Actually did something similar a few years ago. I ordered a big batch of
prime steaks for a party we were having from one of those mail order places.
They came packed in a nice big bare Styrofoam cooler with 2" thick walls.
To good to throw away so I covered it in epoxy and 6oz glass. I have a
feeling it would run circles around anything on the market for keeping ice.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"BF" wrote in message
...
Did that 20 or so years ago, except used 2" sheet eps home insulation
instead of a premade cooler. Made it custom to fit between the second and
third thwart on a 25' Old Town canoe. Not only will it hold food and beer
for 6 and keep it cold for 3 days, but also provides a quite comfy seat
for
that station on the boat. No carbon fiber, way too expensive back then.
Still in good service today.
BF


"Richard Lamb" wrote in message
link.net...
Larry wrote:

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in
I want you to add one more cooler to the test......

Go down to the dollar stores and buy the biggest cheap styrofoam
cooler,
the one that just styrofoam and $6 you can find.

Test it to and it'll wipe the nose of all the others....(c;

Floats, too, even fulla beer!...(c;


And they can make a interesting fiberglass practice project.

This is a good sanity check for anyone thinking of building a
fiberglass airplane. (sorta also applies to glass boats?)

If you can make a nice looking glass cooler, you might be able
to build a nice airplane - or boat.
Otherwise, do something else.

Ultimate Beer Cooler Project:

Select a cheap Styrofoam cooler.

Using 5 ounce BID, and epoxy resin (!), glass micro balloons, and
chopper cotton fiber --- cover the cooler.

Plan on 4 layers on the bottom, 3 on the out sides, and 2 insides
and 4 on the floor(!). 1" overlaps typical.

2 layers BID on the lid.

Don't forget to prep the lid / cooler clearances!

Probably easier to take some off of the bottom of lid than to attack
the inside edge of the cooler. Lay some extra glass tape along the
contact area of the lid. Sand for a tight fit when it's all solid.

If you just happen to have some of that neato looking carbon fiber tape
handy, add a wrap around the cooler during the lay-up.

- and - presto -

the World's First
Carbon Fiber Reinforced
Beer Cooler!


In the end, if it looks nice and weighs less than 10 pounds?

If the wife points it out, "can you believe HE made that?".

If you didn't break out in hives, or scratch rashes.

And found you are allergic to latex (nitryl gloves).


It's almost kinda fun.

sorta...

"BF" wrote in message
...
Did that 20 or so years ago, except used 2" sheet eps home insulation
instead of a premade cooler. Made it custom to fit between the second and
third thwart on a 25' Old Town canoe. Not only will it hold food and beer
for 6 and keep it cold for 3 days, but also provides a quite comfy seat
for
that station on the boat. No carbon fiber, way too expensive back then.
Still in good service today.
BF


The problem with the test as initially reported is that coolers do not stay
closed and are opened repeatedly during the course of a day on the water.
That alone is a variable that is not taken into account.

Regardless, I would just rely on what the manufacturers claim and leave it
at that. Life is too short to worry about one cooler keeping things colder
than another for a whole 3 hours, 25 minutes and 22 seconds. ;-)

Keep the cooler out of the sun and the top highly insulated brands will all
do equally well. For me it would be more of a matter of cost. Another
consideration is a 12v cooler. They work great if you have the battery
capacity.

Cooler Joke: A redhead girl was walking down the street. She was carrying
a boxy object suspended from a handle and ran into a blonde friend of hers
who never saw such an object.

The blonde asked what it was, to which the redhead friend replied: "It is a
cooler. It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold".

The blonde was impressed and immediately purchased one.

The next day the blonde was walking down the street with the cooler and ran
into one of her blonde friends.

Her friend asked what she was carrying as she had never seen such an object,
to which the blonde replied: "It is a cooler. It keeps hot things hot and
cold things cold".

The other blonde was impressed and asked what was inside, to which the
blonde replied: "A cup of coffee and a popsicle." :-)

I like the Thermos bottle story almost as much:

Two ethnics of your choice were discussing amazing inventions, like
television - it shows moving pepole from anywhere, and telephones that
speak any language and one insisted taht the thermos bottle was the most
amazing thing ever.

The other stopped and asked why he thought this was so amazing and got
the answer:
"Well, you can put hot stuff in it and it keeps it hot, Or you can put
cold stuff in it and it keeps it cold. How does it know?"

Matt Colie

JimH wrote:

"BF" wrote in message
...

Did that 20 or so years ago, except used 2" sheet eps home insulation
instead of a premade cooler. Made it custom to fit between the second and
third thwart on a 25' Old Town canoe. Not only will it hold food and beer
for 6 and keep it cold for 3 days, but also provides a quite comfy seat
for
that station on the boat. No carbon fiber, way too expensive back then.
Still in good service today.
BF



The problem with the test as initially reported is that coolers do not stay
closed and are opened repeatedly during the course of a day on the water.
That alone is a variable that is not taken into account.

Regardless, I would just rely on what the manufacturers claim and leave it
at that. Life is too short to worry about one cooler keeping things colder
than another for a whole 3 hours, 25 minutes and 22 seconds. ;-)

Keep the cooler out of the sun and the top highly insulated brands will all
do equally well. For me it would be more of a matter of cost. Another
consideration is a 12v cooler. They work great if you have the battery
capacity.

Cooler Joke: A redhead girl was walking down the street. She was carrying
a boxy object suspended from a handle and ran into a blonde friend of hers
who never saw such an object.

The blonde asked what it was, to which the redhead friend replied: "It is a
cooler. It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold".

The blonde was impressed and immediately purchased one.

The next day the blonde was walking down the street with the cooler and ran
into one of her blonde friends.

Her friend asked what she was carrying as she had never seen such an object,
to which the blonde replied: "It is a cooler. It keeps hot things hot and
cold things cold".

The other blonde was impressed and asked what was inside, to which the
blonde replied: "A cup of coffee and a popsicle." :-)

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:04:23 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:

Another variation:

Her friend asked what she was carrying as she had never seen such an object,
to which the blonde replied: "It is a cooler. It keeps hot things hot and
cold things cold".

reply:

"But how does it know?"

"Matt Colie" wrote in message
...
I like the Thermos bottle story almost as much:

Two ethnics of your choice were discussing amazing inventions, like
television - it shows moving pepole from anywhere, and telephones that
speak any language and one insisted taht the thermos bottle was the most
amazing thing ever.

The other stopped and asked why he thought this was so amazing and got the
answer:
"Well, you can put hot stuff in it and it keeps it hot, Or you can put
cold stuff in it and it keeps it cold. How does it know?"

Matt Colie


Don't give up your day job Matt. ;-)

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in
news:htIRf.504681$0l5.8607@dukeread06:

Actually did something similar a few years ago. I ordered a big batch
of prime steaks for a party we were having from one of those mail
order places. They came packed in a nice big bare Styrofoam cooler
with 2" thick walls. To good to throw away so I covered it in epoxy
and 6oz glass. I have a feeling it would run circles around anything
on the market for keeping ice.



Piggly Wiggly suddenly had this fantastic little Kraft cheeze cooler made
of bare styrofoam with a plastic top with a sliding plexiglass door you
could see through to see the cheeze inside. It has this little
refridgeration unit in it at the top with a tiny compressor like you'd
find in a water cooler or overpriced boat ice box converter. Every time
I walked by it shopping, I couldn't help but think how nice it would be
to have that cooler filled with fine English ale in my little home bar.

After it had been there a couple of weeks, I asked a "contact" I'd been
courting for favors at the PigWig what they were going to do with the
cooler when the cheeze promo was over. "Oh, they'll just trash it.
There's no room to store it and Kraft will send them different ones next
time.", he replied to my astonishment. Reminding him of the last DVD
player I fixed for him a few months ago, I asked him to quietly ferret
out the cooler when The Pig was done with it and just call me to get it.

I was right. It doesn't make any more noise in my bar than the chicken-
feeder water cooler in the kitchen. Those fine English Ales and a row of
Warsteiner Dunkel look much better in the little plastic viewing door
than the cheeze ever did....(c; I even found the thermostat to adjust it
to just the precise serving temperature Boddington's recommends....

The Kraft signage came right off....

Best free cooler I ever had....

Matt Colie wrote in news:ZaJRf.79$nO1.44
@fe02.lga:

Two ethnics of your choice

Very tactful, Matt. But, won't all the ethnic organizations be standing at
your door with guns and goons, instead of just the JDL or NAACP?....(c;

In the South, the ethnics of choice are always referred to as "Democrats",
which seems to keep them calm or ignorant of who the joke is about...

This doesn't sound like the way to have a cheap cooler.

My conscience says "three bucks" every time I add an ounce of epoxy resin to
the mixing pot. (System Three prices)
Fiberglass isn't cheap either.

Roger

http://home.insightbb.com/~derbyrm

"Richard Lamb" wrote in message
link.net...
Larry wrote:

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in
I want you to add one more cooler to the test......

Go down to the dollar stores and buy the biggest cheap
styrofoam cooler, the one that just styrofoam and $6 you
can find.

Test it to and it'll wipe the nose of all the others....(c;

Floats, too, even fulla beer!...(c;

And they can make a interesting fiberglass practice project.
Ultimate Beer Cooler Project:
Select a cheap Styrofoam cooler.
Using 5 ounce BID, and epoxy resin (!), glass micro balloons,
and chopper cotton fiber --- cover the cooler.

Plan on 4 layers on the bottom, 3 on the out sides, and 2 insides
and 4 on the floor(!). 1" overlaps typical.

2 layers BID on the lid.

Don't forget to prep the lid / cooler clearances!

Probably easier to take some off of the bottom of lid than to attack
the inside edge of the cooler. Lay some extra glass tape along the
contact area of the lid. Sand for a tight fit when it's all solid.

If you just happen to have some of that neato looking carbon fiber tape
handy, add a wrap around the cooler during the lay-up.

- and - presto -

the World's First
Carbon Fiber Reinforced
Beer Cooler!

"derbyrm" wrote in message
news:mEYRf.824853$x96.391861@attbi_s72...
This doesn't sound like the way to have a cheap cooler.

My conscience says "three bucks" every time I add an ounce of epoxy resin
to the mixing pot. (System Three prices)
Fiberglass isn't cheap either.


I think the point is that you would do this to gain the experience of
working with fiberglass on a practice project, not just to have a cheap
cooler.

--AG

When you have been through a couple hundred gallons of the stuff a couple of
ounces don't mean nuttin'. Building a big boat warps your sense of value.
Besides if I hadn't spent it on epoxy I would have spent it on Scotch. It
is about the same price per gallon. :-)

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Alan Gomes" wrote in message
...

"derbyrm" wrote in message
news:mEYRf.824853$x96.391861@attbi_s72...
This doesn't sound like the way to have a cheap cooler.

My conscience says "three bucks" every time I add an ounce of epoxy resin
to the mixing pot. (System Three prices)
Fiberglass isn't cheap either.


I think the point is that you would do this to gain the experience of
working with fiberglass on a practice project, not just to have a cheap
cooler.

--AG