Where To Get Metal For Brew Frame?

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Acasta

Bro Member
Joined
16/5/10
Messages
1,368
Reaction score
14
I'm looking to build a brew frame in the near future:
I've done some calculations and I'll need about 14m length give or take. I'm looking to do it on the cheap too.

What materials do most people use? Alu? Steel? Square hollow sections or Angled pieces?
Where would you recommend I acquire this stuff on the cheap? I was thinking scrap yards? Maybe a steel supplier.

I'm in Northcote, Melbourne.

Thanks
 
Robot building supplies have 25x25 gal boxing for $27 for a 6.5 metre lengths. If your game buy a ozito or better welder from bunnings from $100 up and away you go!!

Good luck mate.
 
I'm looking to build a brew frame in the near future:
I've done some calculations and I'll need about 14m length give or take. I'm looking to do it on the cheap too.

What materials do most people use? Alu? Steel? Square hollow sections or Angled pieces?
Where would you recommend I acquire this stuff on the cheap? I was thinking scrap yards? Maybe a steel supplier.

I'm in Northcote, Melbourne.

Thanks

Mate,

I work in Northcote and we have a warehouse full of old shitty, but solid as rock, steel frame office desks a prior tenant left. Most of the frames are 1" Sqaure steel. All different models of desks - I am sure there would be a good start to a brew stand in there somewhere..

You are welcome to as many as you carry! And anyone else for that matter.

PM me if you are interested.

In answers to your question, I used box steel, it is in fact pallet racking cross beams because I could get it for free, absolute over kill but hey, free!

May first stand was made from that angle stuff with all the holes that bolts together like machano.

Some ideas here too

Link is: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=40191&st=0

If you prefer to cut and paste for any reason...

Cheers
 
Sounds awesome! PM sent Cocko, just so happens I have uni off tomorrow. Also cheers on the clean links. Good to see you got your acts together haha

Bob: Lucky for me, my uncle has alot of hobbies and will be able to give me a hand with the welding. Depending on what I find, I may also go check that place out. Cheers.
 
I'm looking to build a brew frame in the near future:
I've done some calculations and I'll need about 14m length give or take. I'm looking to do it on the cheap too.

What materials do most people use? Alu? Steel? Square hollow sections or Angled pieces?
Where would you recommend I acquire this stuff on the cheap? I was thinking scrap yards? Maybe a steel supplier.

I'm in Northcote, Melbourne.

Thanks


Northern Steel [9351 1555] can supply any steel you want but you will have to cut and weld it. They are in Campbellfeild, and will deliver.
 
Someone on here (very recently) had an advert for a friend who could make collapsible brew frames - he was in Dandenong.
 
I'm looking to build a brew frame in the near future:
I've done some calculations and I'll need about 14m length give or take. I'm looking to do it on the cheap too.

What materials do most people use? Alu? Steel? Square hollow sections or Angled pieces?
Where would you recommend I acquire this stuff on the cheap? I was thinking scrap yards? Maybe a steel supplier.

I'm in Northcote, Melbourne.

Thanks

I put together my brew stand last week, I used aluminium box section (sometimes called Q-Block) with some brackets for strength, I'm going to replace the tin faces with something more substantial when I get some offcuts.

Here is my buy list and design. (note the brackets are not shown in the design)

I can post up the google sketchup file when I get home if you'd like



105unx2.jpg


I've also added a panel at the front to hang things like a timer/calculator with magnets.

This was the final design, nice and light for one man to move around (sorry for the crappy pic)

50009x.jpg



Just ask your local aluminium supplier for the materials, Capral is a big one near me but I avoid them as they tend to treat people like crap.

Good luck :kooi:
 
try motorcycle shops,some bikes come in steel frames. you might get for bugga all as the dealer wont have to pay to have them dumped...cheers......spog........
I'm looking to build a brew frame in the near future:
I've done some calculations and I'll need about 14m length give or take. I'm looking to do it on the cheap too.

What materials do most people use? Alu? Steel? Square hollow sections or Angled pieces?
Where would you recommend I acquire this stuff on the cheap? I was thinking scrap yards? Maybe a steel supplier.

I'm in Northcote, Melbourne.

Thanks
 
My sisters new boyfriend wants to learn to weld and is going to buy a welder, so I thought I'd give him a 'project' to learn on - making me a brew stand.
I was tempted to take up Cocko's offer, but some stuff on Ebay seemed quite cheap (and less effort than collecting, carting and pulling desks apart):

GALVANISED RHS 25X25X1.2MM X 7.2M $11.00 EA
DOWNGRADE STEEL RHS (FACTORY 2NDS), 25X25X1.6 GAL 8M - $15.00, 20X20X1.6 GAL 6.5M - $10.00
GALVANISED TUBE 25 x 25 x 1.6mm x 6.5m $14

However, I don't know what would be most suitable for the stand and/or a person just learning to weld, are any/all/none of those suitable, is one better than another, is something else better again?
 
I was tempted to take up Cocko's offer, but some stuff on Ebay seemed quite cheap (and less effort than collecting, carting and pulling desks apart):

GALVANISED RHS 25X25X1.2MM X 7.2M $11.00 EA
DOWNGRADE STEEL RHS (FACTORY 2NDS), 25X25X1.6 GAL 8M - $15.00, 20X20X1.6 GAL 6.5M - $10.00
GALVANISED TUBE 25 x 25 x 1.6mm x 6.5m $14

However, I don't know what would be most suitable for the stand and/or a person just learning to weld, are any/all/none of those suitable, is one better than another, is something else better again?

You need to be very careful welding galvanised steel - at the very least you'd need to grind off the galv where you will be welding otherwise the gas which is created when welding it can make you very sick. Personally i'd avoid galv all togeather, but then again i'm only coming back to welding after not doing it since High School (1999) so I may as well be a beginner again, too :)

Steel prices have gone up, but just a few scrap offcuts for the first learning welds should be very cheap or perhaps even free from any steel supplier.
 
If you're really looking to go cheap..really cheap, check the rubbish collections. All those old metal framed beds from the 60's or 70's with the wooden headboards, metal Frame and big springs are angle iron and quite reasonable thickness. You just need to attack it with the angle grinder. Last time I went looking there were a heap being thrown out.
 
You need to be very careful welding galvanised steel - at the very least you'd need to grind off the galv where you will be welding otherwise the gas which is created when welding it can make you very sick. Personally i'd avoid galv all togeather, but then again i'm only coming back to welding after not doing it since High School (1999) so I may as well be a beginner again, too :)
Thanks for the info, if that's the case painted stuff would be better?
PAINTED SQUARE TUBE 25X25X1.6MM X 6.5M $15.00EA
STEEL TUBE RHS 25x25x1.6x 6.5 MT LONG, BLUE primed $18
 
Whilst on the subject I am in the middle of renovating & a green house I am discarding that measures 1.8m H x 1.5m W x 1m D. It is made up of these various lengths of 20mm RHS totalling some 25m.

I am happy to give it away to a fellow brewer in Brisbane for the greater good of building a brew stand..

PM me if interested.

:icon_cheers:

Paul
 
Mate,

I work in Northcote and we have a warehouse full of old shitty, but solid as rock, steel frame office desks a prior tenant left. Most of the frames are 1" Sqaure steel. All different models of desks - I am sure there would be a good start to a brew stand in there somewhere..

You are welcome to as many as you carry! And anyone else for that matter.

PM me if you are interested.

In answers to your question, I used box steel, it is in fact pallet racking cross beams because I could get it for free, absolute over kill but hey, free!

May first stand was made from that angle stuff with all the holes that bolts together like machano.

Some ideas here too

Link is: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=40191&st=0

If you prefer to cut and paste for any reason...

Cheers

Anyone interested, we are scraping all this shit next Monday:

FREE STEEL - embedded in a desk.


PM for details - Melbourne, NORTHCOTE collection




[Got pics somewhere, will post when found]
 
anyone after scrap steel for practicing welding in SE suburbs melbourne PM me - I've got metric **** tonnes of the stuff (I turn over about 200 tonne of fabricated structural steel a month). We often have tafes come and collect stuff for students to practice welding on.
Unfortunately I dont deal much in the smaller section suitable for brew frames so suitable scrap is pretty much non-existant but I can get it brand new next day. I'm in Dandenong South.

As for down grade steel. In all honesty generally speaking what you save on $/m you end up spending on extra material for the twisted, split, cracking shit that is sold as down grade.
And if its who I think it is selling it based on your location Wolfy - well I certainly wouldnt be buying it... YMMV.

Buy painted or black steel. Duragal or variants there of is very lightly galvanized and its a PITA to weld. Plus the heat coming off your burners will no doubt but a lot of it off and as mentioned its not great for your health when it burns. Plus you need to use an etch primer to get paint to stick and not much etch primer is heat resistant.
 
what about old steel bed frames, might pick one up from the salvo's or other charity based shops for next to bugger all..cheers.........spog............
 
Back
Top