What to do with sanke center tube?

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Brewmoor

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Has anyone made anything useful out of a sanke center tube? I cut the tops off my kegs tonight and I was looking at the tubes. They seem like perfectly good pieces of SS tubing that must be useful for something. Only I can not come up with anything.

I would hate to throw away good pieces of metal. I need a little inspiration.
 
I've been thinking the same thing...though my best solution so far is has been to keep it close to my bed...good burglar repellent!:off:

I'm interested to here if others have found a beer related use.
 
Someone once suggested use it as a guard for a liquid level gauge. I like the idea of a mash paddle. Spoon?
 
i am still doing extract i cut a hole in the bags of extract and put a dip tube through the bags to hold them then cut a slit in the other end it works pretty well the steam heats the bag and gets every drop. my four year old thinks they make great shooting guns, telescopes, shovels and little sister/dog whackers i am planning to use one for my powered mash mixer one day.
 
I made a pair of potato gun barrels out of a couple of them with a 1" electric valve fed off an old 20# propane tank and hose. At 140 psi this thing recoils the slugs gone. Dented in a junk Toyota door big time in a test.
Really, save them for other use for the brewery as well the cut lid as many people throw away.
Add a stainless washer to the bottom, mount as a holder on your stand for stir and other tools.
 
yep mash paddles. I have mine engraved w/ my logo on them for my customers. If they have me do a build for them I include the mash paddle for a few extra dollars.
Jay
 
I seen a guy on YouTube make a burner out of a center tube and the valve.

I am going to make a mash paddle out of one. The other I cut the valve off and I am going to use the center tube to hang my hop sock. I cut the keys (proper term??) off of the valve piece, turned it upside down and I use it as part of my jig to cut the tops off of kegs....this fits better then any hole saw that I could find.
 
You could crimp one end, put slits in it, and use it for dryhopping. You'd have to fashion a cap for the other end, but that would be easy enough.
 
I recently picked up a sankey keg but have yet to perform the kettlectomy.

I was thinking it could be adapted into a level indicator. However, without having seen the damn thing I have no idea if it is doable.
 
If you cut the tube to the proper length, drill quite a few (hundred or so) 1/32" holes over one half (one end or the other) you will be able to install it in place of most standard water filter cartridges, and use the filter housing in line with your keg system as a "hop randall" - it's like dry hopping (or wet hopping after harvest) as you dispense your beer.

I built a few of these last year and they work great. One note** you will have to carefully balance the lines when using a randall, otherwise you will end up with a glass of hoppy foam.

I'll try and get some pics up this week so you can see what I'm talking about.
 
If you cut the tube to the proper length, drill quite a few (hundred or so) 1/32" holes over one half (one end or the other) you will be able to install it in place of most standard water filter cartridges, and use the filter housing in line with your keg system as a "hop randall" - it's like dry hopping (or wet hopping after harvest) as you dispense your beer.

I built a few of these last year and they work great. One note** you will have to carefully balance the lines when using a randall, otherwise you will end up with a glass of hoppy foam.

I'll try and get some pics up this week so you can see what I'm talking about.

That sounds like a fun project. I might consider that. Thanks
 
Ok, I was playing in the garage today and I came up with a plan for the tubes. Here are the results.

Sight measurement tubes for my boil kettle and my HLT.

This is the Boil kettle:

IMG_00711.JPG

IMG_00723.JPG

IMG_0073.JPG


Here is the HLT: Incorporated it into a lid.

IMG_00741.JPG

IMG_00751.JPG

IMG_00761.JPG
 
Looks like you found a good use for them. Nice work! If you're ever faced with the same dilema, you might save it , esp. if you decide you ever want to try fermenting and/or serving from sankeys. I plan on fermenting in 1/4 barrel sankeys, but will modify the spears by shortening them by 3/4 of an inch or so. By saving the unaltered spear from my keggle conversion, I have the option of restoring one of these quarters to it's original condition if I choose, or if nothing else, spare parts.

If you're not interested in doing any of this, maybe you can sell it to someone who is. Seems like I've seen someone looking for extra sankey spears on this site before.
 
I was thinking when I build mine of sliding it over a piece of vinyl tube with a 90 degree fitting on both ends. As far as cutting, I'm an aircraft mechanic, so working with a dotco is sorta second nature to me. A dotco, dremel, etc. You could even drill a hole every couple of inches to allow you to see the fluid level. Hey, great idea, add a light on top of the tube so you could see the fluid level backlit.
 
I was thinking when I build mine of sliding it over a piece of vinyl tube with a 90 degree fitting on both ends. As far as cutting, I'm an aircraft mechanic, so working with a dotco is sorta second nature to me. A dotco, dremel, etc. You could even drill a hole every couple of inches to allow you to see the fluid level. Hey, great idea, add a light on top of the tube so you could see the fluid level backlit.

I have a site glass made of polycarbonate on my current keggle. No protection and it has not been a problem, but I like the idea of using the tube.
Instead of vinyl tubing, check out the polycarbonate at usplastics.com. They also have nylon compression fittings that can come in handy.
 
I'm thinking if you use a dotco, you could just do a single cut and then use hose clumps to secure it.
 
A piece of 1/2 in plywood, run the cutoff wheel along that. The dip tube is roughly an inch in diameter, so that should give you a fairly clean cut that is about an 1/8 in wide. One more thing...LOTS of clamping is just a suggestion. Now I think I will have to go build mine tomorrow too. I have to clean out my "new" kegs first. The all smell like two year old beer.
 
I'm thinking if you use a dotco, you could just do a single cut and then use hose clumps to secure it.

Might be kind of narrow? I was thinking of drilling about 3/8" (maybe even larger) hole on each end and making two parallel cuts between them.

The sanke spear tubes are pretty large ~1" maybe? Not sure if you are thinking of clamping the tube and squeezing it, or just clamps to stop it from sliding?
 
So do your first cut, rotate, clamp, and make your second cut. I really like how your thinking too. I figured the single cut and clamps would be a quick and dirty way, but your's will look better. I may have to adapt to that.
 
Exactly! :rockin:

And the protection is not a bad thing.

I have been pondering some sort of jig that I could use to cut a straight slot with a grinder...



A piece of angle iron clamped at both ends gives a nice straight edge to run a cutting wheel down.


I use the dip tubes for handles. I smash the end, weld them to the top of the keg I just cut out. I then weld on 3 SS washers so the lid doesn't fall through. I know, boring. But that is what I do with them.
 
So do your first cut, rotate, clamp, and make your second cut. I really like how your thinking too. I figured the single cut and clamps would be a quick and dirty way, but your's will look better. I may have to adapt to that.

LOL... Not sure how it will look, but I do my best.
I build a nice adjustable jig to hold an angle grinder to cut the keg tops.
I'm thinking of anchoring the grinder and sliding the tube along a straight edge to make the cuts. If I can mount the grinder to a router table, then I could use the router table fence to index for the next cut?
 
Angle iron would work too. They would make good handles too. I was thinking about using it as a support for installing a float valve for sparging.
 
Look at it like this, if you screw up, flip it over and try again on the other side! I was also wondering if I could use it as a thermowell.
Your cutoff wheel should have a 1/4 in shank on it, and I think a router is also 1/4 in, so maybe you could chuck it up to your router table with no problems, but I think you will have trouble clearing the safety guard.
 
Look at it like this, if you screw up, flip it over and try again on the other side! I was also wondering if I could use it as a thermowell.


Look at what?

IDK. I think it might be a bit large in diameter for a thermowell. The reading might be a bit off.
 
Look at it like this, if you screw up, flip it over and try again on the other side! I was also wondering if I could use it as a thermowell.
Your cutoff wheel should have a 1/4 in shank on it, and I think a router is also 1/4 in, so maybe you could chuck it up to your router table with no problems, but I think you will have trouble clearing the safety guard.

Safety guard? Safety guards are for wussies...lol

That is actually a VERY good idea. I could mount the cutoff wheel in the router on the table. I can drill a hole at each end of the tube and screw it to a board so it won't rotate, then just run it along the router fence. I wonder how bad the metal dust would be on the router?

Hmmmm... more to ponder.
 
I think we have developed a method for it now too. Now it's time for you to go shoot a youtube tutorial :)
 
Yes, very good use of recycled stuff. Good DIY. I like them better than the expensive ones you can buy.
 
If you cut the tube to the proper length, drill quite a few (hundred or so) 1/32" holes over one half (one end or the other) you will be able to install it in place of most standard water filter cartridges, and use the filter housing in line with your keg system as a "hop randall" - it's like dry hopping (or wet hopping after harvest) as you dispense your beer.


Did this myself... Worked out great.... :ban:
 
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