The Leap from partial to all grain

So I'm eight partial mashes deep in my path from beer pong player to brew master. I've come to the point where I think I'm ready to make the leap to all grain brewing and I was wondering what other extra equipment I would need.

I've got all the basic stuff:

A 5 gallon aluminum pot (will I need a bigger one for all grain?), 3 5 gallon fermenters, a 6.5 gallon priming bucket, hydrometer, thermometers, autoshiphon, blow off tube, etc. basics.

Any advice for someone looking into getting into all grain?

For 3.5 gallon batches, the 5 gallon boiler is a bit small, but should be fine. I use a 7.5 gallon for 5 gallon batches and find myself wanting more room. The biggest thing you're going to need is a mash/lauter tun. For 3.5 gallon batches, a converted 10 gallon rubbermaid would be perfect. There are a zillion threads about how to convert one on the cheap. You could use any medium sized cooler though.

Welcome to the forum, and best of luck!

with all grain you need a full boil. so you could scale down to 3 gallon batches for a bit until you get a larger kettle. I'd say 7.5gallons is really the minimum...go for 9-10gallons if you can afford it (aluminum is OK)

and that usually requires a propane burner outside, unless you can straddle two burners on your stove top. (don't even try this if you have a smooth glass-top range)

you can probably get a burner with a 7 gallon pot for $50 right now if you shop around. tis turkey frying season.

Mash tun
Propane burner
8g plus pot
chiller

Start trolling craigslist just after Thanksgiving it's a good place to find cheap burners and pots. I use a converted 15 gallon keg for my 5 gallon batches. I could do a 10 gallon batch in it if I wanted to but it also works great for 5s. They are a good deal if you can find one that someone owns outright. (look around the forum for the discussion on the morality of using one that hasn't been scrapped by the brewery/distributor)

for 5 gallon batches you'll also want to convert a 30 qt or larger cooler into a mash tun. You can often just do a temporary conversion if you don't want to give up lose a cooler to your brewing. You can get the valves etc. as a kit for between $21 and $34 at www.bargainfittings.com and that's really all you need to step up to all grain.

Even all that isn't absolutely required. As someone else has said you can do smaller batches with your current brew kettle and you can do "brew in a bag" mashing for just the cost of a 5 gallon pain strainer at the home depot. (You'll also need a second pot for this but it's def. doable for almost zero extra investment if you just want to try it a couple times.

Heh, I totally read the OP as 3.5 gallon instead of 3x 5 gallon fermenters. I'll go back into my hole now.

Mash tun
Propane burner
8g plus pot
chiller

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don't forget the extra 3 hours on brew day (well worth it, though!)

you also need a very reliable thermometer, preferably 2.