Cutting the top?

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Porter fan

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I got myself a pony keg so I can start doing full 5gal boils!:ban: I have a butt load of tools at my disposal Drill& bits Sawzall Angle grinder all the stuff I think I need to do this project. The keg I have is just your standard 7.5gal pony with handles I want to do this right the first time spigot in the bottom the whole nine yards.


How are ya cutting the top off the keg you use for a brew pot?Am I leaving any thing out?How bout fashioning a top? :mug:
 
Your best bet to get the cleanest cut possible would be to find a local welding shop and have them use a plasma cutter. I have a friend that wishes he did that. He used a grinder with a cut off wheel to cut his. He used many, many disks to do it.

John
 
i have a 15.5 keg and i plan on cutting it out with a plasma cutter. the hole size that im going to use is 12 in. and then get a lid from wall mart. cut your hole a little small and grind/sand to fit the lid.
 
if your any where around rocky mount nc i might could cut it for you. i have a plasma cutter at work. i would be happy to see if i could use it one sat.
 
I just used a sawzall and a metal blade. took about 20 seconds to cut. used a wire wheel to smooth the edges.
 
I just cut it the same way! Drilled a pilot hole and off I went not too bad a bit off the circle nothing a little grinding can't fix.Thanks for the tip's!:mug::tank: :tank:
 
Put your hard effort into a 15.5 gallon Sankey:ban: When it takes the same amount of time to do 5 gal as 10! I use a fire cutting blade on a sawzall to ripem up. Fill with allot of water to hold her steady while cutting.

You will be glad if you heed my advice, and that way you can do 5,10 and up to 12 gallon batches!

Brew on!
 
Thirstyone has a point, the 15.5 gallons kegs work well for diffrent volumes.


The first one I tried to cut the top off of I used a angle grinder. I spent HOURS in the parking lot of my appartment building grinding away....It was really loud for a long time. Pissed everyone off. I have a video that my brother shot of that, some lady was all yelling at me but I had my back to her and couldnt hear a thing, lol. I just kept grinding away.

It was an abomination once I was done.

I used that for a kettle to do extract for a while and then I wanted to build a HERMS and it required 2 more tops being cut off. I used the grinder to grind the a slot in the top and then used a sawzall. MUCH FASTER. I cut both tops off and went back inside before anyone could figure out what the noise was.


last week I cut the top off of another 15.5 gallon keg to make into a kettle for my Dad. I love my Sawzall! (the things I've cut with it...)
 
johnsma22 said:
Your best bet to get the cleanest cut possible would be to find a local welding shop and have them use a plasma cutter. I have a friend that wishes he did that. He used a grinder with a cut off wheel to cut his. He used many, many disks to do it.

John

If you use a plasma cutter be ready to clean out your keg with a lot of bar keepers friend to get the smoke stains out. The scrubing wasnt that bad but for half barrel you're gonna need about half a can of he stuff.
 
Pumbaa said:
If you use a plasma cutter be ready to clean out your keg with a lot of bar keepers friend to get the smoke stains out. The scrubing wasnt that bad but for half barrel you're gonna need about half a can of he stuff.


also fill the keg with some water to keep the splatter from sticking... makes for an easy clean up.

sorry this is sailman didnt know i was on under BLG.
 
If you use a plasma cutter be ready to clean out your keg with a lot of bar keepers friend to get the smoke stains out. The scrubing wasnt that bad but for half barrel you're gonna need about half a can of he stuff.

I recently cut the top off of a 15.5gal keg with a plasma cutter and the entire inside except where there was leftover beer has smoke stains. I've never been concerned with this before, but I've never welded on anything used to cook. I tried hot water, scrubbing, soap, bleach, could NOT get it to come off. So, I'm glad I found this thread. I have never used Bar Keeper's Friend before though. If I use half a can, what temp should the water be? Should put it or the water in first? How long of a soak?
 
Hi, I cut the top of my 15 1/2 gal keg with a
Dremmel tool, you would want to use the fiberglass wheels and it would take 5 of them,. however, it would be cheaper than buying or renting a large cutter, besides you will have greater control of the cut. I cut a 12 inch hole, I set my primary bucket upside down on top of the keg, centered it and drew around it with a Sharpe and began to cut, it is slow but does a very clean cut. File the edges and use a 12 inch aluminum pizza pan for a lid. Be patient it will pay with a nice looking brew kettle.
 
This what I use to cut the top off my kegs, I got the idea from Bobby_M from New Jersey, if you have more then 2 kegs to cut use a new wheel every two kegs because the wheels wear down and the opening gets smaller and if you want your lids to fit the first time change the wheel after two openings are cut.

1860-keg-kutter.jpg
 
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