Making A Hole In A Stainless Steel

[clintmo]

Hi

Ive done a bit of searching round but cant find a method that suits me, i'm wanting to make a hole in the bottom of a keg to attatch a ball valve / tap to use as a boiler (keggle), i've been thinking about it for a while and cant seem to find a suitable option.

How did you guys do it? holesaw? step bit? cutting oil? you name it i wanna hear it. and i also want to know how much it'd cost to buy the tools to actually do it.

also after the hole is there what methods are there for attatching the tap/ball-valve to the keg (welding / non welding options)

and maybe i could see some close up's of the finished jobs of your boilers

thanks clint

 

[troydo]

well since im cheap ... or poor... i did it possibly the most retarded way possible.. however i did only use the tools i had available!

So i marked the spot for the hole then i drilled a 8mm hole (biggest drill bit my drill could take) then i wiggled the drill carefully around to help "enlarge" the hole.

then i got my round file and tried to filke it... and swiftly gave up on that
then i grabbed by dremel (knock off) and tried to use one of the pink grinding stones... it disappeared the steel didn't... gave up on that too
So then i went scroungng around in my tools and found a white stone ball grinding stone, this seemed to work great.. ground away a bit till it was almost exactly the same size as the tap, then i wrapped the thread in silicontape, jammed it through and put on the nut..

Troydo

 

[warrenlw63]

Search key is your friend.

Good Start

Warren -

 

[chimera]

I'd say a large drill press, low rotational speed, HSS drill bits

 

[hairofthedog]

1/2 drill bit & nylon washers

 

[schooey]

I'm just building my tun atm, I used a sutton hole saw with no problems. Whatever you choose to use, as the millions of other posts here have said, just go slow and make sure you use some kind of cutting fluid or coolant. Heat and speed are no no's with stainless.

 

[goatherder]

1/2" drill bit, nice and slow, use lube, drill a pilot hole if you need to. Finish it off with a rat-tail file. Check the link in my sig for full details, including parts to put the tap on.

 

[BrotherNutz]

Whatever you do, keep that drill bit cutting and keep it sharp, or you will work harden the SS faster than you know what has happened and then you have a problem!

 

[chovain]

I drilled my holes with a 20mm holesaw. I just kept a constant low speed, with a touch of pressure, and it worked through in no time. A short piece of 1/2" BNC thread, a couple of brass BNC flanged nuts, the ball valve, and a hose barb nipple.

A proper holesaw will set you back a bit. From memory, it'll cost you about $40 for the arbour (the shaft, nut, and centring bit), then another $25-30 for the bit.

The arbour will last a lifetime, and will work with pretty much any holesaw. The bit will last a while if you treat it right (keep those revs down, and don't rush the job).

You can go for a cheap "hole saw kit" for a lot less, but the bits are crap, and unlikely to last beyond a single SS cut (If you're lucky). The arbour that comes with them is gererally pretty crap too, and will jam up easily (preventing you from swapping bits over).

 

[pk.sax]

Ok, I think I've managed to harden it 2 steps away from finishing up the hole.

Forgot wd40 to start with and started spraying intermittently between holding the drill.

What are my options?

1) wait, let I cool down, try again.

2) go to some hardware store that is open on the weekend!!!! And get a grinding cone or something else?

7/8 hole in SS required, stuck between 11/16 and 3/4.

Keggle, using some cobalt coated hss bits. Drilled just fine on first pass, trouble began when I paused to check it and it won't drill much further.

I did search for this but couldn't find much of a solution to fixing the problem.

 

[pk.sax]

No matter. Problem resolved, bit was too hot, swapped to cool bit and finished job. Forgot I should be cooling both.