Keggle Questions

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I bought mine pre-cut, but I think the best way is with a plasma cutter (if you can get your hands on one) or angle grinder.
 
Wait for it...wait for it...





























Some around here would say a metal drill and a sawz-all is not the way to do it...but I let my end product speak for itself... ;)


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I use an airtool with a cut off wheel. I draw the circle and follow it. Then debur with an angle grinder and some sand paper. It workd great.
 
BierMuncher, im not gunna lie, you should avoid putting your wrists anywhere near that thing. Haha, bet it makes great brew though!
 
I bought mine pre-cut, but I think the best way is with a plasma cutter (if you can get your hands on one) or angle grinder.

Plasma cutter is the fastest to do the actual cutting, but after setting one up, filling the keg with water(you will want to do that to keep the hot blow by from scaring the inside bottom) and all that, it's much faster to just use an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. I can get through a top in less than a couple of minutes with the cut-off wheel and switch to a flapper wheel and smooth the edges. Overall, less than 10 minutes if not faster. I cut five with plasma and 4 without. It's much more convenient to use the grinder method.
 
I used a Dremel to cut mine. It took a while, went through quite a few cutting disks, but I got a really clean cut and was able to follow a line nicely so that the lid I have would fit the hole.

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BM I will back you up... I used a sawzall to cut the top out of mine; and while it doesn't look as rustic as yours, I have a feeling its going to work pretty well. That said, a plasma cutter would be the more responsible way to do things.
 
So is a 12" hole pretty much standard? Anyone have a suggestion on a source for SS lids? Or do most people just reuse the tops?
 
I was planning to buy an inexpensive electric angle grinder tomorrow, at the local Harbor Freight. I'm looking at their catalog now, and I see that I can buy a pneumatic one for around the same money, and I do have a nice air compressor.

Any opinions on which is a better choice? My immediate purpose is for cutting a keggle, but I'm sure I'll find lots of uses in the future.
 
I was planning to buy an inexpensive electric angle grinder tomorrow, at the local Harbor Freight. I'm looking at their catalog now, and I see that I can buy a pneumatic one for around the same money, and I do have a nice air compressor.

Any opinions on which is a better choice? My immediate purpose is for cutting a keggle, but I'm sure I'll find lots of uses in the future.

I bought a 4 1/2" grinder from there a few years ago. It's a Chicago Electric I think.

Anyways, I just used Bobby's method for cutting the top off just a few days ago. I had to take it slow because it started to smoke!

I went about half-way then let it cool for about an hour, then finished the job. It worked OK, but I don't think you want to keep it for extended periods of time. If you use one, go sloooowwww....
 
I had to take it slow because it started to smoke!

I went about half-way then let it cool for about an hour, then finished the job. It worked OK, but I don't think you want to keep it for extended periods of time. If you use one, go sloooowwww....

Honestly, a lot of Harbor Freight's stuff is cheap junk...thankfully I have a local store, and can get a "hands on" impression before I buy. A lot of things are a good value though, and quite serviceable for weekend handyman applications.

I've had bad luck with their power tools, and they look and feel cheap. OTOH, I have a lot of their airtools (impact wrench, nail gun, die grinder, ratchet, drill) and they are solidly built and work great. I'm leaning in that direction, but I've never used either variety of angle grinder and am looking for more input.
 
Local HD's have recently had a 2 for 1 buy on Makita 4.5" angle grinders. 80 bucks IIRC. Buy one, sell the other to a brew bud. 40 buck for a tool that will last 100 times longer than the stuff HF sells. We use the makita's on a daily basis, and I have some that are still going after 10 years.
 
Some around here would say a firing range and an RPG round is not the way to do it...but I let my end product speak for itself... ;)

fixed that for ya biermuncher ;)

I used a Dremel and the brown cutoff disks. I went through a dozen disks and a heckuva racket before it was done. Next time I'd spend the dough on a metal cutoff wheel instead of the generic disks.
 
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