Why 2" for Brutus Build

I am about to begin work on a decent approximation of a Brutus 10 build, just going with manual operation for the time being. I was looking at the spec's and it calls for 2" stainless steel. Now I know stainless is totally unnecessary and the cost is just ridiculous. I don't see why 1" square tubing wouldn't work for the build. The rig will never have more than about 200 lbs up top and 2" just seems like total overkill.

I am ordering materials tomorrow, and just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking some sort of issue with only ordering 1" tubing. Thanks for any input here foks.

jmp138 said:

I am about to begin work on a decent approximation of a Brutus 10 build, just going with manual operation for the time being. I was looking at the spec's and it calls for 2" stainless steel. Now I know stainless is totally unnecessary and the cost is just ridiculous. I don't see why 1" square tubing wouldn't work for the build. The rig will never have more than about 200 lbs up top and 2" just seems like total overkill.

I am ordering materials tomorrow, and just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking some sort of issue with only ordering 1" tubing. Thanks for any input here foks.

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these are people i use in texas.they should have the ratings for 1" tubing

https://www.marmonkeystone.com/ecomm/servlet/ProductCatalogServlet

Jason....

where are the specs that you are looking at?

There's a lengthy thread somewhere on this very topic. Lonnie used big, heavy stainless in part because it was available to him at a very low price.

2" tubing gives you a quite a bit of surface area with which to work, and .125" walls allow you to drill and tap without adding welded nuts or nut plates.

However, 1" tubing at less than half that thickness will be plenty strong for the application. Mild steel works fine, you just have to make sure you paint or powder coat it. I used 1.5" square, .060" wall mild steel tube for my 1/2 bbl rig.

I'm currently designing/building a new stand for a single-tier stand. Not exactly a Brutus 10 clone, but it shares some stuff with it. I've designed it around 1.5" square tubing. The cost for Mild Steel would be about $50, the cost for Stainless is about $150. Having it welded in stainless will cost about $50 more, but I think for the extra $150 the benefits of stainless are the obvious choice. I'm also using the thinnest walled stainless available (0.065 I think).

Here's a rough sketch of my plan:

Walker, the spec's that I was referring to are just from reading info that Lonnie has put up about his build. I mentioned to my boss who is a professional welder what I was looking at doing and he told me that he could see no reason to go with 2". I asked him about workable surface area and he said it shouldn't be a problem and if it was he could help me fabricate some mounting brackets.

If it is not too much more for 1.5", I believe that is what I will use. Just trying to get this knocked out while I have an experienced welder, also happens to be the owner of the bar I work at, offering up free help in teaching me to weld.

I

I think 1" would be plenty strong, but I also went with 1.5" because I want to incorporate a gas beam and hard plumb the burners.

When I built my two-tier stand 15+ years ago, our local metal supply had 1" x .125 galvanized square tubing cheap. I was concerned about it being too heavy but I deferred to my dad's (mechanical designer) wisdom at the time, including using 1x2x.125 for the base. Unfortunately, I've learned since then that he really likes to overbuild everything, so my stand weighs in at over 400lbs empty, but it can support over 2 tons without so much as a wimper. It's really hell on casters (been thru two sets). I'd really like to build a new stand that's lighter and easier to move, but this one works really well for me, so I put up with the weight. I'd say you should be fine using lighter wall 1x mild steel. As Yuri says, you'll need to paint or power coat it, but also be aware that the areas around the burners will burn off just about anything you put on. Perhaps consider bbq/wood stove hi temp paint. Most of the zinc has burned off mine over time, so I do get some rust in spots. Looks like hell but is functional...

MrH

jmp138 said:

Walker, the spec's that I was referring to are just from reading info that Lonnie has put up about his build. I mentioned to my boss who is a professional welder what I was looking at doing and he told me that he could see no reason to go with 2". I asked him about workable surface area and he said it shouldn't be a problem and if it was he could help me fabricate some mounting brackets.

If it is not too much more for 1.5", I believe that is what I will use. Just trying to get this knocked out while I have an experienced welder, also happens to be the owner of the bar I work at, offering up free help in teaching me to weld.

I

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Jason... if you learn to weld and have access to the tools, there are more than a couple of GRABASSes who would have requests for you.

I've been considering taking the practical welding course at wake-tech in the evenings just because none of us knows how to weld!

Another money saver - use painted mild steel for everything except the high heat areas, limiting the amount of stainless to just a few linear feet.

Yeah I have never really messed around with it, but have wanted to learn for quite a while. My boss uses a stick welder and turns out some pretty amazing work, so I figure a couple of saturdays spent with him and I should have the basics of it down. Seems like a skill that would serve me well if I plan on brewing for years to come!

Really amazed at how generous he has been with helping me out with this. I'm going to give him my order for the tubing today and he is going to go pick it up this week and told me he would help me any time I wanted. Good to know good people.

Stick welding is ok for mild steel, but TIG is really the way to go for Stainless. I don't know TIG so I'm doing the Brutus with a MIG and the right gas. Ubermick and I are doing an Et Two Brutus double build and got everything tacked up yesterday. We decided to go with .065 (16 gauge) 2" stainless tube that we got for $110 a 20' stick in NorCal. Before we put in the center support you could see a small deflection when my 180lbs jumped up and down in the middle. With the center support it's solid, and keep in mind only tacked together.

Ordered the steel today, went with 1 1/2 inch square tube mild steel. By buddy is picking it up this week and hopefully we will be welding this weekend! Pretty excited about the beginning of a build!

Right on... Good luck!