Converting A Keg To A Boiler

[Lobsta]

so, if i was to legally acquire a ex brewery 50L keg, what would i have to do to convert it to a boiler? i.e. how do i go at cutting off the top? im assuming that a hacksaw isnt gonna (pun intended) cut it...

or do i need to HTFU and get at it with a hacksaw?

Lobby

P.S. Please dont let this one get off topic with people discussing the legality of getting brewery kegs. assume that i have a legal avenue to do it...

 

[Kleiny]

Release all pressure first (big must)
Just use an angle grinder and run the guard around the rim
it will cut a perfect round whole in the top of the keg
just take your time work around the top until it falls in

wear ear protection in gets a bit loud

kleiny

 

[kabooby]

Angle grinder with stainless cutting blade

You could use a hacksaw but it would take a while

Kabooby

 

[Lobsta]

i thought that might be the case. ok, now assume that i am a pharmacy student and cant tell an angle grinder from a ball pene hammer, much less cut a circle with one? what is my best bet? appeal to the brewers of greater brisbane for assistance? i dont have the keg yet, but it is a definite maybe for the future, after i saw how expensive 50L stock pots are. and how easy is it to put a tap in the bottom?

Lobby

 

[Dave86]

If you're really lazy, like me, talk to an engineer who has a plasma cutter

 

[Dave86]

i thought that might be the case. ok, now assume that i am a pharmacy student and cant tell an angle grinder from a ball pene hammer, much less cut a circle with one? what is my best bet? appeal to the brewers of greater brisbane for assistance? i dont have the keg yet, but it is a definite maybe for the future, after i saw how expensive 50L stock pots are. and how easy is it to put a tap in the bottom?

Lobby

A fellow pharmacy student! Greetings from CSU Orange, we should hit up NAPSA to start a NAPSA Brewers Association

I still haven't bothered with a tap, I am sick of bucketing though. It shouldn't be to hard do though, the hardest bit will be drilling a hole through the stainless, the rest will be easy I would assume. Someone else can probably give you heaps more advice on that though

Cheers

Dave

 

[reg]

I was lucky enough to have a mate who cut the tops of with a plasma cutter.
But what he told me was to take out the spear (there is a wiki on this) and fill the keg with water before cutting.
Apparently this stops the shite from sticking to the bottom and being harder to get off.

Does the campus have an engineering section?
Perhaps they may cut the holes for you for a few bottles of your finest.

 

[Franko]

its really quite easy use one of those 1mm grinder wheels and then fit a nice glass lid after your done

 

[Guest Lurker]

Unless you are using this to boil water to make steam to drive your brewery, its a kettle, not a boiler. An ozito angle grinder will cost next to nothing and have the top out in no time at all. A 10 mm drill bit will be quite cheap to put a hole at the base, as will the round ******* file you can use to turn a 10 mm hole into a hole big enough for a tap fitting.

 

[schooey]

A 10 mm drill bit will be quite cheap to put a hole at the base, as will the round ******* file you can use to turn a 10 mm hole into a hole big enough for a tap fitting.

Oh bugger that...

That's why the world gave us Starret hole saws and cutting compound

 

[Lobsta]

A fellow pharmacy student! Greetings from CSU Orange, we should hit up NAPSA to start a NAPSA Brewers Association
Cheers

Dave

HELL YEAH!
:icon_offtopic: im hoping to hit up the NAPSA congress this year... what year are you in? im second and im at QUT Brisbane.

In response to the rest, yeah, maybe it is time for me to purchase some form of power tool. my dad has a power drill i can use, so i just have to look into this Ozito thingo. remember, next to nothing for a student is very different to next to nothing for normal people...

Lobby

EDIT* Hmm, 125mm Ozito angle grinder at bunnings for 67 bucks... one can always find a use for an angle grinder cant one... and is the stock diamond wheel the one that i need to use for cutting the keg?

 

[Jazman]

get a cheap step drill for the hole from 6 mm to 22 mm makes life easy

 

[Pumpy]

http://texanbrew.com/article.php?story=20021110200202146

 

[schooey]

EDIT* Hmm, 125mm Ozito angle grinder at bunnings for 67 bucks... one can always find a use for an angle grinder cant one... and is the stock diamond wheel the one that i need to use for cutting the keg?

You should be able to get an Ozito or GMC 4" (100mm) grinder for around $30.

DON'T use a diamond wheel to cut stainless!

Ask the pimply face kid at the tool shop to point in the direction of the Flexovit cutting wheels and get a coupleof 100 x 1mm discs.

 

[Lobsta]

You should be able to get an Ozito or GMC 4" (100mm) grinder for around $30.

DON'T use a diamond wheel to cut stainless!

Ask the pimply face kid at the tool shop to point in the direction of the Flexovit cutting wheels and get a coupleof 100 x 1mm discs.

nice. buying a 100mm grinder isnt like buying a 50cc moped is it? they arent gonna snicker at me and assume that my junk is small after i leave are they?

and 30 bucks, nice, i might even have that on me... he he he, i get my 06-07 tax return soon (hopefully - my dad is an accountant, so his late lodgement fee is on May 15, so they usually get lodged on May 14...) i can see a couple of hundred dollars of brew equipment being bought... anybody know a good place in brizzy that sells NASA's? will they look at me funny in bunnings if i ask for a NASA burner? BBQ's galore? Army disposal store?

Lobby

*EDIT*

http://texanbrew.com/article.php?story=20021110200202146

thanks mate, thats awesome!!!

*EDIT #2* would somebody really go to all the trouble of doing that with a DREMEL TOOL!!! he says that you go through 6 wheels, and those things cant be any cheaper than a 30 buck angle grinder??? how much less dextrous and thus how much harder is it to do a proper circle with an angle grinder?

 

[Lobsta]

hmm, there definitely isnt a shortage of google results on this once you know what to search. the biggest discrepancy i have found so far is the taps. i do not have a welder, nor do i know any welders. plus, apparantly welding thin st steel is a bit of an art form. so what have people found with weldless tap fittings? do u have to buy the special HB ones or can you make do with stuff bought from bunnings?

Lobby

 

[Franko]

hmm, there definitely isnt a shortage of google results on this once you know what to search. the biggest discrepancy i have found so far is the taps. i do not have a welder, nor do i know any welders. plus, apparantly welding thin st steel is a bit of an art form. so what have people found with weldless tap fittings? do u have to buy the special HB ones or can you make do with stuff bought from bunnings?

Lobby

you can make your own there's no need to weld them
here's a guide I made showing the parts involved and yes they can be bought from bunnings

Franko

 

[Lobsta]

what do people think of this guys take on the 'keggle'?
he makes some good points about the silly-ness of keeping a lip...
saves all the fart arseing around with getting a perfectly round circle in that silly rim...

BTW, nobody saw that CUB logo on that did they...

*EDIT* this guy seems to not have worried at all about the perfect circle...

 

[schooey]

When I first started, I just used a hole saw to put a 22mm hole through my kettle, bought a 1/2 plated ball valve, a 1/2" nipple, a 3/4" to 1/2" bush, 3/4" F to 1/2"M adaptor from Bunnings and a $3 silicon pie tin from Go Lo to make the gaskets from. Put the 1/2" nipple on the outside with a gasket, screwed on the bush on the inside with another gasket and then put the adaptor on it and that gave me 1/2" either side.

 

[pokolbinguy]

you can make your own there's no need to weld them
here's a guide I made showing the parts involved and yes they can be bought from bunnings

Franko

Where did u get ur SS fittings from Franko?