Wooden Chest Cooler

My neighbor asked if I could build this cooler for his sister’s birthday present with no instructions as to what he wanted for a design, so I designed as I built.   Some minor surgery on the cooler was required, removal of the handles, hinges mostly, and some slight modifications to the sides to square up the chest. 

  It is rough 1x cedar for the chest, legs, and lid, the cooler is supported with 4 – 2”x4”s spaced evenly across the bottom and attached with pocket hole screws, the legs, large panels as well as the top panel were built with pocket hole joinery. 

The drain is attached with 5/8" clear tubing to the cooler and a pvc fitting to the valveHe picked a 5 day cooler approx 42”x18”x20” and the overall height with legs is 38”. Hope they ice down plenty of cold ones for the party. 

beginner woodworking projects