setting up a jig to open a keg?

anyone got any recommendations, info, pictures, etc. on opening a busch keg, then making a jig to run a grinder around the top to create a keggle?

I can't give you measurements or anything, but here's what I threw together which worked quite well. Maybe it'll get your noodle going, anyhow.

Single "L" bracket holding el-cheapo grinder to jig:


I happened to have just the right size hole-saw to make the keg tap into a compass fulcrum (2.5" maybe??, sorry I can't remember now)


In action (make sure you wear hearing protection. VERY loud.)

This is what I built to do the same as above. I don't have the grinder clamped to it in this picture. You have to remove the spear to use this but I'm normally doing that anyway.

The grinder just gets clamped to the left side and the piece of the sankey tap goes in the hole in the center

Jig??? You don't need no stinking jig...I used the handle and the blade guard on my angle grinder and it made a beautiful hole.

The jig has the advantage of making a repeatable hole the exact size in multiple kegs if that's something you're interested in doing.

Bobby_M said:

The jig has the advantage of making a repeatable hole the exact size in multiple kegs if that's something you're interested in doing.

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And makes cutting a much quicker job. There is no wasted cutting.

Kilted Brewer said:

Jig??? You don't need no stinking jig...I used the handle and the blade guard on my angle grinder and it made a beautiful hole.

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That assumes the chime is still round and not dented like mine was.

30 mins I had two cut, edges sanded down nice and smooth and cleaned the inside. No jig, and they look pretty uniform to me...




Hey, not knocking the jig, just saying it's possible to do without.

Kilted Brewer said:

Hey, not knocking the jig, just saying it's possible to do without.

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Do we need to bust out a pic of the BierMuncher widow maker to remind us of what ELSE can happen with out a Jig?:cross:
To be honest, I would have done it your way too, but the keg I ended up with looked like it had been dropped off the truck onto it's top. Really, it was just a bit of a deflection in the top chime, but after wailing on it with a 2lb deadblow hammer and the blunt end of a splitting maul, all to no avail, I am convinced that something catastrophic happened to that keg.

Having done it both ways, I'd choose the jig over free hand. The cutting seems more controllable and a nicer finished product.

Germey said:

Do we need to bust out a pic of the BierMuncher widow maker to remind us of what ELSE can happen with out a Jig?:cross:

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Oh god no! Keep that thing far far away!

Here's my option:

how far from the outside do you make your cut? I'll probably want to purchase a false bottom eventually, once I have 3 of these ready.

I can't weld stainless properly, but I could tack on some pieces of mild steel and paint the whole thing to make a lid that had tabs to rest on the keg with.

nathan said:

how far from the outside do you make your cut? I'll probably want to purchase a false bottom eventually, once I have 3 of these ready.

I can't weld stainless properly, but I could tack on some pieces of mild steel and paint the whole thing to make a lid that had tabs to rest on the keg with.

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I made mine 10" in diameter so as to fit a 10" pot lid. I made a jig like the one posted here earlier:



and the final product:



with lid:



I only had one small area where the jig slipped but the lid still fits perfectly. Future plans involve cutting a notch for an IC inlet/outlet riser. For now I hardly use the lid but it does look purdy, don't it?

Cheers~

I didn't use a jig, mine looks great. I just put the guard against the handle, came out a perfect 12" diameter. Had a lid ready.

That's a good point about the lid. I'll go pick up the largest I can find tonight on my way home. I plan on eventually using this as an HLT (will likely set up 3 of them, or 2 with a larger boil kettle). That will determine my size.

You can also use the part you cut away for the lid, Just tack weld some washers (3-4) around the edges. Just need to plug the hole.

That's what I did and that's another reason why it's important to have exactly the same diameter cuts if you're outfitting a 3-sanke sculpture. You don't want to have all the lids be different or one can fall in.

I just tested my other lid and it will work great. I'll use it to determine the jig size, or I might go buy two matching lids

I used bobby's method...worked sweetly