Drewgongs Kegerator

[Drewgong]

Gday fellas hopefully this will be a pretty quick and basic build. Starting off with my gumtree bargain $80 fridge ....yes fridge not freezer. I see most builds start out building a platform with casters on it but seeing as though this one has a fairly strong looking steel base with casters fitted already I decided to take a shortcut and just build onto the fridge itself

So off to bunnings I go and get myself as sheet of 4mm marine ply afew trim pieces of Tasmanian Oak and a few tubes of construction adhesive. Ideally to glue the ply on perfectly you would roll the fridge onto it's back but this is usually a killer for second hand fridges.

This was so much harder than it looks lol but got there in the end . I'll be spray painting that vent black and using a fairly dark stain on the timber so it blends in . I am still undecided on what I'm going to do for the top I've bought a 4 tap flooded font that will be just fed with water from a pond pump inside the fridge

I'll be ordering 4 stainless flow control intertaps tomorrow with snaplock fittings.
Well I gotta wait 24hrs for glue to cure but then I'll be back at work so hopefully later on in the week I'll start cutting and gluing the trim on.

 

[Maheel]

will the ply retain all the heat from the evap coils somtimes built into the freezer ?

or is the evap coil on the back or in with the motor on that one ?

 

[Drewgong]

I've been using it to store my kegs that won't fit in my current kegerator for about 6 months now and it's always been cool to touch and keeps my beer ice cold ....its actually a fridge not a freezer not sure if that makes a difference I'm no refrigeration mechanic

 

[Maheel]

should be all good then, keep the pics coming

i have to do my keezer, it's ugly rusty whiteness needs sorting...

 

[Drewgong]

Glue is set and seems to have bonded perfectly. Not sure when I'll get time for the trim

 

[Drewgong]

got the trim on this afternoon not sure if I should stain it or go clear ...and that strip in the centre looks to narrow

 

[brewgasm]

Looking great, what stain are you thinking of using?

 

[Drewgong]

No idea mate just gunna head off to bunnings and have a look

 

[markp]

No idea mate just gunna head off to bunnings and have a look

Plywood looks great with just clear on it, try it on an off cut.

 

[Drewgong]

too late I stuffed I bought a stain/lacquer called teak and its completely ruined it . I have to work all weekend so I'll try and sand it all back next week

 

[Mr B]

Post pics if you want opinions, surely a teak stain hasn’t ruined it....

Looked great raw

 

[Drewgong]

was embarrassed to put up a pic the finish came out heaps patchy as well as too dark

 

[brewgasm]

Patchy is a good look and I always shoot for patchy when I stain. I never use a two in one tho. I like to hit the timber with a blow torch before I stain. Get some closeups for us but from that pic it looks great

 

[brewgasm]

You could try a gloss finish on that too

 

[Mr B]

Depending on whether you rally hate it and what you are aiming for, a light sand to bring some of the underlying colour through and a clear top coat could work?

 

[Drewgong]

I hope so the plan is to send the s@#t out of it and hit it with some clear

 

[brewgasm]

I reckon some satin estapol would be sweet (if you can use it over the lacquer..

 

[awfulknauful]

I would never use a dual purpose stain/laquer, plus you have grains going in different directions, never a good look, and are they two different timbers the trim and the ply? Apart from that it is a good build.

 

[Drewgong]

yeah its marine ply base and tasmanian oak trim . I hear what you are saying about the grain going in different directions on the trim but how can one avoid that ....I'd need to cut the trim out of a full sheet in one piece?

 

[Mat B]

I often tint the lacquer with projects like this, rather than stain the timber. Different effect, but it's dead easy.