DIY False Bottom question

Going to try my hand at All-Grain Brewing with my next batch. Probably a Stout. I've read up on Batch Sparging and it seems like it will work good for me without my having to buy more equipment.
I've scored a nice sheet of Perforated Stainless from work(was the outer sheath on an oil filter) to make a False Bottom with. The holes in it are 3/16 around and 1/16 apart...
Is this going to be a fine enough mesh to avoid problems mid sparge? There is enough of it that I can make 5 or 6 False Bottoms for my five gallon cooler, so I can double up on one if I need to reduce the openings.

 

The holes look to big to me. I have the same cooler though and use a stainless braid manifold, works great!!!

 

If you are batch sparging, stick with the ss braid (it's very easy and cheap to do). False bottoms are more useful for fly sparge and the holes are too big on that. If you really want to build one, just look at some retail ones to get an idea of the hole size.

 

Yeah I was afraid they might be too big. It was free, so, no biggie. I'm sure I can find another use for it.

I've also noticed that lots of people use a 10gal cooler..am I wasting my time with this one? How much grain can I expect to mash at once?

 

O I thought it was the 10gal cooler. Yeah mine is 10, and you'll want the 10gal. I havent done any huge beers in it but I have done a few large batches with 17lbs of grain and it fills it up pretty quick. But if thats all u got, it'll work for smaller batches I suppose.

 

Here is exactley what I did, pretty easy and works great. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

 

Watch for used 10 gallon coolers at resaleshops. I bought 2 at 15 each. Someone on here said they are hollow and shooting them full of aresol insulation will help with heat loss.

 

Mine only loses about 2 degress an hour, though I do wrap a blanket around it just to make sure it keeps temp. I don't know if it helps or not.

 

It looks like you have enough there to cut out 2. What about doing that then putting one on top of the other and mis-aligning the holes and tack welding them or tying them with ss wire? Its kind of what I did with my first mlt. Free is too good to pass up.

 

I,d definitely cut two pieces round to fit the cooler then stagger them to make smaller holes. Overlap, stagger, either way tinker around see if you get lucky. What the heck it was free right.

 

Or cut one round to fit the bottom and then several smaller sizes you could layer on top to make a weave of holes etc..

 

Cutting two and misaligning the holes was exactly what I was thinking of. There is enough that I could make at least 5. I actually found a braided stainless toilet fill line in my garage, so I might just go that way.

Earlier today i had ordered 14lbs of grain for a stout so I'm going to see if there is enough left in the beer stash ($$) to spring for a ten gallon cooler. That way I know i have plenty of room for my mash

 

Yeah, I just re-read your first post, I guess I didn't read that last part. You definitely want a 10 gallon. I started with a 5 and it was a pain.