Give the “Coolest” Father’s Day Gift! A Cooler Stand DIY Tutorial

By Jenny @ Birdsandsoap 

Plans by Ana White

The first time I saw one of these cooler stands, I knew it was getting pinned on to “My Next Build” Pinterest board.  It’s where I keep all of my best intentions. I spent some time milling over ideas and then forgot about it for a while.

Then, one day, the stars aligned and I found a sweet cooler deal online at Walmart.com. Twenty dollars for this 48 quart Coleman cooler set, a day-long sesh with Google Sketchup, and a pile of lumber later, and  I had the makings of the coolest Father’s Day gift on record.

Let me remind you a little about my man:

What can I say? He gets me. I wanted this year to be special.

Please Go to Ana-white.com for the official plan. Complete materials list, cut list, and plan instructions can be found there! Thank You Ana for breaking down this design and creating a great plan!!

A note on measuring your cooler dimensions: This can be tricky with all of the rounded corners and sloped edges. Measure your cooler at it’s largest diameter; that is usually around the top rim. To get an accurate height measurement, I measured from the ground up, if you try to measure just the surface of the cooler, those curvy edges can throw things off.  Level your tape from the ground and go up from there.

Preparing your cooler:

You want to get the tightest fit possible in the stand. This requires a little disassembly and some cosmetic work.

First, I had to remove the lid from the cooler and get rid of the hinges since they would be going in separate cases on the finished product.

Next came removing the handles. I popped the handles out of their brackets and removed the pins. All that was left were a few nubs- Nothing a hacksaw can’t fix. Like buttah. I also removed the cap on the cooler drain.

Now that I have a smooth exterior and a separate lid, I can start building.

This 48 quart cooler measures 13×23 3/4“ in diameter. I added a quarter of an inch each direction, allowing enough wiggle room just in case the cooler is warped or needs some finagling to get it into place.

I started with the front and rear frames first. The legs are 35” high; attach them together with 24″ horizontal frame pieces using 2 ½ pockethole screws.

The center brace is going to be the height of the platform your cooler will rest upon. Take the height of your cooler MINUS ¾” inches and mark for your center brace. The cooler will sit inside just above the frame, but once the top trim piece is in place (it is ¾” thick), it will sit flush with the top of the cooler. 

I attached the bottom brace six inches up from the ground. This gives plenty of space to sweep a broom underneath when I am cleaning the patio.  A girl’s got to think ahead!

Here is the assembled front frame. This is the interior view. Attach the pieces together with 2 ½” pocket hole screws so they are on the inside.

Build two of these.

Attaching the side pieces:

I went ahead and measured and cut 2×4’s down and sanded them all at once. I used the first cut board as a template to mark all of the others for accuracy. I like to do things in an assembly line fashion as I think it makes me faster. Not really, because I have to break every 20 minutes to parent. These types of projects take the Average Joe a weekend to complete.

Me?

Nooo-ho-ho; they take a month with the kiddos on deck.

The 2×4’s are super sturdy and will support the cooler and bottom shelf flawlessly. I attached them with pocket hole screws on the undersides. If you don’t have a Kreg Jig yet, get one now! This tool has changed my life!

The side frame pieces are coming together and my five year old has discovered how to paint with her sidewalk chalk. I too, painted as I went. I really wanted to try Minwax’s Indigo Gel Stain for this project, but they didn’t carry it at my local Lowes (BOO!). So instead, I used a colorwash effect with a sample jar of Valspar’s Mountain Lake:

I watered down the paint to create a wash. It is a matte effect that still lets the woodgrain show through a little. I started with a light coat, and then added additional coats for a more vibrant finish. I painted this entire project with a sample jar I bought on clearance for a dollar. Woot!

Our cat, Prince, needing some attention. Pet me, pet me!

Once I had all the shelf pieces assembled (glued, screwed and checked for square) I attached the rear frame piece and it finally came together. At this point, my husband had no idea what I was making him and I made him help me hold the boards straight while I glued and screwed them into place. Having a helper for this part was a lifesaver.

So while we are working, he is trying to guess what I am making:

His first guess was a baby changing table. Nope.

“Well, it can’t be for me because I would never pick that shade of blue.” Thanks.

Next he guessed a barbecue stand. What?

Third time, I actually brought the cooler out of hiding, placed it in the top, and got all excited because I just knew he had figured it out.

He guessed a planter box. Really?

Finally, after I put the lid on top and performed a quick game of Charades demonstrating what it looks like to use a cooler, I got an “…Oooooh, it’s a cooler box.” By that time, the novelty had worn off.

Whatever. His work was done. Leave me to my cooler building, Babe.

I dry-fitted the cooler and it was nice and snug. Hallelujah!

The rear panel is made from (5) 1×3 pieces and (2) 1×6 pieces. I left hairline cracks between the boards for an even fit across.

The front panel is made with a 1×6 piece on each end and a 2×2 piece to frame out the center panel section.

The top trim:

The top trim is built out of 1×3 material. I measured it to be ½” larger all the way around the exterior of the frame to give it a nice lip. Do this by adding 1” to the length and width of your cooler box. The corners are mitered, glued, and secured with a brad nailer.

Next, I took my cooler and put it upside down on top of the trim piece. I measured on each side, making certain the box was centered over the frame.

Mark with a pen all the way around the edge. This will give you the tightest edge between your cooler and the top of the frame.

I clamped a scrap board to give myself a nice straight edge for a guide and used my jigsaw to carefully trim out the interior edge. I am notorious for chewing things up with a jigsaw- so having a guide was a necessity. I went very slow around the corners, and then sanded all the edges for a nice, smooth finish.

Once you have finished the trim, you can fit your cooler into place. Looking good, I stained it up with Minwax’s “Early American” (my all-time fave!). I clamped the top piece to the frame and glued, using brad nails toenailed in from the underside of the frame to secure it in place. The cooler and trim are totally flush. I dryfitted the cooler several times through the building process to make sure everything was aligned.

For the front panel, I kicked my craftiness into full gear!

First, I measured a scrap of ¾” plywood to fit the space, pre-drilled pocket holes on to the back for 1 ½” pocket screws and came inside for a cool drink and some quiet time. I gathered all of the bottle caps my husband has so painstakingly amassed, and began to place them on the board. I used staggered rows of caps, and when I got to the far edge, I had to break out the hammer to smash one side of the caps so they would fit within the board space. There are all kinds of glue out there. I happened to have a hot glue gun handy. It was quick, but probably not the best application. I had to keep regluing caps when I finally mounted the board into the stand.

I showed my husband my handiwork and I swear he almost teared up. He started pointing to caps, saying “I remember when I drank this beer”  “…and this one.” Geez.

See ladies? This is the gift that keeps on giving.

With the front panel in place, I mixed some leftover grout from our kitchen remodel and grouted between the caps. I love how it turned out! I don’t know how it is going to hold up over time, but it looks awesome right now!

Fitting the drain:

The drain on this cooler is roughly ½” in diameter. I purchased a short length of clear vinyl tubing measuring  5/8” around with a 1/2” interior diameter. It was still a little tight to fit over the drain spout, but that’s good right? I stretched it out with needle-nosed pliers, fitted it over the cooler drain, and secured it with a cable tie. I used a piece that was about 1 ½” long.

With the cooler side of things assembled, now I fixed my attention on the stand.

I measured for the drain on the correct side. Transferred my measurements to the side of the stand and used a wood boring spade to cut out a 1” hole for a coupler.

The ½” PVC coupler I used has one male and one female end and was about twice as long as it needed to be. The female end is what I wanted to attach the hose bib (cool brass drain spout). It only needed to be long enough to fit into the wood and give my spout something to grab on to. I used my jigsaw to trim it down to around ¾”, the depth of the 1x material, and glued it into place for a tight fit.

It might take some time to get the cooler shimmied into place. I had to be careful with the vinyl hose attached to the drain. I carefully folded it upward, then slowly lowered the cooler to align the drain. I used a screwdriver to poke the hose and fit it through the coupler. Once it was in place, I screwed my brass hose bib into place, and Voila! I had a working drain!

Lid time!

The lid is framed out with 1×2 material for an interior casing, then a mitered 1×3 to give a nice border and allow space to fill the top in with paneled boards. *Please read all of this section for an important note on board widths.

I measured and built a simple frame with the 1×2. Glued and nailed it together:

Then I measured and built the 1×3 frame around this. It is mitered with 45 degree angles on each corner. They are not attached together at this point

The outer frame gets filled in with more boards. I used (4) 1×6 pieces and (1) 1×4 scrap I had in the center.

They fit perfect without having to trim anything down. These are nailed and glued into place from the underside too.

Did I mention that this gave me the perfect opportunity to try out my new Mother’s Day gift? My sweet husband got me an orbital sander!  That’s right, using my Mother’s Day sander to build a Father’s Day present.

Ah, the irony. I love it!

Once the top of the lid is finished, you can attach the 1×2 frame to the interior of the lid. I glued it in there and it fit snugly. Paint it up and it is ready for a handle and hinges!

So how do you attach the lid?

Good question. The plastic lid itself will not rest flush with the bottom edge of the wooden lid. It needs to be bumped out a little so that when it closes it will fit tight to the cooler bottom. You can glue shims to the inside of the wooden case to make the plastic lid bump out and sit flush with the edge of the lid cover OR you can run your 1×3 and 1×2 frame pieces through a table saw and shave off a quarter inch BEFORE building the lid and it will be PERFECT. You choose.

I wanted my cooler lid to stay put inside of it’s fancy wood cover, so I decided to try Gorilla Glue. Not only because I won a whole prize pack a while back for my Sweet Pea Bunk Bed project, but because my neighbor guy told me that it expands 3-4 times it’s size while it dries and it adheres to various materials. That’s just what I needed; glue to get in those cracks between the wood grain and the textured plastic cooler lid.I ran a bead of glue around the cooler lid and a few lines across the surface and clamped the plastic lid to the lid case to let the glue dry. After a few hours it was as snug as a bug in a rug.

With all of that assembled into one piece, you can fit your lid on the cooler and mark for hinges.

The hinges I used are flush mount cabinet hinges I picked up at Lowes for just a few bucks. With the lid attached, I marked them 4” in from the edge. You will find that you need some type of stop so your lid doesn’t just snap off. All that wood gives it a nice weight. I used two eye hooks and a length of chain attached to the side of the lid and top trim piece to keep my lid from opening too far.

  I  picked up a bottle opener from World Market to mount on the front.

I found a nice sturdy handle that is large enough for a man’s hand. A clean look to finish things out.  It’s coming along nicely. Now we need a shelf, a pull handle, and wheels.

I attached a small shelf  to the drain side because the pull handle to lift the stand will go on the left. I made two brackets out of 1×6 material and cut out a decorative design with my jigsaw. They are glued and nailed into place with the shelf nailed to the top.

The shelf is made from 12” 1×4 scraps glued together and trimmed out with 1×2’s that are mitered around each edge to frame it nicely.

A simple pull handle I found at Lowes for less than $4 near the gate hardware:

Next are the wheels-this is the last step!

I used (2) 2 ½” caster wheels mounted with pins to the underside. This was the easiest part of the entire project. I measured the height of the wheel and recorded the height measurement onto my legs, using a carpenter’s square to keep my lines straight. My wheels measured 2  ¼” below the pins, so I used my circular saw to cut both legs on the right side of the cart. I adjusted my saw to 2” and was able to cut all the way through in one pass. You want the wheels on the right side of the cart because if you should need to tilt the cooler for draining, the handle to lift it will be on the left opposite the wheels.

I drew an “X” from corner to corner to find the center of the leg, then I drilled hole the same diameter as the pin deep enough for the wheels to fit.

These pins have a spring around the barrel that gives a snug fit. I used a hammer and gently tapped the wheels in until they were completely inserted. 

I plan to put a clearcoat over the top of all surfaces in a couple of days. Anybody have any tips to protect the bottle caps from the sun? I’m worried about them fading over time. Curious if there is a product out there I don’t know about.

Now all I need are some ice-cold drinks to refresh my man on a hot summer’s day…

What better drink for the World’s Greatest Dad than one with his name on it?

Sam may not have been able to guess what I was making him, but he is certainly not complaining now!

Happy Father’s Day to the best Dad and greatest husband a girl could ask for!