How to add permanent volume markings to a kettle (illustrated)

[biertourist]

The next step - for some brave soul to take - is to etch a brewery logo on the outside of a kettle...

Cheers!

EXACTLY what I'm waiting to see!

This is amazing; one of the best of the best and easiest of the easiest mods to make; YEA HBT!


Adam

 

[opiate82]

I thought about adding some sort of logo for my "home brewery" onto my kettle but I figured it would hurt the resale value should I ever decide to sell it.

 

[itsgus]

This guy etched some hops onto his!

source: http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/1zgtny/thanks_so_much_to_uitsgus_this_came_out_great/

 

[finsfan]

Wow, that is pretty awesome

 

[ten80]

The newly exposed, etched stainless will become re-passivated after boiling wort or water and then the etching will not change change color or fade. The etching is both a chemical and physical process and should be more permanent than anodization or other surface treatments.

 

[BGBC]

Adding this to the to-do list..

 

[HappiBrew]

The newly exposed, etched stainless will become re-passivated after boiling wort or water and then the etching will not change change color or fade. The etching is both a chemical and physical process and should be more permanent than anodization or other surface treatments.

Was just about to ask about this. Thanks.

 

[Spellman]

Might be handy to label corny kegs as well, a custom brewery label on these would be bad@ss! Ah the possibilities!

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Sub'd !

 

[Temptd2]

Wow - cool - subscribing - want to play with this later!

 

[Scubadude918]

Subscribed! Can't wait to see how this comes out on aluminum!

 

[Joe9216]

nice!

 

[day_trippr]

It just hit me - with the roll-out of RaspberryPints I've been thinking about a way to serialize my fleet of corny kegs. And this looks like a great solution - I can mark each keg and its lid with the same number and never have to think twice which lid goes with which keg on those days where I have two to fill or to clean.

I have one empty/clean keg (out of 14) and am definitely going to try this out on it this weekend.

Cheers!

 

[old-pasture-brew]

This is to everyone:




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[roger_tucker]

OK, this is one of the coolest things I've seen.

 

[Roadie]

Awesome. No idea you could do this.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[ClaudiusB]

Awesome. No idea you could do this.

Almost Famous Brewing Company

Etching knifes is very common.
On YouTube you find tons of videos.

day_trippr: The next step - for some brave soul to take - is to etch a brewery logo on the outside of a kettle...

Thanks to day_trippr's challenge, I did one too and it took me four hours to etch away enough stainless.
Some cosmetic work around the edges is missing to blend the name in.

 

[Perzellbrewing]

For those wanting to know if worked on aluminum, I very quickly did this last night. Cheers!

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[plankbr]

Subbed...

 

[Wingnutt73]

Nice!!!!! That is awesome and the SWMBO has all the etching stencils I could ever need. This is happening tonight thanks again!!!

 

[Huaco]

Very cool.
Now, what to etch!

 

[ffaoe]

(On a dry surface) Blue, pink, or orange highlighter works great for marking lines, centers, and spots to measure from before laying laying down tape or stencils. Its just dark enough to see and wipes right off.
If you have kids, their washable markers will probably work just as good if not better.

 

[BeerGrylls]

Blue, pink, or orange highlighter works great for marking lines, centers, and spots to measure from before laying laying down tape or stencils. Its just dark enough to see and wipes right off.
If you have kids, their washable markers will probably work just as good if not better.

True but you're measuring a water line. Those things can't mark a wet surface which is why I suggested a wax pencil. Heck, go grab one of SWMBO's eyeliner pencils even.

 

[ffaoe]

True but you're measuring a water line. Those things can't mark a wet surface which is why I suggested a wax pencil. Heck, go grab one of SWMBO's eyeliner pencils even.

Couldn't find a wax pencil, it would have helped some. I used a cheap flexible plastic ruller to scratch water levels onto. Then transfered those using highlighter onto the stainless.

 

[funnycreature]

What I did to mark a few gallon lines is to take a Ti-nitride drill bits (http://www.harborfreight.com/13-piece-titanium-nitride-coated-drill-bits-1800.html#.UxjqsvldW9U) and scratch the metal a bit. I only did up to 4 gal because that's all I needed but if there's a linearity between the lines I might do what another poster here did... Simply add another line each xx inches. Will try the etching soon since I have been wondering how to best make the lines more visible. KUDOS to the OP!!!!

 

[johns]

sweet thread

 

[GotPushrods]

So I don't even need volume markings on my sous vide pot... but this just looked too fun not to try. It's a little sloppy since I couldn't find proper stencils. Had to carefully use the scrap from regular stickers. I bled over a few times (not much border on these little stickers) but fun practice.

For those wondering how to mark volumes with water in the pot.... I put the vertical tape on first. Then cut little lines in the tape with a sharp blade at the water line. Once empty and dry, I free-handed a slice to either side and pulled away tape.

 

[GotPushrods]

...a few more. The burned q-tips are definitely going in the bathroom trash. That could be a fun conversation later.

 

[GrizzAndFish]

This got me thinking, couldn't you plate the etched area if you switched the leads and used something akin to copper sulfate? I don't know much about electro-plating, but it seems that simple. Any thoughts from those experienced in electro-plating? I'm thinking it would be best to try it on the outside of your kettle.

 

[Dan]

This thread just keeps getting better and better. Kudos OP!

 

[itsgus]

This got me thinking, couldn't you plate the etched area if you switched the leads and used something akin to copper sulfate? I don't know much about electro-plating, but it seems that simple. Any thoughts from those experienced in electro-plating? I'm thinking it would be best to try it on the outside of your kettle.

Since this process is sort of reverse electro-plating, yes. There's much more to it than simply reversing the polarity though

 

[cfrazier77]

This is a great idea. I am going to do it very soon to mine.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Great thread! Just finished mine. Its not quite as pretty as yours, but, it'll work! My stencils were too tall, so I had to offset them. Also, I think the adhesive stencils would be much better! The non-adhesive ones let the vinegar seep through. :thumbdown: But, like I said, it'll work! Thanks again! :beer:

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[Keith66]

Damn! That looks great to me! Nice work! I like the old school stencil numbers.

 

[MaxOut]

I just got a vinyl cutter and now I have something new to print. By the way an automotive battery charger makes a great power source and all ready has alligator clips.


MaxOut Brewstationle

 

[MaxOut]

Worked great!!
Used my 6 amp battery charger and when it really got sizzling it only draws 2 amps.

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[MaxOut]

Added a beer mug.


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[madcore]

Nice found in time to save me some money

 

[TheZymurgist]

I think this was mentioned somewhere in here, but just thought I'd add it to be sure:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing...k_warning_about_etching_yor_stainless_kettle/

 

[itsgus]

I think this was mentioned somewhere in here, but just thought I'd add it to be sure:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing...k_warning_about_etching_yor_stainless_kettle/

Yes, this has been mentioned, and here were the responses:

No, not really. After being etched and rinsed, it is Clean and will self-passivate. What this type of etching does is expose the individual grains, which changes how light reflects from the surface, and therefore you see it. It is not very deep."

source: https://www.facebook.com/john.palmer.336717/posts/10152370663208900

I think its great! No the risk of off-flavors is minimal. Yes, you increase the corrosion risk, but for vessels not in constant service it is a minimal risk.
Let me put it this way, as soon as I can scrape up a half hour, I am going to do it to several of my pots!

source: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/how-add-permanent-volume-markings-kettle-illustrated-463099/index6.html#post5958597

you don't need a nitric acid bath to passivate. The key is to clean the stainless steel to bare metal. Once the metal is clean, the oxygen in the atmosphere will reform the protective chromium oxides instantly. The steel will nearly as passivated as if it was dipped in acid. Nitric acid passivation creates a more chromium-rich passive surface, but is not necessary for brewing use.

source: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB-1.html

And as brock_lee on reddit mentions, I would think a quick soak in lemon juice or starsan would be more than enough to have complete peace of mind.