Reddit reviews Coleman Performance Cooler, 48-Quart - Red

Seriously, though, $450?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016H9TC6/

https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-Personal-Blender-51103/dp/B002V8ZEXW/

https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-SoundWorks-OontZ-Angle-Generation/dp/B010OYASRG/

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-RAVPower-20100mAh-Universal-Smartphones/dp/B01LYONAT8/

https://www.amazon.com/Waiters-Corkscrew-HiCoup-All-one/dp/B00MSXW15E/

https://www.amazon.com/BoatMates-2150-Drink-Holder-White/dp/B001447V58/

I'm at $220, mostly for my nice portable battery, and I don't have to take the cooler everywhere.

Or think about not starting small and just buy a cooler and a bunch of Boveda's.

I'm sure a bunch of guys will tell you they bought a tupperdor, then another, then another. Just start from the beginning and save more money for cigars.

It is the King Kooker dual burner for $159, along with an 8 gallon kettle with temp gauge and spigot that I found on amazon for $84.99 -http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00420Z50Y/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We also did a mash tun conversion with a 10 gallon cooler-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016H9TC6/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I came across /u/ShutUpLori 's post about turning a cooler into a pirates chest. I showed my wife, and she had to have one. So, with very little carpentry skill and pictures, I set off.

Step one was finding a cooler that had external hinges. This turned out to be quite difficult, so we found THIS on Amazon. ($24.64)

ShutUpLori used 5/8 in plywood. Lowes didn't have any, so I purchased 23/32. after calculating it out 1 sheet was enough to get all the cuts I needed. After speaking with the lowes guys, they actually cut it all for me! I built it a bit bigger than necessary so I could remove the cooler and re-use it, so I did not put on a spout or anything.

Using cardboard, I build the lid sides, then used that as a stencil for the wood. This was the most difficult for me getting correct angles and it required actual cutting skill. That, and I don't have a table saw, so I used a circular saw using plywood bracketed down as a guide to ensure I cut straight.


I used a finish nailer and gorilla glue to piece everything together. (The first pictures were from this stage.) The Hardest part was cutting 22.5 degree angles to the slanted pieces to fit it all together. I could have avoided some of this if I actually cut the other pieces at angles on each edge, but I had already attached and glued everything. It actually looked terrible until I sanded everything out.

In the lid, I used some 1/2" x 4" that I had laying around & 2x4 to give the lid some support. I'm not sure why I did 3 other than I wanted it to look different in case people called me a cheater.

After that I sanded the hell out of everything to ensure no sharp corners.

I purchased a dark all-in-one stain, a small can was $18.00 + Rollers ($5) to paint it, and, stained everything.

Now came the fun part. Unlike ShutUpLori, I do not have any skill in cutting straight lines, and I do not own a table saw, so after picking up a free pallet and trying it, I gave up. I do have leather working skill and tools, so we decided this would look nice. So, I purchase a 6/7oz cow hide ($120) + the dye ($8.50) from Tandy Leather. And set to doing thicker strips on the outside (2" each) and thinner strips on the inside (1 1/2"). Beveled every edge, left it rough instead of smoothing it, then dyed everything. This, out of everything, took the longest time. ~2 hours not including drying time.

Using more cardboard so I didn't waste leather, I figured out the best way to add leather accents to the sides. This took a bit to figure out, so I hope you appreciate the pictures.

I then set to attaching all the leather. I used gorilla glue along with Furniture Nails purchased from Lowes. I went through 8 boxes ($10.40). Be careful as They had two different colors of brass. I ended up having to do 50 / 50 dark brass and light brass. They also break easily, so buy more than what you're anticipating.

The hinges - $2.78 and front hasp - $2.72 were painted with a dented metal spray paint. ($6.76)

The accents were purchased at Hobby Lobby, totaled $6 with lots and lots of coupons. The lock was purchased at newegg for $14.90 as we couldn't find anything else that style and that price.
The Handles! The handles we found on e-bay. They were $12.00 and absolutely perfect. I wish the rest of the hardware had the same treatment, but oh well.

For the Lid, I drilled 2 holes through the top of the wood, and through the top of the cooler. I put in two bolts and nuts to attach it to the lid of the chest. This also allows me to remove the lid so that I can use the treasure chest for other things as well.

So, list of items and cost:
Plywood: $23.00

Cooler: $24.64

Leather: $120 (only actually needed 1/2) so $60

Leather Dye: $8.50

Furniture Nails: $10.40

Gorilla Glue: $4.99

Hinges x2: $5.56

Hasp: $2.72

Handles: $12

Wood Stain: $18

Rollers: $5

Lock: $14.90

Total Cost: $189.71

Look on my wife's face when it was completed: Priceless

Time: ~20 hours over two weekends
Trips to Lowes: 12 (The guy in hardware knows me by name now. Thank god it's only 2 miles away)

Edit: Forgot a couple items on my cost list