cost to build a brutus 10

Assuming I can do all the welding myself(will be getting a buddy to do it) does anyone know the estimated cost of building a brutus 10?

I think if you go with stainless your looking at around $2000. Use angle iron, its alot cheaper.

2 x 2 x 0.063 or 0.120 wall stainless box tubing is running around 300 for 2 x 20 foot sticks last I checked (a couple months back). I went with t-slot as I had a bunch lying around but I'll have to make heat shields whereas SS dudes will not...

I'm using mild steel square tube for a similar build. It's significantly cutting the cost down ($50 for all of the square tube required). Use 16 ga (~0.060" wall) tube. Anything thicker is a waste of money and material.

jmp138 said:

I think if you go with stainless your looking at around $2000. Use angle iron, its alot cheaper.

Click to expand...

whats the advantage of stainless?

Stainless won't rust, and it looks pretty. Mild steel requires paint, powder coating, or for you to resign yourself to the fact that your sculpture will rust. IMHO, a coat of paint is worth saving several hundred (or even thousand) dollars.

Yuri_Rage said:

Stainless won't rust, and it looks pretty. Mild steel requires paint, powder coating, or for you to resign yourself to the fact that your sculpture will rust. IMHO, a coat of paint is worth saving several hundred (or even thousand) dollars.

Click to expand...

I always appreciate your opinion Yuri, but when I give Brutus to my Son in 15 years, it will look just like the day I built it!

In the long run, although SS is through the roof, there is no better choice. So many will attest to that after repainting over and over...

chemman, send me a pm my friend...

Lonnie Mac said:

In the long run, although SS is through the roof, there is no better choice. So many will attest to that after repainting over and over...

Click to expand...

I disagree! Powder coating is the other option. I have the setup in my garage, but even a pro job won't cost as much as stainless stock.

As long as you can get a minimum of three threads per tapped hole, then 0.063 is OK. You may have to go with finer thread...

Lonnie Mac said:

chemman, send me a pm my friend...

Click to expand...

pm sent

Irrenarzt said:

As long as you can get a minimum of three threads per tapped hole, then 0.063 is OK. You may have to go with finer thread...

Click to expand...

You're not really going to be able to thread into 0.063" material. That shouldn't be the reason you increase the thickness of the material throughout the build.

Yuri_Rage said:

I disagree! Powder coating is the other option. I have the setup in my garage, but even a pro job won't cost as much as stainless stock.

Click to expand...

Ah! Fair enough my friend... Keep in mind that although there are many a Brutus on this forum alone, I have pics of over a hundred systems around the world and converse over the years. So forgive me for looking more at an overall big pic of my system... Without a doubt, the number one thing is "I wish I could have gone with stainless..."

Of course there is also "Where can I get those friggin burners!"

As for the material, I went quite into depth here about that at the time... Several factors play into that decision as well... At the time, you could get .120 wall for dang near half the price of .063 because .120 is used very widely in the industry were as .063 sat on the shelf... And another reason I decided to use it was because I blocked up a piece of .063 and a piece of .120 on 2 x 4's and stood on it... Decision made...

And furthermore, when are you going to make me a mill man??

I have been reading into all grain and am interested in starting it but I dont want to waste my money on a simple system when I can just keep doing extract and save up for a brutus 10

You can do extract brews on a Brutus 10, just use the boil section only. In fact it might even be better as you can do a closed loop chill if you have a plate chiller like Lonnies setup does.

Also the main advantage of SS is the relative lack of heat transfer. No free electrons to move around in that stainless stuff...