Help design the "perfect" ice chest

[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]I've been 'brainstorming', with myself, regarding making some heavy duty ice chests. I'll lay out my needs/desires and then some of my thoughts. I'm hoping for any helpful ideas, thoughts, cautions, suggestions or warnings regarding materials, construction or layout. We have purchased at least a dozen ice chests over the past decade, the better ones have lasted more than two years but they all have had problems or failed, usually within 3 years.[/FONT]


[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]First explaining the why of our needs.--We live off grid and use propane for refrigeration as well as ice chests. We also have a deli in our shop and haul cheese and other temperature sensitive foods up to a couple hours. Also use as a trunk on the platform described next. On the back of our van, in a 2" receiver, we have a platform mounted, the frame is angle iron and the inside dimensions are 40"(front to back) x 48"(wide). We also use our ice chests when making large quantities of homemade ice cream with a John Deere "hit and miss" engine hooked up to a 5-gallon churn. We store ice as well as an ice/salt mix to keep ice cream frozen.[/FONT]




[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Now a list of what I perceive as needs and desires—open to suggestions here also [/FONT]

1. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Outside dimensions should be about 20" x 48" (a little less for ease of loading) and a minimum of 24" high (to fit pails of ice cream) 30" might be better, but I am thinking of most efficient use of materials.[/FONT]
2. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Durable to UV exposure, water, cold (we do use these in our sometimes -40º temperatures), salt and general bang-around abuses.[/FONT]
3. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Strong, must be able to hold and haul a full load of ice. Most of what we haul is of an equal or lesser density than ice or we will make allowances. [/FONT]
4. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Handles on both ends must be able to support the weight (or 75%) of the loaded chest. As well as not kill hands when hauling 100' or so. Probably double as a guide for straps to strap ice chest to platform. Possible rings or brackets on sides (collapsible) to hold a rod on either side to carry like a stretcher. [/FONT]
5. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Drain should be on bottom or at lowest level, on side, have replaceable cap and ideally connect to a standard garden hose.[/FONT]
6. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Lid needs to keep out rain and road spray. Hinging would be nice as well as locking/staying open at just over 90 degrees. Hinges have been one of the weak points on our chests. My thoughts have been towards a simple 'cap' lid and using short "strap iron" bolted to lid and body as hinges. Not really solid on how that works though.[/FONT]
7. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Cost should be in the sub $75 dollar range. Large ice chests of not quite the size I'm looking for are in the $60 range. I realize I'm probably looking at cost over runs, but I figure a ballpark figure is better to avoid thoughts of sheet titanium or carbon fiber composite.[/FONT]
8. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Weight is also a factor, they should be able to be easily handled (allowing for awkwardness inherent in size) when empty and two fairly hardy people should be able to manage them when full. When I build I tend to over engineer, with good reason, my family and our lifestyle tend to be hard on the things we use (and abuse). This is one of the areas where I will be even more dependent on more knowledgeable, experienced advice. Building strong enough to endure but not to hold elephants.[/FONT]
9. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Stackable is one of the features that is not a high priority, however I thought I'd mention it. My plan is to build two of these now and see how/if they need to be refined. In essence these are boxes and should stack nicely, however I want to avoid construction that would make them less stackable and accentuate any features that would help them interlock.[/FONT]
10. [FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Ease of construction, I have limited skills and resources. I do have friends who can weld and whatnot but I'd like to impose as little as possible on them and be able to do as much as possible myself. [/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]I think that covers things more than well, but as I mentioned, please feel free to suggest more.[/FONT]


[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Below some of the thoughts I have come up with, keep in mind I haven't looked too much at costs.[/FONT]


[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Materials-Several possibilities and combinations, I'm thinking each chest will require about 2 ½ 4x8 sheets of material. Using different material for inside and out should be considered for the different qualities as well as maximum efficient use of material. I'd source my materials in Duluth, MN, probably. Though I haven't looked at prices, shipping for large sheets would tend to make me think that shopping locally would be most cost effective.[/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Aluminum sheet for exterior is probably my first thought, cost and weight would be negatives, as well as having to have someone else do the welding required. Treated plywood would be next for exterior, possibly clad with thin aluminum, maybe just painted or varnished. Fiberglass? Vinyl? Any plastic has a UV concern for the exterior. HDPE-think cutting board plastic? Anything I'd use on the exterior other than sheet metal would probably require angle iron or aluminum at the corners.[/FONT]


[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Foam for the middle of the sandwich is probably a requirement. I'm thinking that blue moisture resistant sheet would be the best bet; adhesives to add strength to the sandwich are something I'd need suggestions on, especially if HDPE is used. I don't know if a 'reflectix' bubble Mylar insulation makes sense in this application.[/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Metal for the interior is probably out as the close (1/4") tolerances would be beyond my metal working ability. HDPE is my favored interior as it can be worked like wood and a fairly thin sheet is highly resistant to bumps and any type of chemical reaction. Adhesive is my main concern for the HDPE. Any alternative suggestions for interior material would be welcome. Any plastic does have to be resilient; we have punched holes or cracks in the interior of most of our molded ice chests. The water gets into the in-between layer and makes an excellent growing area, not good for a sanitary environment. The water infiltration adds weight as well as causes damage when freezing occurs. [/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Any other thoughts on hardware etc. are welcome. The best fittings for the drain, Hinging the lid as well as water resistant design for the lid, any features you've found useful, ANY THOUGHTS are welcome. Brainstorming comes before actual design.[/FONT]

These are the most rugged ice chests I have ever seen. They are quite expensive, but may be a good resource for design ideas.

a perfect cooler has a steel bottle opener on the end.


http://www.bottleopener.com



nice >> http://texanwoodworks.com

Wheels on one end to lift up and pull?

Hi, Have you considered using dry ice instead of regular ice? I use this for camping trips, and it is a major step up. The main thing you need to watch for is actually getting things a little too cold - I put some newpaper around the dry ice to keep it from hard freezing everything. Then again - are you using ice stored from winter?

I would frame it up with 1/4" thick Al angle, either 1.5 or 2 inch per side, and screw + epoxy it together. Welding is just not worth it for Al IMHO. The nice thing about 1/4 in thick is you can drill and tap it, anything thinner is just too thin for a screw.

For a skin, I would use either 1/16th or 1/8th Al sheet, screwed in with 1/4-20 screws (mount the skin inside of the frame) and then silicone seal it with an strong adhesive caulk that will stay flexible.

For ease of carrying - consider wheels instead.

For the inside, you could repeat the outside if you like, or perhaps use ABS or CPVC. They are a lot better for bonding together than HDPE, and especially the higher rubber content ABS types are quite tough. An Al interior is pretty tough.

Insulation - I would be tempted to just foam in the gap between the inside / outside with a good quality expanding foam. It grows a lot, so don't get carried away.

Another interesting option would be to start with a large Pelican case (with wheels) and add on from there. They are pretty tough and come in a wide variety of sizes. Probably does not meet your sub $ 100 goal though.

Just a thought, but how about just getting an old broken chest style freezer and removing all the unneeded parts? I see them on craigslist all the time, sometimes for free

Or what about getting an existing enclosure and modifying it. The $75 price limit is really going to limit what you can make on your own. Sheet metal is out of the question for that price unless you find a really, really good deal or some large scrap. If you do plywood I'd use the marine grade which is already going to cost you most of your budget.

If you could stretch the budget, you could find a (well) used knaack job box, the kind they use to hold tools at construction sites. Line the inside with styrofoam sheets or spray foam, put a plastic tub or fiberglass the interior, than just insulate the top and make sure it seals with the tub. That would give you an extremely rugged, weatherproof ice chest with an absolute minimum of work. All you have to do is drill a hole and attach a drain plug. I gotta warn you, it'll be heavy. The box alone will weigh over 100lbs without anything in it, but it will outlast you and your kids. It already has heavy duty built in handles, and optional wheels.