Keg Lathe
 

I saw this and am offering it up for comment.
It's not something I need to undertake right now.

http://www.instructables.com/id/ELW6NXMF4TLKW45/

If you use an angle grinder and use the rim of the keg as a guide then you can get a neat result in 5 minutes.

This seems like a lot of effort even for 3 kegs.

ITA: It seems that this would be something that a LHBS or a club would have for a loaner.

I'm pretty sure that Bobby_M rigged up a jig of some sort, whereas Yuri and BierMuncher eyeballed it.

And we know what wide variation of quality occured there... :)

I didn't exactly eyeball it - I scribed a guide line using the loop of string method, then used the keg's outer rim as a sort of "fence" to guide the torch as I cut.

This is mine fresh cut without a clean up.
http://www.ushould.co.uk/brew/gear/keg.JPG

I landed two kegs this weekend and I want to cut the tops off, a friend of mine is a plasma cutting fiend, and I just want to make sure there isn't anything special I need to do before she cuts them.


I tapped the both of them and pumped out as much of the beer as I could. Then I released the air out of the keg.

Are there any other precautions that should be considered before the cutting begins?

Thanks,
-Nick

Yes. Whether or not the keg police are going to bust you. OK. I didn't say that. Shhh.

Take the valves and spears out and then fill them up with about 3 gallons of cold water. That will protect the bottom from getting slag on it from the cut.

Watch my video on how to get the valve out. It's pretty easy.

Seems like way too much work for cutting the top off of a keg. I like the idea of a perfect cut by putting the keg in the jig. I'd put an angle grinder in the vice and speed things up though.

Orphy, can you explain what you mean by using the rim as a guide using an angle grinder. I'm taking on this project this weekend and it would be a great help. As an aside, I am drinking my first glass wheat beer from my newly fabricated sanyo 4912. Thanks to all for there post and expertise. Kelly

In my case, I went for the most simple build to quickly get 3 identical cuts. I took my jig apart directly afterward. The instructable's guy obviously put more than 15 minutes into the jig he made, as did Yuri for his plasma turntable. I suppose if you plan to do more than 3 kegs, it's worth it. Also, if you don't have any need or desire to make repeatable cuts, there's nothing wrong with drawing a circle and freehanding it.