# Kettle volume etching



## Milk-lizard84 (15/12/15)

Howdy all,
So I found this article on the byo website about kettle volume etching.
Just wondering if anyone has done it and what were your results like?
I tried it the other day on the inside of my kettle lid with fairly crappy results.

https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3113-etch-your-kettle-projects


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## verysupple (15/12/15)

I read that article and followed the instructions and it worked quite well. I've done it on three pots - two stainless and one aluminium. The only thing I can add is that it did take quite a few passes with the cotton bud to etch it deep enough. Oh, and I used a stencil instead of tape which I think would make it a lot easier to make nice clean lines and numbers.

Happy brewing.


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## sponge (15/12/15)

I've done that on my kettle and worked really well. As above, use a stencil. Plenty easy.


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## GibboQLD (15/12/15)

I plan on doing this to my brew pot, bought some stencils from Amazon when they were on sale a while back.


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## Mardoo (15/12/15)

There's a whole thread on here about that with a couple different methods, stencil sources, etc. On my phone so I can't find it at the moment.


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## GibboQLD (15/12/15)

Mardoo said:


> There's a whole thread on here about that with a couple different methods, stencil sources, etc. On my phone so I can't find it at the moment.


Is this the one?


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## Ducatiboy stu (15/12/15)

That Sir, is the thread in question

And its a good one


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## Milk-lizard84 (16/12/15)

Thanks alot for the link to the other thread. Greatly appreciated.


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## GibboQLD (28/12/15)

Intended on doing this to my electric Big W stockpot for most of this year, finally managed to squeeze it in over Xmas:





Fairly happy with the results, though I rushed it a little bit and one of my stickers shifted without me noticing.

It'll do the job anyway!


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## Milk-lizard84 (31/12/15)

After getting everything I needed to do this finally gave it a crack. Isn't a perfect result but I'm happy enough with it.


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## crd0902 (10/1/16)

Hi all so I gave this a try on my kettle lid yesterday. Not sure if I did something wrong but didn't do anything. First patch I tried left a little colour change. Next patch I tried nothing at all. Is my solution not strong enough or any ideas. I used a 9 volt battery and Coles brand vinegar. Cheers


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## Milk-lizard84 (11/1/16)

I tried with a 9v battery which did work but wasn't great. I also used no name brand white vinegar and salt for the solution. I ended up using a 12v power converter for my etching which worked a hell of a lot better.
The photo is the of the adapter I used which was heaps better.


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## Milk-lizard84 (11/1/16)

This was my final product


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## sponge (11/1/16)

crd0902 said:


> Hi all so I gave this a try on my kettle lid yesterday. Not sure if I did something wrong but didn't do anything. First patch I tried left a little colour change. Next patch I tried nothing at all. Is my solution not strong enough or any ideas. I used a 9 volt battery and Coles brand vinegar. Cheers


Are you sure you had the polarity of the battery correct? Did you have any salt mixed with your vinegar?


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## crd0902 (11/1/16)

Positive to kettle yep and yep had plenty salt mixed in. Gonna have to try a power supply I reckon. Maybe better vinegar as was only cheap stuff


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## Hpal (21/3/16)

Had a crack at this tonight, didn't have number stencils but I know what lines are what. Big W pot lookin' good with weldless spigot and inner mash basket for the little recirculating recipe testing rig.


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## jayjt29 (30/3/16)

You learn something everyday! Cheers for the link, would never have thought of that! I'm tired of measuring out water in a Jug for my urn!

Jay


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## Wall (22/4/16)

This well worth the effort, screwed up so had to block out 20 -25 litres then got all excited with the marks over 25 and blocked that out too.
Saves stencilling numbers in later.

No more measuring into the HLT



Edited for fat fingers and autocorrect


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## Mr B (22/4/16)

Any etchers - Does it scrub off with a scourer or steel wool?


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## AJS2154 (23/4/16)

Mr B said:


> Any etchers - Does it scrub off with a scourer or steel wool?


Hi Mr B, it erodes the finished surface of the stainless. You are going too hard on the cleaning if that happens mate......did mine 8-12 months ago and as good as the day I did it. It has made a huge difference to my brewing, no sticks in the hot liquor, which are never accurate.

For what it's worth. I suggest anybody who is thinking of doing this uses a battery charger if you have access to one. Makes it fast and easy.

Cheers, Anthony


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## Mr B (25/4/16)

AJS2154 said:


> Hi Mr B, it erodes the finished surface of the stainless. You are going too hard on the cleaning if that happens mate......did mine 8-12 months ago and as good as the day I did it. It has made a huge difference to my brewing, no sticks in the hot liquor, which are never accurate.
> 
> For what it's worth. I suggest anybody who is thinking of doing this uses a battery charger if you have access to one. Makes it fast and easy.
> 
> Cheers, Anthony


Thanks Anthony - Havent done it yet, just curious on the durability.

On the bucket list (time list really....)


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## DigitalGiraffe (15/2/17)

I'm looking to do this with my old CUB Keggle. Has anyone made a template that I could use or know the distance mm for a litre? Obviously I'm after a template designed around a CUB Keggle.


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## sp0rk (15/2/17)

I just used a 2L jug and filled to 10L, then started marking every 2L with a crayon
then made up stencils for the etching and placed them at the same level as the markings


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## damoninja (15/2/17)

sp0rk said:


> I just used a 2L jug and filled to 10L, then started marking every 2L with a crayon
> then made up stencils for the etching and placed them at the same level as the markings


I did mine geometrically and proofed it with this method.


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## fdsaasdf (16/2/17)

I'm planning to do 2L markers as well, was planning to use my digital scales to save any spillage-related errors


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## Ducatiboy stu (16/2/17)

Water = volume = weight

Measure it or weight it, you will get the same result


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## fdsaasdf (17/2/17)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Water = volume = weight
> 
> Measure it or weight it, you will get the same result


Not sure what you're pointing out other than the obvious. Was that responding to my post? If it wasn't obvious I was pointing out to future readers of the thread that weighing is likely to be more reliable than multiple cycles pouring error-inducing vessels...


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## scooterism (8/7/17)




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## scooterism (9/7/17)

Just thinking out loud, using copper sulphate and stuff, one could 'copper plate' a voulme scale on their kettle.


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## philistine (7/8/17)

probably worth mentioning here that the water volume will change with temperature. 
Markings you make using cold water to measure won't be accurate once the liquid is hot.


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## Mr B (8/8/17)

That's a good point philistine, does anyone account for this on their kettle markings, or know whether programs such as beer smith account for this in the post boil volumes etc?

I reckon that's something that's been getting me when calculating final volumes by weight for cubes and starters......


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## Danscraftbeer (8/8/17)

Mr B said:


> That's a good point philistine, does anyone account for this on their kettle markings, or know whether programs such as beer smith account for this in the post boil volumes etc?
> 
> I reckon that's something that's been getting me when calculating final volumes by weight for cubes and starters......


Beersmith does very well on default settings that I have found. Hot/cold etc. Otherwise Its all by eye in the end. You know that % hot vs cold in touch with volumes. 
Sight glass at 22lt boiling = 21lt cold 
Gotta try this etching some time too.


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## malt junkie (8/8/17)

Hot/cold should be 6%


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## BrockHops (9/8/17)

scooterism said:


>



Good video, takes me back a bit, the old Curiosity Show!
Rob mentioned"iron" a bit while referring to the chemical reaction of the copper sulphate.
There is very low iron levels in most Stainless steel ie 304 S/S as used in brewery kegs, so I'm not sure that the chemical reaction would occur?
I guess it's worth trying though.... in the name of curiosity
Brock


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## Mr B (9/8/17)

Danscraftbeer said:


> Beersmith does very well on default settings that I have found. Hot/cold etc. Otherwise Its all by eye in the end. You know that % hot vs cold in touch with volumes.
> Sight glass at 22lt boiling = 21lt cold
> Gotta try this etching some time too.



I generally make two cubes and about 4 litres for starters in a batch. If I end up with say 56 litres post boil, I would then take off the 4 litres then split the rest and covert to kilos to account for the gravity.

So I might be looking at say 25 kilos for each cube, and weigh each cube when filling.

I mostly run a bit short, so I think the light has come on that I need to convert the hot volume to cold volume before converting to weight to get my measurements spot on.

Thanks for the thinking prompt.

Should do some etching too......


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