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doctorsbro

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I have been doing alot of research on bre stand designs and i have finalized the design. This week i will be cutting and forming all of the parts for the top. I will be using .105(12 gauge) 316 stainless sheet for all of the parts for the top. I will be bending them at work on a cnc press brake so they will be very precise and easy to fit when i weld it all together this weekend. The legs and frame will be made with 1.5"x1.5"x .125"(11 gauge) wall 304 stainless tubing. the front panel is sitting at a machine shop in town to be laser cut to cut the letters out, if its not done by thursday im going to go pick it up and just form the part and then etch the letters into the panel after its polished via a vinyl sticker with letter cutouts and sandblasting creating a textured surface where the letters are.

I have never brewed any beer in my life but have come very interested in the process, my brother is the one that brews and im the one that fabricates so i guess all works out, brewstand for him.... beer for me! Well heres a quick sketch in paintbrush of my design, the burners will have polished stainless grates filling the areas where the keggles will sit. Let me know what you think, i will be posting up more pictures all week.

brewstand3.jpg
 
48"x120"x 12 gauge 316 stainless sheet, sorry for the crappy pic, stupid cell phone camera. I will have better pictures up using my digital camera
stainless.jpg
 
I would swim across the river to see that! Thank goodness there are bridges though...

Are you involved with one of the brew clubs in the area?
 
You had me at CNC press brake. Sometimes I hate being a corporate desk jockey.

Lol yeah i dont think i could handle sitting behind a desk all day. Probably my favorite machine in metal working is running a cnc press brake, we have 13 of them where i work ranging from 6'-16' and 50-365 ton with a wide array of tooling. e also have cnc punch presses and access to the laser but they have removed the computer that holds the cad programs to draw any "home projects" so those machines are off limits.... buttheads....

Today i got all of the parts cut on the shear so tomorrow i will bend all of them and also have to cut the 11" holes in the burner windscreen pans. Over the weekend im going to assemble the frame and the top. I also have take the windsreens and lay out and center punch all of the holes for the burner height adjustment and also cut out the notch for the burner. I would drill the holes but having 48 holes @ 5/16", and it being stainless steel i will take them down and have them punched on an iron worker punch press, i dont feel like burning up $50 of my carbide drill bits drilling them, stainless is terrible to drill.... After all of the holes are done i will have them roll them into rings and then weld the ends together and then weld them to the bottom of the burner windscreen pans. I have alot of work ahead of me but im making progress....
 
also id like to add, in my picture i labeled the area "keg storage area" i meant keggle storage area for when the brewstand is being stored
 
I know it is typically rude to talk "money" with people, but we have this great electronic barrier so I figure I can ask.

How much do you expect the materials to cost for this rig? I am planning my rig for when I return from Iraq and I would like to be able to consider stainless as an option, but I am unfamiliar with the price.
 
After I did my first brew on my $$$ Morebeer sculpture, the one thing that bugged me was that the pumps had no covers. So I like the "pumps with covers" detail.
 
I know it is typically rude to talk "money" with people, but we have this great electronic barrier so I figure I can ask.

How much do you expect the materials to cost for this rig? I am planning my rig for when I return from Iraq and I would like to be able to consider stainless as an option, but I am unfamiliar with the price.

Well if you were to build it out of all tube like most do the 1.5"x1.5"x.125" wall tube goes for around $8-$9 per foot right now, the 12 gauge stainless sheet is about $10 per square foot when you buy an entire sheet, price would go up with smaller quantities and also cut charges apply. If you were to go to a welding shop with a drawing and have them build the entire thing for you out of stainless i would think it would be in the $1000+ range with windscreens, caster wheels etc, and a bare mill finish(no polishing etc)typical hourly rate at a welding shop is about $75-$125 an hour(higher end if tig welding). But if you can cut and weld all the pieces for your stand i would say youd have about $500 in it with all of your materials and supplies, and another $100+ into supplies for sanding and polishing if you allready have the tools to do so.
 
After I did my first brew on my $$$ Morebeer sculpture, the one thing that bugged me was that the pumps had no covers. So I like the "pumps with covers" detail.


you know honestly these pumps do not need covers, they are rated for high temps and are a sealed mag drive motor anyway so theres no exposed electric connections etc, im really just putting them on there for more bling factor, more polished stainless=more bling :)
 
well i got some more done today, i bent all of the parts on the press brake today for the stand, will be punching all of the holes in the windscreens in the morning so i can drop them off to get rolled into rings when i pick up the tubing, i should be all ready to go for welding it together on saturday, heres a few pictures

beast of a press brake, picked this one since its the most precise, and that it took 170 tons to bend the 67" piece of stainless in a small "V" die, this is a 14' 200 ton machine
brewstand101.jpg


heres the front panel portion of the stand
brewstand105.jpg


the center dividers between burners
brewstand103.jpg


the ends
brewstand102.jpg


brewstand100.jpg


Tomorrow night i will be notching the parts i bent so they will fit together and will be ready to weld
 
That looks awesome. I was going to have my centered dropped for more space, but in the end had to lift when I realized that when wheeling, I need more clearance. The low-rider wasn't going to work for me, so I had to lift the thing. Can't wait to see pictures.
 
Pump covers - I just formed some acrylic around mine. All I needed was a heat gun. I'll take some pictures and post them. My brew rig is under constant upgrading.
 
Well if you were to build it out of all tube like most do the 1.5"x1.5"x.125" wall tube goes for around $8-$9 per foot right now, the 12 gauge stainless sheet is about $10 per square foot when you buy an entire sheet, price would go up with smaller quantities and also cut charges apply. If you were to go to a welding shop with a drawing and have them build the entire thing for you out of stainless i would think it would be in the $1000+ range with windscreens, caster wheels etc, and a bare mill finish(no polishing etc)typical hourly rate at a welding shop is about $75-$125 an hour(higher end if tig welding). But if you can cut and weld all the pieces for your stand i would say youd have about $500 in it with all of your materials and supplies, and another $100+ into supplies for sanding and polishing if you allready have the tools to do so.

Thanks for the info!
 
I am going home and throwing out my POS stand.. heh

Very impressive! Keep the pics coming.
 
Thank you for all of the kind words everybody. My workplace is nice and is full of very usefull pieces of equipment, i guess i am the chosen few that get to do limited home projects, guess its because i dont slack and always have my work done and helping others do theres...... Anyways, i notched all of the parts after work today so they will all interlock and after welding/grinding/sanding/polishing it will all look like 1 piece of polished stainless. I also finished punching the holes in the windscreens as well, i just need to find an affordable place to roll them into rings, a shop told me today $80 hahahaha thats crazy... i have ran many different rollers at different jobs ive had and it wouldnt take more than 10 minutes to do it... they guy said it takes 30-45 minutes to setup the machine.... 45 minutes to hit the on switch? Needles to say they wont be getting my business by blowing smoke up my bung hole.... i cant stand it when business's think that theyre customers are stupid...

Tomorrow i have to go pick up some tig and mig wire and hopefully have a fully welded brew stand. Just need to get the windscreens rolled and the holes cut in the plates for the windscreens to weld to.... ON WITH THE PICTURES! Sorry for the crappy phone pics again...

windscreens punched, still need notch for the burner protrusion
brewstand110.jpg


notched center divider
brewstand109.jpg


notched end cap
brewstand107.jpg


pieces laid out before notching
brewstand112.jpg


center dividers notched and laid into position
brewstand108.jpg


pieces fit after notching
brewstand106.jpg


i still need to sand all of the surfaces where i will be welding to remove any surface oxidation for a nice clean weld, i also picked up the 30' pf 1 1/2"x 1 1/2" x .125" wall square 304 stainless tubing today, forgot to snap a picture, i will post more up tomorrow.
 
Thanks for the info!

I have access to a mig welder and decent "welding shop" (one of the benefits of being in the army), so I think I can do the fab myself. I think I will look into stainless as an option.


Yeah dont be scared of stainless, its just as easy to fab stainless parts as it is to fab steel parts, just have to be carefull not to use contaminated grinding/sanding equipment that has been used on steel. And heck it doesnt need a polished finish, you can put a mill finish on it with a sanding drum on your drill in a very short time.
 
I am Doctorsbro's brother, and the future proud owner of this brewstand.:ban: I have a Ph.D. in chemistry but no fabrication skills, so this build wouldn't be possible without Doctorsbro. Doctorsbro is the fabricator and I am the brewer, so I guess it works out okay. I've already promised to keep my brother supplied with beer in exchange for his work on this project.

I am used to brewing like this:
IMG_0830.jpg

IMG_0824.jpg


The stainless brewstand will be a welcome addition to my brewery. I hope to see many more build pics in the days and weeks to come.
 
Well i got the wind screens rolled this morning, i still have to cut the notch for the burner protrusion but had to wait until they were rolled so it didnt distort the rolling process, now i need to cut the holes in the plates that they weld too. I am finishing up cutting the tube for the frame today, it got way too late last night and couldnt keep my eyes open while waiting for the bandsaw.....
brewstand113.jpg


brewstand114.jpg


more updates to come.
 
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