How did you open your keg?

Limited Visibility · 02-12-2008, 04:47 PM

I have two shells right now, one big and one small, what methods has everyone used to cut those things open so you can use them to boil?

Desert_Sky · 02-12-2008, 04:47 PM

4" grinding wheel

Limited Visibility · 02-12-2008, 04:50 PM

Cut looks clean, does it matter if my shell has a bit of a dent on the side of it?

**Lil' Sparky** · 02-12-2008, 04:52 PM

I use an angle grinder with a thin cutoff disk and then clean it up with a grinding disk and sandpaper. I helped a buddy yesterday. Took < 10 mins and got a nice round smooth hole.

BTW - we have a really good wiki, although it looks like we've got some missing sections to fill in here (Yuri - you need to fill in that plasma cutter section) : http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Keggle#Cutting_the_Top

**Bobby_M** · 02-12-2008, 05:02 PM

Is there a way we can embed youtube videos in the wiki? Both Yuri and I have done videos on cutting the keg, plasma and grinder respectively.

Cookiebaggs · 02-12-2008, 05:09 PM

Cutting a keg?

I believe this is the required picture for all the keg cutting threads.

Sorry BM...

ddroukas · 02-12-2008, 05:09 PM

less than 10 min? I used a pneumatic angle grinder on a Boston Beer Company keg and it took me close to 2 hours with a 4" cutting wheel at 90psi. Not to mention my unibit stepbit can't quite drill the keg effectively. The surrounding metal turned red hot and it ruined my first stepbit.

**Lil' Sparky** · 02-12-2008, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddroukas

less than 10 min? I used a pneumatic angle grinder on a Boston Beer Company keg and it took me close to 2 hours with a 4" cutting wheel at 90psi. Not to mention my unibit stepbit can't quite drill the keg effectively. The surrounding metal turned red hot and it ruined my first stepbit.

Eeek, that doesn't sound good at all. My bimetal hole saw cuts a hole for a bulkhead in about 30 secs, too.

Check out Bobby's video. He's got a fancy setup with a jig on his grinder, but it doesn't take any longer by hand.

[youtube]LthGdMk_avk[/youtube]

**HenryHill** · 02-12-2008, 05:19 PM

YMMV. About ten for me with a thin wheel on a die grinder.

Try using cutting oil when drilling metals. Also, speed and feed are an important part of any metal cutting endeavor.

**Bobby_M** · 02-12-2008, 05:27 PM

Yeah, even with my horrible math on the video, it took me longer to make that jig than it did to grind 3 tops off. I bet people having trouble are using thicker wheels.

I'm glad I saved my jig too, I was just asked to cut the top off a fellow homebrew club member's sanke.