Wow. I live the clamp over the element, and especially the soldered lug. Very very nice.
I really need to learn how to weld and make better friends with my buddy who has a machine/welding shop. Your stuff is gorgeous.
Adamcanfly,
If I ever do this again, I may just mount an air powered cut off tool with an abrasive disc to the cutter instead. As the disc wears, the whole assembly can be lowered by turning the nuts that are sandwiching the cutter. It was a LOT of work for SWMBO to hold the keg still and a LOT of work to turn that cutter. I have a newfound respect for 304 stainless steel now... lol. I was sweating like crazy by the end. The screeching noise was unbearable. The cutting oil I used was actually smoking from the heat. It was not as elegant of an operation as the pics might suggest, but I did end up with a perfectly round hole in the keg!
Very neat! What did you use to make the cuts?Thanks, jtkratzer. If you want to weld, definitely just jump in and get yourself a welder. Once you have it, you'll attempt projects that you wouldn't have even thought of before owning one.
I just built a simple copper manifold for my mash tun. I based the design on John Palmer's research which seemed sound to me. It will definitely work for batch sparging, but it should work for whatever method we decide to try.
Very neat! What did you use to make the cuts?
Thanks Kevin,
I'm about 75% done with the build (had a 2-month hiatus due to other projects).
I'm about to punch holes in the keggles (spent dozens of hours polishing 3 keggles to a mirror finish).
I'm about to finish the build out (drywall, metal wall panels, A/C, and venting).
And I have about 5% wiring left on Kal's control panel.
Then it's off to brewing!
Thanks for all of you detailed input on this thread!
Karl
SWMBO and a hacksaw!
Kellzey,
The crimp is so tight that the space between the folds of the crimp are around as small as the holes of the mesh. There was nothing in the fold after I tested it with hops only (details earlier in the thread) or the inaugural brew (also detailed earlier). That brew didn't have a lot of pellets, though. Most of the hops were whole leaf. I'm brewing a Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA clone this weekend that has a pretty big hop bill and I'm using all pellets, so I'll let you know how it goes. I don't foresee any problems, though. Just blast it off with a hose. Even if you don't clean it well and a trace amount of hop material is left on the screen, it's no biggie. By the time they dry out and shrink (think drying herbs) they will probably fall right off. If they don't, they just get boiled anyway.
That being said, the real test will be in how well it can be cleaned after this next brew. I'll give an update after that.
I'll post a few pictures later.
I am on the edge of my seat.
Still there?
I can totally see why the flow was low during siphoning. The hop debris is very, very fine. I don't care what mesh hopstopper you have, the wort isn't getting past that dense mat of hop material very quickly.
KevinK
Where did you find the polycarb tube for your sight glass? Was it something you ordered or were able to procure locally?
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