Patio Cooler Project

My latest project in the garage has been a cooler for the patio. I'd seen an item like this for $100 at HEB and decided to make my own. I used cedar fence pickets for the wood, a $.99 styrofoam cooler from CVS and some hardware from Lowes. All-together, it would have been under $50 (I think), but I already had about half the pickets.

Isaac helped me get the wood ready. We pulled out a bunch of cedar fence planks left over from a new fence almost 2 years ago! I cut the boards for the sides and kept them together so their grain pattern would run around the box. The lid was essentially a "face-frame" - 4 boards butt joined with pocket screws. I got to use my Kreg Jig for this part - Fun!

The legs actually took 2 trys - the boards were very rough and the joins would not conform to a 90 deg. angle, so I took them apart. and cleaned up the joining edge and face on the table saw. Then, I glued and nailed them. They were much more solid after that!

I glued up the side panels, lid, and bottom to make assembly easier and give the box more rigidity. Again, all joined edges were run on the table saw (in lieu of an actual joiner which would've been the better tool). I dadoed the sides to trap the bottom and dry fit these pieces to check sizes and joints. This is where I realized the bottom was a 1/4" too wide. That's better than being too narrow, though!

With the box done, I clamped on the legs and stood it up on the table saw (because it is a lot more level than my Garage floor!) and adjusted the legs so it wouldn't rock. With the legs all clamped at the right length, I attached them to the box with 1" wood screws from the inside. Knowing the box will weigh a lot with ice and drinks, I used ample screws - 8 per corner! Tim Taylor would be proud!

The last step was attaching the top. I added hinges under the front edge of the lid frame so the top could be opened in order to get at the cooler. The lid itself was hinged in the back with a handle up front. All the hardware was black, antique styled items from Lowes.

Now to fill the cooler with drinks and the house with friends! Sounds like another great reason to use the grill!