My Weldless Build Using Strut

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Good to see this thread is keeping up. I've got the frame for my stand mostly built. I need a couple more connections and slowly build the full system. But a side bonus is that I can stand it vertically and use it as a gravity feed for my cooler setup until I get the parts to finish it as a single tier! I have a brewday planned for Saturday and will be sure to post pics after I get things set up.
 
So after about a month of work and ordering parts my stand is complete . I'm actually kind of sad it's done I had a lot of fun building it . But on the other hand I'm pumped to brew on it this weekend . I picked up all my ingredients today for my first 10 gal batch . Thanks for all the help and ideas .

image-3603001054.jpg
 
Thanks guys . I got my strut from hd it was gold finish but it burned off rather quickly during my water test . I figured it would take a long time for it to rust out and for $20 per 10' I could just replace the top rails if I ever even need to .
 
Yeah, I saw that finish there too. Not a galvanized, but like a gold'ish coating. Wonder how that will hold up compared to the galvanized. My galvanized is looking pretty burnt off, but not rust to speak of.
 
gifty74 said:
Yeah, I saw that finish there too. Not a galvanized, but like a gold'ish coating. Wonder how that will hold up compared to the galvanized. My galvanized is looking pretty burnt off, but not rust to speak of.

I'm not too sure how it will hold up . I know I'm down to bare metal around the burners. Good to hear yours is not rusting . I think even if the galvanized strut does start to rust it will take a long time before it needs to be replaced and I'm not worried about how it looks as long as it functions and my kettle does not fall through the stand
 
Yeah, I saw that finish there too. Not a galvanized, but like a gold'ish coating. Wonder how that will hold up compared to the galvanized. My galvanized is looking pretty burnt off, but not rust to speak of.

No offense, but this is still the #1 most useful thread on HBT! :ban:

Where are you guys finding $20/stick of this stuff? I was at my local Fastenal dealer a couple weeks ago and they said this strut is through the roof, they were quoting +$75 per stick at the local HD/Lowes!!!:smack:
 
Find a local electrical supply. Just google "electrical supply". Start calling anything nearby and ask them to quote you a price for strut. I called this week again and galvanized is $14 a stick, and stainless is $80. Like the above poster said, galvanized does not look that treat after a session or two, but its not rusting and I'm not going for looks.
 
FTG-05 said:
No offense, but this is still the #1 most useful thread on HBT! :ban:

Where are you guys finding $20/stick of this stuff? I was at my local Fastenal dealer a couple weeks ago and they said this strut is through the roof, they were quoting +$75 per stick at the local HD/Lowes!!!:smack:

I bought the gold colored stuff (which is galvanized according to the specs) at the local Home Depot. It was gust under $20.00 for a ten foot stick. It was the best price I could get locally.

Mark.
 
FTG-05 said:
No offense, but this is still the #1 most useful thread on HBT! :ban:

Where are you guys finding $20/stick of this stuff?

Both hd and lowes have it for $20 per 10' length . It's in the electrical isle. They are just very limited and expensive on fasteners .
 
I dig the 4-switch DJ switch panel. I have the 8-switch version (but only use 4). I think I may have commented on your hinged chiller before...it is coool ;)
 
Got to use my stand for yesterday's brew. I had finished putting the frame together last weekend, and stood it on end in the basement, for storing while I collect more parts. I realized that it would work great as a vertical tower for my Gravity-fed Coolers. Added a couple crossbeams and it worked Awesome!

IMG_0983_zps447144a7.jpg
 
I dig the 4-switch DJ switch panel. I have the 8-switch version (but only use 4). I think I may have commented on your hinged chiller before...it is coool ;)

Thanks! I got the idea from you on another thread. The chiller doesn't move in as far as it did before I mounted the burners. I may fins another spot for it.
 
So after about a month of work and ordering parts my stand is complete . I'm actually kind of sad it's done I had a lot of fun building it . But on the other hand I'm pumped to brew on it this weekend . I picked up all my ingredients today for my first 10 gal batch . Thanks for all the help and ideas .

Super nice build! Nice job on polishing the keggles too. You should probably rotate your pump heads 190* though:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/short-pump-orientation-mounting-tutorial-306814/
 
lpdjshaw said:
Super nice build! Nice job on polishing the keggles too. You should probably rotate your pump heads 190* though:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/short-pump-orientation-mounting-tutorial-306814/

Thanks a lot. I gave up on the mirror finish for the keggles and went for the brushed look haha . I read your thread and it makes perfect sense about the air pocket . I did have some troubles with air in my lines . The instructions for chugger said the head could be rotated for which direction you were running your plumbing . I changed the order of my kegs and rotated the heads back to factory setting. I'm brewing this Friday so I will give it a try . I'm sure it will help . Thanks for the advice .

Also grant I think I may have seen a 3 tier system in this thread but can't remember . Did you have any luck or figure out a plan for a 3 tier using strut?
 
Subscribed! This looks like a great idea once I get my keggle setup finished planning out.
 
This thread has been so inspirational that I decided to build my frame.

Drewski8986:

I like how your burners look. Would you mind sharing some close up pictures of your burner placement and shield? Is the design working well for you?

Also, shout out to Tom Gleason and Josh Hobson at G-P, LLC (strutchannelfittings). The have been very helpful and responsive to any questions I had about their products...

Thanks to all the contributors to this thread:mug:
 
Read this entire thread ,man it was a long one. What alot of great ideas, never seen any such thing before , it's pretty cool. I'm gonna hafta build me one.
I see there's a lot of concern with galv struts around the burner, if you'll look at drewski8986 build you'll see his burners are wrapped with flashing. This is a simple solution for a heat shield . SS flashing can be found online and local. When I start my build I will look at using this , I going all galv because of cost.
Any thoughts on this?
 
This is the rig on it's first run. Worked well but I do have some bugs to work out. At some point I'll put a post together on how I built this.

photo.jpg
 
Looks sweet! This must be a good reason for this, and I'm sure I'm missing it, but I'm curious as to why you used fittings that are external to the strut versus internal where you can use the track system and locking nuts. It looks like in some locations you have internal, and external in other areas.
 
Any issue with this one?

Lowes

That is the same strut that I used for my build. It will work just fine. You might want to get your fittings online at the place where gifty orignally bought his (I can't recall the name now). I bought mine from there and it was much cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot. I bought the strut from Home Depot because it was easy and not that expensive.

Mark
 
That is the same strut that I used for my build. It will work just fine. You might want to get your fittings online at the place where gifty orignally bought his (I can't recall the name now). I bought mine from there and it was much cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot. I bought the strut from Home Depot because it was easy and not that expensive.

Mark

I agree: http://www.strutchannelfittings.com/
 
Here's mine that I assembled this weekend. Still lots to do (add burners, propane lines, RIMS system, etc), but you can get a sense for where I'm going with it. I modeled it after one of the MoreBeer sculptures. I like the layout as a good space saver.

20130519_182528.jpg
 
Here's mine that I assembled this weekend. Still lots to do (add burners, propane lines, RIMS system, etc), but you can get a sense for where I'm going with it. I modeled it after one of the MoreBeer sculptures. I like the layout as a good space saver.

Cool, glad you were able to find the material and get a stand going. Just wondering if you were planning to make any changes, or if this is the way you were going to keep it going into brew day. I ask because I think there could be a potential for stability/structural problems with the way it is as posted in the picture. Let us know.

Also, not sure if you knew this or not, but one of the great things about strut is the built-in channel locking system. The strut profile makes for a channel on the underside that when used with the strut locking nuts, allows you to put a fitting anywhere you want, not just where there's a hole/slot in the top side of the strut. I ask because it looks like all of your bolt head are showing on the top side of the strut. If you look at my first original post you can see that all of the bolt heads are on the underside of the material, out of the way, and locked into the channel on the underside with the strut nuts. Just wondering if you knew and just wanted to do it a different way, or if you did not know about the channel and associated nuts.
 
Cool, glad you were able to find the material and get a stand going. Just wondering if you were planning to make any changes, or if this is the way you were going to keep it going into brew day. I ask because I think there could be a potential for stability/structural problems with the way it is as posted in the picture. Let us know.

Also, not sure if you knew this or not, but one of the great things about strut is the built-in channel locking system. The strut profile makes for a channel on the underside that when used with the strut locking nuts, allows you to put a fitting anywhere you want, not just where there's a hole/slot in the top side of the strut. I ask because it looks like all of your bolt head are showing on the top side of the strut. If you look at my first original post you can see that all of the bolt heads are on the underside of the material, out of the way, and locked into the channel on the underside with the strut nuts. Just wondering if you knew and just wanted to do it a different way, or if you did not know about the channel and associated nuts.


Yeah, I'm considering adding two supports because of your point. That said, I'm only doing five gallon batches, and as it stands right now (no pun intended), it is really, really solid. All the same, I look at it and feel the same urge you do about adding some center supports under the lowest tier.

As far as the channeling, that is something I figured out after I was pretty far along in the build, and I've slowly started turning some of the pieces around for that purpose. I was only able to get a limited selection of fittings at my local hardware store, so I was sort of forced to figure out ways to bring everything together. After having worked with it for a weekend, though, I do feel like I might have put it together a bit differently.
 
Yeah, I'm considering adding two supports because of your point. That said, I'm only doing five gallon batches, and as it stands right now (no pun intended), it is really, really solid. All the same, I look at it and feel the same urge you do about adding some center supports under the lowest tier.

I'd second the center supports for your stand.

Right now your brackets are handling most of the load. I think over time, with repeated heating/cooling (not to mention the weight of the pots) they will probably warp. Even with 5-gallon batches you might have close to 9 gallons of pre-boil wort sitting on your stand. That could put you close to 80-90 lbs plus the weight of your cooler/hlt.

You want any downward forces to be directed through the strut, which was designed to handle a lot of weight.
 
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