A question for the welders

I purchased some ½” couplers to weld in some legally purchased kegs. The outer diameter of the couplings is 1.027”.

I have a hydraulic hole punch that will cut a very clean 1.115” hole.
Will this size hole be too big for a welder to properly weld into my kegs? The welder would have to fill .088”to .044” to install the couplings.

I am trying to avoid using a step bit, the punch is so easy to use.

Thanks,
John

step big was so darn easy for me, you are going to get the best result with the tightest fit.

I bought a Kobolt bit from Lowes it was kinda spendy $40 but im going to be doing at least 6 holes. so far the first two hole were a breeze I went slow but steady pressure and used WD40 as my lube and my bit did a fantastic job.

if you can't get the hole correct how about you let your welder do the hole for you?


-=Jason=-

The tighter the better, otherwise you'll get warpage and burn through.

nm999, "that's what she said"

;-)

-=jason=-

Tight fitting is what you want for a quality job. Myself I like Milwaukee hole saws. I use a 1/2 drill and just don't play around with drill it. This picture of this hole saw I know has drilled a least 50 holes in kegs over the years still going today. Its not like your trying to put a hole thru 1/4 inch plate










God Bless
swagamn

I have the Cobalt step bit from Lowes also. Much better than the Harbor Freight crap. Go slow, low heat, lubrication, and you'll be OK.

I agree, just let the welder put the hole in for you.

ultravista said:

I have the Cobalt step bit from Lowes also. Much better than the Harbor Freight crap. Go slow, low heat, lubrication, and you'll be OK.

Click to expand...

I have had good luck with the habor freight step bits. How many times do need to drill a large hole, not many? save the money and use it on your next brew.

you could go down a size on the punch and not have to drill as much with the step bit.

TIG or MIG? You wank a really tight fit. Its best to use the least amount of amprage possible. Stainless will "sugar" on the back side if you get it red hot without a backing purge. You can buy a can of solarflux and apply it to the back side to prevent this. Its easiest to weld at a low amp (40-50 amps) and just a bit at a time. KEEP IT COOL

Swagman said:

Tight fitting is what you want for a quality job. Myself I like Milwaukee hole saws. I use a 1/2 drill and just don't play around with drill it. This picture of this hole saw I know has drilled a least 50 holes in kegs over the years still going today. Its not like your trying to put a hole thru 1/4 inch plate

God Bless
swagamn

Click to expand...

Swagman from the look of the chips in that holesaw you must be drilling wooden kegs... ;-)

I think my problem was to high an RPM drill. I Picked up a low RPM Porter Cable drill and ran water over the bit and had no issues cutting the hole. The high RPM drill heated the bit way to quick.

A good welder could handle that much gap.
You should be more concerned with choosing a welder that won't screw your keg up because they don't know what they are doing.

A good welder could handle that gap, but why would you force him to fix your crappy prep job?

Drill a 1/8" pilot where you want the fitting and leave the rest up to the shop.

loserbrewer,
I hope you didn't miss the point to my response.
Don't let just anyone attempt to weld on your kegs. I've heard enough posts on this forum that I would be wary about paying someone to screw up my stuff.

hey loserbrew where u at ? im in sacramento....u by any chance...if not try and find someone with process pipe experiance....just cause someone says they have welding experiance doesnt mean they have the right experiance

Thanks for all the input. I happen to be in far west Texas. I have a good welder lined up, he has done plenty of welding for me in the past. I have always let the welder drill the holes in the past; I wanted to do the holes because I have very specific locations I want for the fittings and I didn't want to depend on the welder to get the locations exactly where I wanted them. I did get the holed drilled right where I wanted them. Thanks all!