brew stand thickness

[hopie89]

Ok so this has probably been done before but I can't seem to find it.
I'm about to move into my first home and its time to set up the brew gear properly and thought I would ask the question before I go out and buy steel that is overkill for the job. If I were to use 25mm angle steel, what thickness does everybody recommend would be fine for a gravity fed 3 tier stand with 50l kegs as the vessels.
Cheers,
Hopie

 

[bradsbrew]

Why angle?

 

[hopie89]

Doesn't have to be, I was just thinking it might be easier to put shelves on that way, I'm open to ideas for thicknesses of shs/rhs as well

 

[bradsbrew]

Fair enough, you would get away with 25mm tube but I would go for 50mm incase you decide to upgrade pot sizes etc. Plenty of brewers are using the meccano shelving from bunnings. have a look through this thread for some ideas.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/42248-brew-rigs/

Cheers

 

[hopie89]

I would rather get the steel and weld it up than the meccano shelving, if using 50mm shs, would 2mm suffice, or maybe 3mm, though I think 3mm may be overkill.
Cheers

 

[Truman42]

I know you dont want to go meccano but consider this. My brew rig is two meccano shelves side by side.

Started off as a single tier 3 V then changed it to 2 tier. Originally I had the shelves set to store fermenters etc under esth then when to kegs so raised the shelves up to store empty kegs underneath.

My point is I've changed my brew rig design 3 or 4 times now and can do that easily enough with meccano shelving.

Something to think about anyway.

 

[hopie89]

I was just thinking more for being able to weld a burner under the boiler and having it on heavy duty castor wheels to be able to wheel it out of the shed while brewing, I will have those mecanno shelves around for storing fermenters/kegs and other bits and pieces on though.
I'm still not discounting any ideas yet though, still in the design phase.
Cheers,
Hopie

 

[bradsbrew]

2mm will be fine. I am not a fan of the meccano angle but as said plenty use it.

cheers

 

[Camo6]

Hey Hopie, I just finished building my brewstand and used 50x50x2mm tube. I paid about $8.50 per metre or thereabouts. I planned on stick welding it but found it too easy to burn holes with my skills so I borrowed a MIG which made it a piece of cake. It's probably overkill but the keggles have plenty of room to sit on and if the carport falls down I'll be able to hide under it till help comes.

 

[woodwormm]

For my money 50x2 SHS is fine, (i'll be using 50x3 and 50x4 only as that's what's lying around in offcuts)

combinations of EA and SHS could be good as you mentioned for fitting shelves into etc

 

[hopie89]

Thanks for all the advice guys, will be starting the build after we finish moving, so will be a month or so yet, but I will keep everyone updated once I start,
Cheers,
Hopie