Holy Stainless Steel Batman! brewstand build

I am getting ready to build a brewstand, I priced out both stainless and Structural steel... The mild steel was $150 for 40' of 2x2 11 gauge. the stainless was $3213!!!!! Who used stainless of there brew stands again?

I'm gettin gme a can of paint and going cheap!

Stainless is indeed expensive, but what the hell grade were they trying to sell you!! One of the ordinary non food grade weldable grades should be way cheaper than that....shop around.

Metal Express quotes your build at under $700 in stainless and they make all the cuts for you. Also, they are not normally a cheap supplier and you can beat their prices often with a little searching.

I think/hope that is a typo, my shop uses 2" x 2" 316L and 304L SS all day long and its any where from $7 - 15.00 a foot and that's polished to a #4 finish!

I figured it would be double. but i almost died when i heard that. He didn't ask for a gauge don't think he had options on the stainless. I'l lkeep hunting a bit but i'm not going to kill myself. I don't see too much reason for stainless on the stand itself. I can paint the outside, maby there could be some rust issues where i pass wires into the frame.

cool i'll deffinatly keep looking then

I picked up 48 feet (2 x 24 feet) 11 ga. 2x2 mild steel with every intention of rattle canning it, for 106.00. (80 cents a pound)

DeWalt stone/concrete/metal chop saw, 35.00 at the local DeWalt service facility. (Repair never picked up so sold to cover repair costs. GREAT way to get good running tools that look too crappy to be stolen but at a steal of a price)

2.5 hours cutting and I am welding away (tacking first)

I didn't even consider stainless. I suck at welding, FREAKIN artist at grinding!!! why use stainless that is even harder to weld, besides I don't have a TIG welder, just a 30% duty cycle Lincoln MIG. I can do SS with it, but would cost a few bucks to set it up.

As long as all your connections on your keggles are tight and you are not a HUGE slob, then why go Stainless. At least for my first rig....

My Brutus Build

I always did like a little hot rod red in brew sculptures!

I paid 168 bucks for 40' of 2 x 2, 1/8 wall 304 ss a few months ago so I would shop around.

airbalancer said:

I paid 168 bucks for 40' of 2 x 2, 1/8 wall 304 ss a few months ago so I would shop around.

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Airbalancer, where did you get it? I'm in MA too. When I get ready to build mine, that sounds like a good place to try first.

airbalancer said:

I paid 168 bucks for 40' of 2 x 2, 1/8 wall 304 ss a few months ago so I would shop around.

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That's a steal, especially for .120 wall.

homebeerbrewer said:

Airbalancer, where did you get it? I'm in MA too. When I get ready to build mine, that sounds like a good place to try first.

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Try Central Steel...

JKoravos said:

Try Central Steel...

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In Somerville?

homebeerbrewer said:

In Somerville?

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Yup.
......

I was quoted $150 for 48' of 2" x 3" .083 tubing delivered from out of state. I ended up getting it for free as I work in the steel tubing industry.

Anybody looking for tubing near Cleveland, OH can check with me. All that I would ask is you bring a sawzall to chop down the 20-24 footers.

Elfmaze said:

I always did like a little hot rod red in brew sculptures!

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It's "arrest me red"...

Brew Sculpture

paid $69 for 36 feet of 1.5x1.5 @.083...cohans steel in concord nh

I paid about $12 for 3 queen size metal bed frames at garage sales.

Did they tell you it was $3,200 with a straight face?

What type of brew rig? Vertical (gravity) or horizontal?

2"x 2" tubing is over kill for a horizontal rig. Mild steel angle would be much cheaper and provide a lip to keep kettles in place. Just a thought

A brewery built strong enough should you desire to brew on the planet Juipter.

By lip you are speaking of 90* angle iron? simmilar to Bobbys rig? I like the idea of painting it red. But how do you protect the wire passthrus from getting rust inside the tubing?

I was accually thinking that the frame would be made of the 2" square pipe and the kettle mounts out of angle iron for that keg holding reason.

JMO, but I think 1.5" box tube is plenty for a brew stand. 1" is probably enough. 2" looks cooler though.