be attached to the 2 x 6 or the lid would be off. Maybe cut notches out of the 1 x 10 at the hinge?

2. How would you suggest attaching the 2 x 2 underneath? Would the silicone caulk be enough to hold it on? This is what I have on my 2 x 6 now. I hoping to be able to do most of this in place so I don't have to screw with the temperature probe that is through the collar and silicone caulked.

3. Even though you can't see the 2 x 2, would you still reccommend staining it to protect it from moisture?


Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Bugeater]

I think I'm liking this setup Bug. A couple questions:

1. Do you cover the back with a 1 x 10 as well. I was thinking the hinge would still need to be attached to the 2 x 6 or the lid would be off. Maybe cut notches out of the 1 x 10 at the hinge?

2. How would you suggest attaching the 2 x 2 underneath? Would the silicone caulk be enough to hold it on? This is what I have on my 2 x 6 now. I hoping to be able to do most of this in place so I don't have to screw with the temperature probe that is through the collar and silicone caulked.

3. Even though you can't see the 2 x 2, would you still reccommend staining it to protect it from moisture?


Thanks for all the suggestions.

1. I didn't cover the back though I did screw on a scrap piece of 1 X 10 just to eliminate the possibility of the lid/collar assembly from sliding around.

2. There really is no attachment to the body of the freezer. I did pick up a roll 1.5" wide X 1/4" thick foam tape. This is the stuff you use when you put a camper shell on a pickup truck box to prevent leaks and rattles. It is sticky on one side so I stick it to the bottom of the collar. This seals up any air leaks at the bottom of the collar. The regular gasket on the freezer lid takes care of the top.

3. You definitely want to seal the 2 X 2 with something. I use 2 or 3 coats of polyurethane spray to do the job before attaching the 1 10. I also use the same stuff to seal the stain.

If you are only using 2 X 2's, you can get by with something quite a bit narrower (and cheaper) than a 1 X 10. A 6" wide piece (8" if you use 2 X 4's for the collar) will be plenty. The problem I see with a 2 X 2 is that it is actually only 1.5" wide. When you drill a 7/8" hole in it for your tap shanks you don't have a lot of room for error and lose a lot of structural integrity. I'll try to get a picture up of my system this weekend.

Hope this helps.

Wayne