Stainless hop spider

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I reckon I could make a decent one of those. Right after I make everything else on me list.

Till then I'll chill with my SS coil.
 
How do you weld / seal the stainless mesh?
 
I'm currently using the PVC version as well, but one of the next projects is making one from a stainless steel Insinkerator plug from Bunnings/Masters or similar. I couldn't find the exact Youtube video I was going to follow, but is very similar. Haven't yet decised whether to use fine stainless mesh or a paint strainer type bag.
 
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I made one awhile ago from some SS mesh. For the ends I got hold of an old SS sauce pan and with a fine cutting disc on an angle grinder I cut two flanges from it. I then used two SS hose clamps to hold the SS mesh to the flanges. To join the SS mesh together I used some SS Bandit strip and then pop riveted it together.

Hop 1 (1).JPG


Hop 1 (2).JPG
 
billygoat said:
I made one awhile ago from some SS mesh. For the ends I got hold of an old SS sauce pan and with a fine cutting disc on an angle grinder I cut two flanges from it. I then used two SS hose clamps to hold the SS mesh to the flanges. To join the SS mesh together I used some SS Bandit strip and then pop riveted it together.
well made handy work looks good
 
billygoat said:
I made one awhile ago from some SS mesh. For the ends I got hold of an old SS sauce pan and with a fine cutting disc on an angle grinder I cut two flanges from it. I then used two SS hose clamps to hold the SS mesh to the flanges. To join the SS mesh together I used some SS Bandit strip and then pop riveted it together.
That does look great billgoat ... where did you get the mesh from and what size is it?

Cheers
 
I bought the mesh on Ebay, from a bloke in QLD, it was 36 gauge, which I think means there is 36 wires per inch.
It was about $30 delivered and was enough to make at least 3 or 4 hop holders.
 
billygoat said:
I bought the mesh on Ebay, from a bloke in QLD, it was 36 gauge, which I think means there is 36 wires per inch.
It was about $30 delivered and was enough to make at least 3 or 4 hop holders.
I've been looking around - still yet to have a proper look, but what I have seen so far has been expensive and generally in much larger pieces/rolls than what I'd need.

Clever idea for using an old pot to make the supporting rings ... I have an old soup pot that was my test pot for drilling holes etc, that would make a nice big ring! Thought might have trouble finding the fittings to wrap around it and support the mesh.

Thanks for the reply.
Cheers
 
ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1406292171.836053.jpg

More info on 90mm tea balls:

On the left is 22g saaz pellets boiled for 60min
On the right is 16g saaz pellets boiled for 15mims

Beercus
 
billygoat said:
I made one awhile ago from some SS mesh. For the ends I got hold of an old SS sauce pan and with a fine cutting disc on an angle grinder I cut two flanges from it. I then used two SS hose clamps to hold the SS mesh to the flanges. To join the SS mesh together I used some SS Bandit strip and then pop riveted it together.
That's a very neat job billygoat & you're to be congratulated. :super:
I once did something similar for my dry hopping but didn't think to make the rings from an old saucepan which is a great idea.
Perhaps that ss mesh you obtained was TermiMesh[SIZE=medium]®[/SIZE]?
The concrete slab on my home is imbedded with this stuff & the companies who supply it are a good & cheap source of off-cuts.

However, I finally settled on home-made voile (Spotlight) bags with a ss weight inside, tied around top with unflavoured dental floss & suspended in mid-wort by tying the floss to the fermenter handle.

As for the ss tea-balls good luck with them. I found that the "jumbo" size worked ok when about 2\3 filled but the mild steel hinges eventually rusted out.
This can be solved by replacing the mild steel hinges with ss wire but I still found the tea-balls a little restrictive & so moved on to the home-made voile bags which are great.

Just my 2-cents & happy brewing.

Edit ------- My bad! Only read the last page & thought we were talking about dry-hopping to fermenter & so agree with hop sock similar to post 5. :p
This might still be of help to someone anyway????

Edit 2 ------ An el-cheapo alternative to a hop spider is below.

Hopsock.JPG
 
I tried variations on a voile hop spider arrangement and found that with a vigorus boil it was always sitting on the surface. tried weighing it down but was never happy with it. Had a stainless one made up which I have only used once and the hops have plenty of room to roll around which is the effect I was after. Not too exy if you buy some mesh off ebay and get a local fabricator to roll and weld.



DSC_0510.jpg
 
Knocked this up yesterday. Less than 20$ including Swiss voile.
When looking.for Swiss voile it pays to look in the off cuts bin,I got enough to make three hop socks and two full size biab bags for 6$.DSC_0370.JPG


DSC_0379.JPG
I made the sock a touch short. No big deal will knock up another.
 
They look pretty good & much cheaper than the one I have.

I also checked out that sellers other items & just bought the stainless dry hopping thingamajig, which I'll use for flowers
 
Made an offer of $40 and got It, not bad value . Will update when it arrives.
 
Mmmmm exactly what i need, good find. Hopefully its ALL stainless, ive found alot of cooking equip is described as stainless, but you quickly find out that only bits and pieces are and the rest is chrome coated.
 
Spiesy said:
Australians should have something locally available soon.
I wonder will this new hop spider be suitable for the centre mount on a Braumeister? :)

Cheers
 
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