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See my two posts in the “how do I get the keg box colder” post for answers on how to use the fridge without the exposed coils. The fridge size is not necessarily the issue, because many of the 2.7-4 cuft fridges use the same compressor and same internal heat exchanger (the ice box portion).
Here is a great site with a lot of FAQ you might want asnwers to: The link is directly to the keg physical sizes FAQ, but there are a lot more – including CO2 cylinder information.
http://ceisites.com/tap_info.htm#keg_types
Oh, I forgot to mention. For the most part, unless you are getting domestic beers, you will have to buy a regular 1/2 keg. In fact, even for many good domestic (especially microbrews) you can not even get the 1/4 or 1/6 kegs. You generally can order kegs from your local distributor that are not listed on their available beer list if you locate the brewer and the beer you want to get.
Bar rails!! anybody else want to know how to make your own? Well, I have the answer. If you have:1)router 2) a few wood clamps 3) Table saw 4) a 1/2″ 1/4 round router bit 5) wood glue – you can make your own bar rail to whatever specificaitons you want for less than 1/4 the price of buying one. There are only a couple items that standing in your way. 1) how do I get wood the right hickness? – well you glue 2 pieces of 1″Xwhatever” thick oak available from home depot or Lowes. You get a 2″ thick oak board to make a rail out of.
2) how in the world do you make the concave cut down the length of the board? The cut is called a “cove cut” and is a complex cut made with a table saw. I wont bother explaining how to do a cove cut because if you search for “cove cut” on google, you will find many nice sites explaining – with pictures . I will offer 3 suggestions though. First of all – do the router cuts on the rail before the cove cut (if you cove cut you lose a flat place to put the router). Secondly – practice on a piece of pine a couple feet long first – you could use a 2X4 if you wanted. Lastly, raise the blade only a little at a time – 1/16″ at a time or less for hardwood (saw blades arent really designed to cut from the side, so take your time)! Making a good, safe cove cut takes a little practice. Once you got that down pat – move on to your expensive oak. Then enjoy all the money you just saved. If you want to get rid of the cut marks in the cove quick – use a belt sander belt taped to a piece of PVC – use 40 then 60 then 100, then 150 grit and it goes fast. If you start with high grit it takes FOREVER.
No posts? I thought maybe I’d get a comment or two
Home depot is expensive compared to a local roofing supply store. If you contact them, you sould be able to get multiple colors of galvanize or painted steel cut to whatever lenghts you want. Just overestimate by some because they dont necessarily cut square (at least at my place) so you will have to cut with a metal jig saw blade. I think they called it drip pan sheeting.
I am really a fan of the small halogen light sets you can get from home depot in either a 2, 3 or 5 set. If you put it on a dimmer switch you get just the right amount of light. They flush mount or surface mount and take up very little room You can see one on my bar at the builders forum pics in the dead center of the work area.
http://www.barplans.info/album….ace.jpg
Here’s a link to the lights at Lowes. It’s a white set, but you can get them in black as well.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes….ge=none
For Shelving, I’m a very big fan of the tiered liquor shelf for either under your bar or in your barback. Other really good ideas you can check out all the builders photo gallery. You realy need to decide what you plan on storing there to determine what kind of shelving to make. DEFINATELY include a small under bar fridge if you dont have one already. Hope this helps.
I made the 8 ft straight bar with a double tap keggerator and made it from solid oak, tile, glass and mirror. As it turned out the thing wound up weighing estimated over 600 lbs (3/4 thick oak plywood is heavy!) I originally planned on having casters on my bar so I could move it ouside to the deck for parties.
About casters, first of all, do not forget that the caster on the bottom will make your bar top higher – like up to 4″ (not a big deal for a regular bar, but for kegger bar, you need all the space you can get inside). I talked to a lot of people regarding casters as well. The other thing about wheels is that with the weight, you will want soft, large wheels. Tiny wheels will have trouble rolling over bumps (like spaces between the deck boards) and hard wheels might make permanant marks in wood, or crack tile. My recommendation is if you are doing a regular bar then get as large and sturdy casters as you can fit under it. For a kegger bar or a heavy regular bar, I’d suggest skipping casters and simply use some 2″ schedule 40 or 80 (as thick as you can get at home depot) PVC pipes – it can be rolled around like a breeze on a couple of those.
I just wound up forgetting about casters on my bar and had to get a small army of people (10) to move it into the house. Even with as heavy as it is, it still moved easy, even across the yard on a couple PVC pipesIf you have a table saw and router, you can actually make your own bar rail to whatever specifications you want! This is a very advanced table-saw operation that should be done by only people who are very comfortable using a table saw. Here is a link to a website that details how to make the cove cut in the wood.
http://www.binkyswoodworking.com/CoveMouldingTip.htm
For a bar rail, first use the router to round the edges, and then cut the cove cut in the wood. I’m cheap and dont like to pay for stuff I can make myself. By the way, if you choose to do this operation, I’d suggest trying it on a few short pieces of pine before using some expensive oak boards or something.
Or, you could always buy it . . . . .I should probably be more specific regarding the heat exchanging coils. If there are no coils on the back of the refridgerator exposed to the air, then they are built inside the sides of the fridge. You can confirm this by starting up the fridge and running it for a while. If you feel the side of the fridge – it will feel warm.
For this reason, most of thos refridgerators have a waring on them stating “not to be used inset” or “maintain at least a 4″ clearance on either side of the refridgerator”.
For these types of refridgerators, it is imperative that the airflow be maintained on the outside of the refridgerator to ensure it works properly.
I used one of these inside my bar and completely enclosed it – except for two holes. I then put 2 PC fans over the fridge to force air across the compressor, up one side, across the top, and down the other side of the fridge. This works AWESOME and maintained a nice look to the bar by not having exposed refridgerator back.
Whatever refridgerator you use – make sure you have good air flow (or plenty of open air space) on the hot parts of the refridgerator.If you used a mall fridge that didnt have the coils on the back this could have been the problem. Refidgerators that dont have coils on the back have them inside – on the sides of the fridge. If you dont provide air circulation to the sides, then the refridgerator wont work well. A lot of the 2.7 Cu Ft refridgerators have the same compressor as the 4 Cu Ft fridges. Steve is right – it’s all about the air circulation. Both outside the fridge on the coils, and inside the keg box.
