Forward side of spar box crossfeed drain

To secure the cooler in the frame I needed to add a couple lower braces for the cooler to sit on. The short sides went in first followed by the long sides. They just needed to be glued andВ nailed into place. I really didnвЂ™t care how bad the panels looked because I knew they were going to be covered soon. Regular 3/8вЂќ pine plywood was used for the interior panels. I drilled a hole in the lower horizontal 2Г—4 frame piece and mounted the spigot with a coupe brass screws from an old door handle. Another 1/2вЂќ PVC male adapter will fit into the back of the spigot. The drain will end and be controlled via a 1/2вЂќ female thread spigot. The original drain was replaced with a 1/2вЂќ PVC male adapter to give the PVC a connection point on the outside of the cooler. Wood glue and 1-1/4вЂќ pocket hole screws were used to attach the structural frame to the top frame. Instead I used a small pocket hole jig to drill holes right on the assembled frame. My original plan was to attach the top frame to the base with wood glue and brad nails but I ended up not going that route to reduce the number of nail holes showing on the project. Everything was sized to match the perimeter of the top 1Г—4 frame I made earlier. The two larger frames are connected with four shorter pieces. Two larger frames are needed for the front and back. Pocket holes sure do make the process go by a lot faster. My Foreman machine was already setup for 1-1/2вЂќ thick stock so I used it instead of my K4 jig. I went with the thicker 2x4s to get a deeper recessed panel for the wavy trim I was going to use later.ДЄgain, pocket holes are used for the 2Г—4 frame pieces. You could probably get away with thinner material such as 1x4s though. I used regular 2x4s for the structural frame. This frame will also determine the overall size of the project. The fit needs to be nice and snug so the cooler wonвЂ™t wobble around in it when the box is complete. It sure wonвЂ™t hurt anything.ДЄ quick test fit in the frame to see if it fits. Depending on the area where the pocket holes are to be used it may or may not be necessary but I always recommend using wood glue. I sometimes get asked if glue is necessary when using pocket hole screws. Each short piece on the top frame received two pocket hole screws on each end. To make quick work of this project I used pocket hole joinery for the structure. The first bit of construction on this was to make a top frame for the cooler to sit in. My friend Robert Blanford mentioned in his cooler box video that you could sell the handles and hinges as a rebuild kit for the cooler on Amazon or Ebay. To prep the cooler all of the handles and hinges need to be removed from the cooler. The cooler I used was a 52 quart Igloo brand cooler. I also used two 3вЂќ outdoor hinges, three handles, some 1/2вЂќ PVC, two 1/2вЂќ PVC male adapters, one 1/2вЂќ PVC slip elbow, one 1/2вЂќ PVC elbow, one 1/2вЂќ female thread spigot, and some PVC primer and glue. To keep the cost down I used regular construction grade pine 2x4s and a few 1Г—4 furring strips. The best looking design I have seen is from BeachBumLivin on YouTube so thatвЂ™s where the inspiration for mine came from. And after all that time I really didnвЂ™tВ come up with any original design or ideas to incorporate so the design I went with was not one of my own. ItвЂ™s one of those projects that I have been randomly been thinking about in the back of my head for several months. The goal for this one was to make something not-so-rustic as it is going to be topped off with a 12вЂќ circular sports team tin. Most of the cooler boxes you see out there lean towards a rustic appearance. Fast forward 8 months and IвЂ™m just now getting around to it. My boss at my last job asked me to make a wooden cooler box and I agreed.

Forward side of spar box crossfeed drain