Southern_Junior

Recipes 

So I know it sucks that I am buying a rig, but I hit don't have the access to a shop or tools to build. I live in Philadelphia and in an apartment no less.

So I was looking at the blichmann top tier tower. I have only heard good things about it, but want to make sure I'm not casting aside a good alternative. Are there any out there?

dcbc

Recipes 

Nothing wrong with buying a rig if you don't have welding skills. I think the best alternative to consider is drawing up plans for a rig and taking them to a professional welder. For the materials, labor, burners, casters, and gas plumbing, my single tier stand came in about $100 cheaper than the top tier once you consider shipping and the fact that you still have to pay for materials to do the gas plumbing. The Blichmann is a good product, but if you want something different, don't hesitate to investigate what it might cost to have a pro build it to your specs.

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Brew Stands Gallery

Southern_Junior

Recipes 

How detailed were your drawings? Should I use Autocad to design the stand?

dbrewski

Recipes 

Have you searched the topics for weldless stands? Angle iron isn't that tough to cut, then you just screw it together. Works great.

dcbc

Recipes 

I did them in MS Paint. Pencil and paper will work fine. You just need to know what size of metal you will use and have precise dimensions. To double check my measurements, I laid out masking tape on the floor and set my kettles on the outline to be sure it would fit. For height, I found a table, set my kettle on it, and made sure the height was right, then measured the table height.

Link in my signature has lots of pictures, including a copy of the drawing I used.

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Brew Stands Gallery