Using Round instead of Square tubing for a Brutus Stand build

Amigos and brewing afficianados,

I am wondering if anyone has experience or comments on using round stock tubular steel instead of the square for a single tier frame? I live in an area rife with dairy industry and have a line on some scrap stainless tubing but it is round. I would think cutting the ends that butt up to another round tube would be far more complex than a straight cut. But other than that any reason you should or shouldn't substitute round?

It seems the primary concerns are of diameter and gauge so that the stand can remain stable and support the weight of your brewing ware, water and grain.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Like you mentioned, it's the cutting/fabbing that will be the challenge. Look at equipment designed for making chromoly roll cages. They make jigs and cutting devices designed for round tube.
If the tube is a minimum .06 (+-1/6") you're good to go. The one other challenge is welding stainless. You will need the right equipment.

+1 on what OneHoppyGuy said.
I considered round when I was getting ready to make mine as I had a friend that had some scrap laying around, ended up going with 2x2 instead. Now I am talking mild steel, if you can weld SS then it might be worth it to do it.

I used round tubing. I had access to a JD Squared Model 3 bender:

https://www.jd2.com/t-bendercomparison.aspx

and that allowed me to make a stand fairly easily using techniques similar
to roll cage fabrication for buggies/jeeps, take a look:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/show-us-your-sculpture-brew-rig-46578/index103.html#post2444825

Where it becomes extra work is notching stock to add cross members. With
square tubing is just a simple chop, with round tubing a notcher is helpful, I made a simple notcher with my drill press an a hole saw.

-Pete

1.75 Legs, 1x2 top rail, the balance in 1x1... all .065

BTW: We are now selling this frame for $399.95

If you like the look of round tubing or that is what you have available, then I say go for it!

I'm tempted to make a brew stand out of 1/2 inch square tubing just to prove it can be done!

Most of the ones I see on here seem like they were designed to have a Kenworth parked on top of them.

Thanks to all for the input. There is a local metal recycler who has 2" diameter, 1/16th wall, 304 grade stainless priced at $0.85 per lb. He claims this works out to something like 1/8 the price comapred to new material. How does that sound for a metal choice? Strong enough? He also had some 1/8th wall, 4" pipe but only has two 10 foot sections (priced at $1.20 a lb) So i could use those for the pot support surface aka "table top," as it seems to me the long horizontal spans that the vessels and their contents rest on would need to bear the brunt of the load.

A welder i am not so I'm considering paying a fabricator to build it for me and not so worried abot complicated cuts. I found a local guy with reasonable rates who I'll get a quote from. I've also found a local club with member access to a plasma cutter and a stainless capable welder that soundedlike an interesting way to learn welding.

Any thoughts on that 1/16" wall, 2" pipe?

Awesome!! It will look great!

RazzBarlow said:

If you like the look of round tubing or that is what you have available, then I say go for it!

I'm tempted to make a brew stand out of 1/2 inch square tubing just to prove it can be done!

Most of the ones I see on here seem like they were designed to have a Kenworth parked on top of them.

Click to expand...

You can build a brewstand out of toothpicks with enough of them. Water weighs aprox. 8lbs/gallon. 3 kettles w/10 gal. each = 240 lbs

Take a look at the materials MoreBeer, Sabco and BrewSteel use. Do you think we would use more than needed if we are trying to control costs?

Commonwealth said:

[...]Any thoughts on that 1/16" wall, 2" pipe?

Click to expand...

It'll likely work just fine for the top level, but .062" thick SS tubing would be pretty unforgiving material to learn to weld on...

Cheers!

He did say he's taking it to a shop...

OneHoppyGuy said:

He did say he's taking it to a shop...

Click to expand...

He also said "I've also found a local club with member access to a plasma cutter and a stainless capable welder that sounded like an interesting way to learn welding."

Cheers!

Depends on the machine. Tig=no problem.

Thanks again boys. Honestly learning to weld would be a ton of fun and kinda useful I'm sure. Fact is it will all depend on what the quote comes in at I have for kids that i love and enjoy very much, the oldest is 7, twin 5 year olds and a two month old. I can barely find time to brew so it comes down to brew or build? I have a brutus style system currenty automating a two burner "Camp Chef" brand stove and boil on a stand alone single burner that i got for free. After two batches can say it is great to brew on but really want a single unit on wheels. I found out about this recycler and thought at these prices it is defintely worth looking into. Online calculators show 304 grade 2" tube with .06 wall weighing in at about 1.3 lbs per foot. That means if i pickup 50 feet of the stuff which would be plenty cost is still less than $60!! Compared to the $400 the local metal supplier quoted me for .125 wall 1.5" square tubing

I'll update this once i get to see the product and let you all know if it is worth it

Day_trppr Thanks for the learning insight on the thinner walled tubing. It is that kind of guidance that makes this forum so valueable to the brewing community.

NO PLASMA on SS... it makes a mess, you'll spend a lot of time on cleanup.
SS is not the way to learn welding... It's far more difficult and doesn't want to hold its shape.

OneHoppyGuy. Thanks tons, valuable insight for a metalworking rookie suchas myself. No plasma for me!!

My rig is round stock. That much manual copeing sucks but worth it.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/new-brew-rig-257265/

OneHoppyGuy said:

NO PLASMA on SS... it makes a mess, you'll spend a lot of time on cleanup.
SS is not the way to learn welding... It's far more difficult and doesn't want to hold its shape.

Click to expand...

I agree with the no plasma, I have yet to see a good cut made on SS.

I disagree with not learning to weld on SS though. If you have a TIG unit, and start with stick to learn, I think SS is great. Once you have a handle on stick, you can move to TIG.

Expecting that you can start to weld something like a stand right away isn't realistic, but there would sure be some off cuts to practice on while the friend did the heavy lifting part.

OneHoppyGuy said:

You can build a brewstand out of toothpicks with enough of them. Water weighs aprox. 8lbs/gallon. 3 kettles w/10 gal. each = 240 lbs

Take a look at the materials MoreBeer, Sabco and BrewSteel use. Do you think we would use more than needed if we are trying to control costs?

Click to expand...

I'm definitely not hating on your designs (or MoreBeer, Sabco and BrewSteel for that matter). You will undoubtedly have to admit that all of your designs are at least a little bit overbuilt for reasons of liability. (Sad, but true statement of our litigious society today)

The ones I am talking about are the stands built from 2X2 (and bigger) heavy wall tubing.

There isn't a single piece of 2X2 tubing in these toolboxes (in fact, most of the structure is sheet metal, the 1X1 tubing is mostly decorative) and they seem to be holding up to the load of 3 kettles just fine. (FUN FACT - I own that same model toolbox)


There is something to be said for a well designed, elegant structure. Personally, I think it's a thing of beauty.

There is no way a brewstand is going to hold up to that kind of weight. This design works the weight is being transferred through very high walls and the boxes are uniform. I'd be curious to know what gauge steel those boxes are.

PS: I own BrewSteel...

I'll wait and see what you have in mind.

OneHoppyGuy said:

There is no way a brewstand is going to hold up to that kind of weight. This design works the weight is being transferred through very high walls and the boxes are uniform. I'd be curious to know what gauge steel those boxes are.

PS: I own BrewSteel...

I'll wait and see what you have in mind.

Click to expand...

Some of the brewstands I've seen could hold 1000's of pounds literally. I'm not sure what the gauge thickness is of my toolbox, I've never actually measured it. If I had to guess, I would say 12 gauge.

To be clear, I'm not attacking your BrewSteel designs in any way. From what I see, they seem to be appropriately designed as a commercial brewstand.

Apologies for the thread-jack, OP.

OneHoppyGuy said:

NO PLASMA on SS... it makes a mess, you'll spend a lot of time on cleanup.
SS is not the way to learn welding... It's far more difficult and doesn't want to hold its shape.

Click to expand...

I've cut alot of stainless with my plasma cutter with no mess issues, now aluminum on the other hand can be a pain.
Pat

Plasma can cut any metal. That's one of the big advantages of plasma over oxy-fuel is that you can do so much more. Different gases can be used and that my affect the quality of the cut.
However for small tubing/pipe (and especially since you're new) then a zip-cut or band-saw would be way better for making cuts.
But again, don't think that plasma can't do SS.

^ "Weldless? Why would anyone want to weld less?"

Yep, welding & brewing do go together nicely!