Stainless questions

[tchuklobrau]

3 years ago i moved to Germany. I had sold all my equipment cause i thought i could buy or make it all as cheap as i had in the States, big mistake. so now i am starting from scratch. Through my new job i found i have acess to alot of metal, and means to bend and shape it all. Now the actual ?'s. Are there forms of stainless, copper , and aluminum that should not be used in brewing? Is there a minimum thickness for all 3(meaning a point where it is not wise to make a kettle, fermenter etc ). and what is best for the welding tig, mig, or stick?

 

[tchuklobrau]

sooooooo 287 views........no opinions????

 

[day_trippr]

3 years ago i moved to Germany. I had sold all my equipment cause i thought i could buy or make it all as cheap as i had in the States, big mistake. so now i am starting from scratch. Through my new job i found i have acess to alot of metal, and means to bend and shape it all. Now the actual ?'s. Are there forms of stainless, copper , and aluminum that should not be used in brewing? Is there a minimum thickness for all 3(meaning a point where it is not wise to make a kettle, fermenter etc ). and what is best for the welding tig, mig, or stick?

Using TIG welded 300 series stainless will result in a durable, easy to maintain kettle. 1mm thickness seems to be prevalent in the upper half of the market (cheaper kettles go even thinner on the sidewall).

I wouldn't go through the hassle of fabrication using aluminum, and I'm not sure that copper kettles would be as durable and maintenance free as stainless steel (though I expect a clean copper kettle would be a lovely thing to look at ))...

Cheers!

 

[augiedoggy]

+2 on stainless... you dont want to be messing with unlined copper kettles.. They will be a pain to keep clean for one thing..

 

[tchuklobrau]

thanks