Plasma cutters ROCK!!!!

Good friend runs a body shop and I have done some side work for him, so on occasion I get to use the cool tools... Got a cheap Sanke keg the other day, so I figured it would make a good keggle, so off to the shop, fire up the plasma cutter and voila`...



A few passes with the angle grinder and some scotchbrite....



And now a gratuitous brew / car porn shot...



Now to find a welder who can handle stainless for a drain fitting and I will be one step closer....

:rockin:

Very nice! Looks like you are well on your way to a great keggle.

Yeah... trying to secure a few more in the mean time... Never know when you may just need one...

I've always wondered how sharp the edges are on the keggle - when you are whirlpooling, aren't you at risk of a nasty cut on that edge?

leghorn said:

I've always wondered how sharp the edges are on the keggle - when you are whirlpooling, aren't you at risk of a nasty cut on that edge?

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Well...some keggles are more treacherous than others.

I would imagine that with duckfoots the edges could be smoothed out rather easily. The example above seems like it might take a little more effort.

BlindLemonLars said:

Well...some keggles are more treacherous than others.

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That's the funniest thing I've seen all day. Why don't you take a grinder to that thing so you can live and brew longer?

jcarson83 said:

That's the funniest thing I've seen all day. Why don't you take a grinder to that thing so you can live and brew longer?

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You'll have to ask Biermuncher, it's his handiwork. I just realized why he hasn't put a ball valve in...he's afraid to reach in to install it!

leghorn said:

I've always wondered how sharp the edges are on the keggle - when you are whirlpooling, aren't you at risk of a nasty cut on that edge?

Click to expand...

I hit the rim with an angle grinder, some sandpaper and then some red Scotchbrite...The rim didn't tear the Scotchbrite when I went around, so I figure it is pretty safe... Ran my fingers around lightly as well and I still have all of them left.. I didn't even have to clean any blood out of it either.... :rockin:

Talked with my buddy at the shop about maybe slapping a coat of high temp auto paint on it for goofs and giggles...

BlindLemonLars said:

Well...some keggles are more treacherous than others.

Click to expand...

Boiling liquid; jagged metal edges... That's brewing on the edge!

That one just scares me....

After a few glasses of EdWort's Apfelwein.... (I am sure I will hate you in the morning... ) I decided to make sure my previous claim of smoothness was valid...


I still have all my fingers, so I am claiming success....

So now I am on the lookout for a welder who can do stainless....

Patience is not my strong suit....

that keggle makes me laugh every time i see it. for the love beer man, clean that hole up. thats either bier munchers or one of the other haggard ones around here.

I am guessing that was the result of a day of brewing, a few (or many homebrews) and a sawzall

<--- edited due to Apfelwein consumption

I tried to use a plasma cutter today to cut the tops of my kegs but it wouldn't work. I have no idea why. It just didn't seem like it could cut through it. We tested it on a piece of scrap steel and it cut through it like crazy, but no go on the keg.

Any ideas why it wasn't working?

We ended up just using a grinder and it worked well enough - but I was really looking forward to playing with the plasma cutter

Ummm...

Had it grounded to the cutter?

The one thing I ran into was that I had to go around a few times and go slowly... The first pass just made a burnt scratch in the top... A few passes later and the port and all plopped down inside..

Duckfoot said:

Ummm...

Had it grounded to the cutter?

The one thing I ran into was that I had to go around a few times and go slowly... The first pass just made a burnt scratch in the top... A few passes later and the port and all plopped down inside..

Click to expand...

At first we thought it was a ground problem too so we moved it around several times with no luck.

Like you said it just seemed to burn the metal but not really do anything.

Not knowing much about the tool itself we decided not to toy with it and just used the grinder.