Solid strut single tier build

Just finishing up my solid strut single tier brewstand. Thanks to all those who've posted photos and details of their builds, I definitely couldn't have come up with many of these ideas on my own. Anyways, I thought I'd post my build as it has a few different concepts that I haven't seen on here before.
First off, these guys rock: http://www.strutchannelfittings.com/ I ordered my stuff on Wed am and it was delivered (free shipping) on Thurs afternoon. I wanted to use solid strut for aesthetic reasons and it was unavailable locally and these guys had it. I really wanted a nice welded stainless stand but couldn't pull it off so this seemed to be the next best option for me. All told it took me about 2 hours to measure and cut all the pieces and another 4 hours or so to put it together to the point I'm at now.
One thing I wrestled with was making or buying a nice gas manifold but decided to forgo that for now and make the best use of what I already had which was a couple of Camp Chef burners. I cut off the legs and just used the whole burner/shroud/regulator assembly. Not ideal but it'll work perfectly fine for now and I can always upgrade later. I have one tank with a splitter to use for my HLT and MLT and the BK will have it's own tank.
Hope to finish up soon and post a couple more detail photos.

 

I couldn't figure out how to label each photo so....to mount the pumps I used the 1 1/2" pipe U brackets pictured above. I just used the flat plate - it was the perfect size - and tossed the U part, and then some 2 1/2" long machine screws.

 

Nice work. I especially like the solution to reuse your existing burners vs. building from scratch. How did you mount them? Or do they just sit in the frame?

I like the solid strut look a lot. :cheers:

 

That works. +1 Good job!

 

Nice!! in the process myself, I actually like that your burners just slide into place, One thing that i've found, is those pump motors and liquids don't like each other, maybe a shroud of sorts, (I'm a little wreckless during clean up!) great looking build!! i've gotta look into that strut channell stuff,.it looks sharp!!! thanks for sharing!!

 

I likw how you mounted the pumps. Wish I had thought that. Are you going to cover them?

 

I'm going to secure the burner assemblies with an angle bracket that mounts to the strut under the side rails. I'll attach that to the shroud with a stainless bolt.
As for covering the pumps, yeah, planning on that, just not sure the best/easiest way. I have two small sheets of thin aluminum that I might try to fabricate something out of. Any ideas out there?

 

Super awesome. I am mid build on my solid strut stainless stand but am stuck due to funds and redesigns.

Yours is a work of beauty. Every bit as aesthetically pleasing as a welded stand but easier and potentially cheaper. Plus it can be easily modified.

NICELY DONE! I love homebrew porn like this.

 

Have you fired it up yet, at least a water run? Are you getting enough venting for your propane gasses to escape? Im building mine now as well and stuck on the burner ventilation with the wind screens. I will be using blichmann burners that already have the wind protector but not sure how I wanna mount them to make sure the gasses excape. Thanks, nice build..

 

No, I haven't done a dry (wet) run yet. I'm not really worried about venting. I'm really only slightly blocking the upper cutout areas on the sides of the burner shroud and I think I'm actually going to get as much if not more venting by going from when I used to use these burners with keggles (which have full coverage at the bottom and that skirt) to Blichmann's now (which are tapered at the bottom). I may give it a run tomorrow if I have time. I'll post results when I do though.

 

nice

 

Looks great. Do you have a list of items you ordered (part numbers)

 

You putting casters on it? Any plans to cover the pumps? Can you post dimensions? Even just in text (no diagram needed)

I ask so that I can steal any good ideas. )

 

Here is the parts list ( http://www.strutchannelfittings.com/ )
4 X THK-002-PG-5 (5' solid strut) - full length for the top rails and 3 1/4" off for the bottom rails
2 X THK-002-PG-4 (4' solid strut) - cut in half for the legs
4 X THK-002-PG-3 (3' solid strut) - cut in 12 3/4" lengths for cross members
8 X THK-233 - angle bracket, used for corners
8 X THK-61 - splice straps, used to secure upper cross members to top rails
50 X THK-31 - strut nuts
1 X THK-450-50 - hex cap screw (50 pack)
4 X THK-147 - angle bracket, used to mount casters. I ordered the wrong ones initially so I'm waiting for these to arrive. (I got the casters from Caster City - 4" with brakes on the front ones)

Finished dimensions are 5' W X 16" D X 30" H

I had thought about putting some vertical and horizontal braces but noticed in one or two threads that a couple guys didn't. Turns out they're not needed - this thing is way strong enough without them.

Yeah, I plan on covering the pumps, just not quite sure how yet. I have a couple pieces of really thin aluminum sheeting that I might fabricate something with. Trying to figure out how to mount them to the strut since it's too thick to just use sheet metal screws.

I ran the burners today, no problems there. There is a big difference in how the heat rolls out from under my new pots as compared to my old keggles though. I never had to worry about the faucet handles getting too hot before but no so now. I ended up having to use the thin sheet metal guard that came with the pots. Might have to get some Brewhardare heat shields.

 

Great build. Thanks for posting the parts list. What did you use to cut the struts?

 

I used a chop saw with a composite blade. Wasn't too bad. I found out by cutting the strut with the open end up it was easier and didn't wear out the blade so fast, then once i hit the solid part on the bottom I turned the piece 90 to cut the last section.

 

I see you used the galvanized material. I recall that you should not heat galvanized material. Any concern from that perspective? Other than that thanks for posting and i plan on plagiarizing your design

 

There is a lot of debate on the heating of galvanized metal. After reading about it I'm not really worried about it in the context that it's being used here. Wish I could have used stainless but it increases the cost about ten fold. I figure if I'm still brewing on this in 5 or 6 years and want/need to get something new I'll spring for a welded stainless stand then [kids will be done with college by then ]. In the meantime I can tweak and adjust this thing to my hearts content if I need to.

 

Thx for the info

 

They have clear, weather resistant plastic boxes with swing out doors and weather stripping for outdoor electrical outlets, maybe you can find one big enough?

Question, looks like kab4 windscreens with smaller jet style burners?

Your build is awesome, so jealous.

 

The burners/windscreens/grates are Camp Chef. They are stock units, I just cut the legs off.

 

Do you know if the solid strut comes in stainless? I know some people are concerned about the galvanized coating burning off (toxic) and losing its anti-corrosion properties. Looks super sturdy, though. Great build!

 

You could also high temp paint it right?

 

There's no high temp paint that won't burn off under direct flame, and then you're back down to bare metal.

 

Yes, I have mine cut and am waiting on more funds to complete my rig.

Also, even if you paint over galvanized the zinc will cook and melt under the paint making both come off with various drawbacks.

Still, like the OP said, he is basically planning this on being a stand that he will use until gets a welded stainless stand. Planned replacement...gets him brewing NOW.

 

Where'd you get your stainless solid strut? I can only find the slotted stainless and solid galvanized on the website. I'm assuming they sell all stainless fittings and stuff too.

 

I ended up getting mine from a mom and pop electrical supply shop sort of close to me. I say sort of because a bad traffic jam cost me in gas all i saved by finding it locally and going to pick it up.

The shop was so small that they gave me a deal just to get rid of all of their last remaining product; 5 10' sticks. This is turning out to be more than I needed for this project but I will find something to use the extra strut for.

I have seen good prices on the internet at places like here.

Stainless Steel Strut

This is more than I paid but it is still reasonable. You can probably find SS tubing for cheaper but you would need to learn to weld or hire a welder so this is a good, cost effective solution for non-welders. Looking at the maximum weight charts this can EASILY handle the loaded of a 3 vessel 15 gallon set up as long as you design it intelligently. Longer single tier set ups may require a support column like the Brutus 10 plans have in it (although this material would bear that weight at that size of a rig without the support column).

Good luck with your rig.

 

Subbed

 

Many thanks, I actually ended up finding it on Grainger but the pricing was ridiculous ($32/ft). Also have a quote request into a local metal supplier for 2" 11ga stainless tube stock, cut. The Platt pricing looks great- shipping could be a killer though.

I'm building a much larger system though, 3bbl, so I'll need more strut and will definitely need to check to see if it will bear the weight I need.

 

The strut will support a 3bbl system if you build in support columns to help with the load. It really is every bit as strong as 11 ga tubing.

Platt has locations for pick up, but nothing in SoCal.

Locations

I want to like Grainger...but they ALWAYS kill me on the price.

Good luck with your Nano brewery. Post something when you have it.

 

The closest one is near Bakersfield. Shipping may be killer. Just got the quote from IMS for the tube stock and it's super reasonable, and I wouldn't need to ship it. They may also have the strut but I'll have to go down there and find out. If my welder friend-of-a-friend comes through for cheap, that will be the way to go.

I'm actually most concerned about the joins on the strut. I'm sure the steel will hold up, but not as much with the various fittings that hold it all together.

 

The fittings will hold it together for the weight you are talking about (3bbl). You can always drill into the solid parts and bolt on extra fittings if you are really concerned. The best thing though is to make sure engineer it properly. Make sure your top rails have columns underneath (so the weight is put on the columns) and not just relying on the fittings. The fittings should just be used to hold the rails in place over other structural column and not to bear the weight themselves.

See the pic below

 

So, work got a bit in the way but I've made a little bit more progress. Figured out a pretty simple way to make a pump cover using thin aluminum sheeting from HD. I fabbed it up using cardboard. Unfortunately with the weight of the ball valve on the front of the pump it fell and broke the pump head of my brand new Chugger when I was installing the cover so I ordered a ss one for it and my March 809HS. Here are a couple more detail photos. Will get a close up of the caster mounting and the entire setup in a day or two. I've gotten so much inspiration from this forum, hope this helps at least one or two others out there.

 

Pretty much done, just have to dial in a few hoses/fittings and put it through a dry (wet) run.

 

Looking great!

You went with the pre-galvanized strut right? I'm curious to see how this reacts to heat and if it rusts.

 

A thing of beauty.

 

Yeah, I ended up using the galvanized. Would have loved to have gone with stainless but the cost was prohibitive right now. This stuff cost me just under $200 for the strut and fittings, stainless was gonna cost me about a grand. I had to keep the stand costs to a minimum since I also purchased three new pots and a few other goodies. If needed I can always go back later and put stainless strut on the upper portion or even go with a welded stainless upper frame.

Thanks, anxious to brew on it!

 

FYI- If you enter the coupon code "SAVE" when you check out you'll save 10% on your entire order. If you order the exact parts list that the OP has listed here it'll end up being $165.43 (a savings of about $18) minus the actual casters. Winning! Thanks OP!

 

Thanks to this thread I now have $165 worth of parts shipping to my house from G-P LLC!! Impulse buy I guess but at only $165 how can you complain! Oh I know how...... Now I need to get new burners because why would I mount my old not matched set on this beauty? That means I need pipe/fitting etc... But I can't wait!!! Thanks for the clever ideas!

 

Truly beautiful, well done.