My other Christmas Project

[nomoman]

The cooler was made entirely from the slats. I had initially planned on using the rails for the legs, but decided against it. I had a stack of pallets about 5' tall. Some of the pallets had rails with the cutouts, some didn't. Breaking down the pallets was the hardest part of the entire process!

Is there any type of copyright or patten that I should be aware of building one of these?? I assume as long as I don't build it exact there should be no problem..

[heathicus]

I don't think so. I haven't researched it to make sure, but since seeing one of these for the first time back in the summer, I've seen several people making them and selling them. Saw one guy set up on the side of the road selling them off a trailer. Saw another guy with a booth at a small festival selling them. Other people I've talked to have seen other people selling them at flea markets and such. In case you're wondering, they usually run somewhere in the $125 - $175 range. I think that's a little much myself.

The guy I saw at the festival used a styrofoam cooler with a hole punched in the bottom and a cork stuck in it for the drain. The first one I ever saw (at Academy Sporting Goods) had a more "mass produced" look to it. The inside was tin but I think it had styrofoam insulation around the outside of the tin. It had a drain similar to mine.

[nomoman]

I don't think so. In case you're wondering, they usually run somewhere in the $125 - $175 range. I think that's a little much myself.


Thanks. I want to make one before summer. I have a bunch of pallets and didn't quite know what to do with them. The only investment, like you said, is the hardware, spigot, cooler and bottle opener (which probally didn't equal the cost they wanted). I might just give it to my buddy and l let him decorate it. He was an EMT/FD. So I don't know whether to do EMS or Fire stuff. I was going to put an EMS bottle opener on it..

[jdramsey]

Very nice concept. Looks good too. It looks like a plastic cooler/ice box inside. I assume it's one of the all plastic type of coolers that can be found in any sporting goods store. Did you cut away the exterior housing of the cooler and set the interior shell inside? Or did you just build the box around the entire cooler?

[heathicus]

Very nice concept. Looks good too. It looks like a plastic cooler/ice box inside. I assume it's one of the all plastic type of coolers that can be found in any sporting goods store. Did you cut away the exterior housing of the cooler and set the interior shell inside? Or did you just build the box around the entire cooler?

Yep, it's a standard Igloo cooler. I just built the box around the entire cooler.