Keg Polishing Method

[mtbr_brewer]

I know there is a pretty lengthy thread on this discussion, but I couldn't find it to post in! I wanted to attempt and polish my keggle, and had originally read the method using an angle grinder.

However, after consulting with my father (an avid classic car restorer) and some individuals in the polishing industry I changed my strategy. In my personal opinion I think angle grinders are turning a few too many RPMs to get a good mirror finish on a keg.

Nonetheless, I didn't want to invest in a ton of expensive equipment to get the job done. I was hoping I could use tools I already had laying around. After some discussions I attempted the following process with good results.

Tools
- 5" random orbital sander (from Harbor Frieght) that I already used for woodworking around the house.
-Hook and Loop sanding pads from a car paint supply store (needs to specialize in painting).
-7" variable speed polisher (borrowed)
-Meguiars polishing compounds

Process
In Hindsight I should have taken a lot more pictures, and I plan to when I polish my second keggle but I'll just describe it for the time being.

-Started with a 220 grit 6" hook and loop pad from a car paint supply store. I found these pads broken down in a 10 pack for $7. It took 4 pads of each grit to get through an entire keg. In hindsight if you want a perfect mirror I might recommend starting with 80 grit and then moving to 220. There are some scratches I just couldn't get out with 220, but I was comfortable with that.

-After sanding the complete keg with 220 (takes the longest of all the grits, roughly an hour) move to a 400 grit pad and complete the process again. I found that each step up took about 10 minutes less than the previous step since you're removing less material. However, you have to be diligent and ensure you are getting all the 220 grit scratches out.

-Continue the process with a 600 grit, 800 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit pads. Then move onto the buffer with a pretty abrasive compound (mine indicated it would remove 1200 grit scratches).

-Next move to a finer grit polish on the buffer, and remove all residue with a microfiber.

Again the total time for completion was 4 hours, but that's not including breaks for numb hands! Again, I might start with an 80 grit pad if you want to get all the scratches out, but you'd probably be adding another hour and a half or more to the total process.

I realize not everyone will have these tools or want to spend $75+ for the pads and compound, but if you are looking to get a mirror finish this is the easiest process I have seen. Below is a picture of the keggle after I finished. Again, it's not perfect but I think moving down to 80 grit would have gotten me there. I might try using 80 grit on just the heavily scratched areas on my next keggle. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[day_trippr]

Spectacular job - so blingy I need shades

fwiw, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54025

Cheers!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

That looks awesome!....now my kegs look even more scanky

 

[BBBF]

Looks great. I'd still love to do this to my keggle & SS table.

 

[Transamguy77]

That looks great! Man I need to do that.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Wow! Had to put my sunglasses on to look at the photo. Nice job and thanks for the write-up!

 

[mtbr_brewer]

Thanks for all the positive feedback! Hopefully it will help someone trying to polish one themselves. I'll make sure to take more detailed pictures when I polish my next keggle.

 

[Chad_C]

Which Meguiars did you use? I just tried the same concept, but used Mothers Mag polish instead of Meguiars. It came out OK, but wasn't truly satisfied, so I ordered some M100. Hopefully that will have more cut than the Mothers.

 

[jzimpleman]

I've taken what I've read on this thread with a few others, like the video done by Bobby from NJ. I got two kegs from a friend that clean out rental properties. They had one that had already had an "attempt" to cut the top out with a torch. It was pretty butchered, but the side looked good.

I started with 120 grit sand paper on a random orbital sander. I followed it with 220. I couldn't find anyone local that carried anything finer without ordering massive numbers, so went with the polishing/buffing pads and pastes from Lowe's. I used the grey first, white second, and finished with green.View attachment 395178View attachment 395180View attachment 395181View attachment 395182View attachment 395183View attachment 395184View attachment 395185

 

[Totally]

I couldn't find anyone local that carried anything finer without ordering massive numbers, so went with the polishing/buffing pads and pastes from Lowe's. I used the grey first, white second, and finished with green.

You have almost turned it invisible, nicely done.

 

[jzimpleman]

It's not as I had hoped. The thing that I have learned about polishing theses kegs is that you will then see every blemish, and the ones I've found are pretty beat up.

 

[cohen_fetters]

How well would a drill and sanding pads work out you think?

 

[day_trippr]

Depends on how beefy a drill - more power is better to spin a larger pad.
And if it has a cord (I wouldn't try using a cordless at all).
Fwiw if you have a Harbor Freight near you they sell incredibly inexpensive angle grinders.

I would stick with polishing pads and compounds only - I don't think you want to use actual sanding disks...

Cheers!

 

[mtbr_brewer]

I don't think a drill would quite cut it for a couple of reasons. First, the dual action (vibration and oscillation) of the sander are what helps cut through the dings and surface scratches. Second, the variable speed of the buffer allows you to start slow and increase speed to get surface scratches out. The sander I used was from harbor freight and was only around $25 - $30, and the buffer was a loaner from my dad (also available at harbor freight).

To day_trippr's point, I know a lot of home brewers have tried the angle grinder method, but an angle grinder is simply turning too fast to get a high quality polish. It seems like overall people are getting mixed results (some medium to high quality, and some not so much). As I mentioned I consulted individuals who work with metal and polishing (in the automotive industry) and this seemed like a budget method that was most similar to theirs. It's not the most economical (compared to angle grinder and polishing pads), but having got a second hand keggle that used that method I know this works better. I ended up going back over that keggle using the method outlined here, and was much more pleased with the results.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

How well would a drill and sanding pads work out you think?

You might be able to clean up some of the big scratches, or a decent brushed finish, but not a mirror polish.

I've done two keggles, and the results are impressive to most people but all I see are the flaws. I started with the medium and then fine sanding pads from Menards - aka the Gatorgrit pads. There is a fair learning curve there in understanding how the pads work and when to move up to the next pad. Basically, when you think you're done, do it all again, and then do it all again after that, then move on up to the next pad.

Even if a drill has enough power (and my big hammerdrill does indeed have the power), it is awkward to use for this purpose. Polishing is a lot about technique, so using a drill to polish would be kinda like trying to do fine paint work with a roller - the wrong tool for the job, yield mediocre results.

At the mirror level, mediocre results stand out significantly. It looks fantastic from 5', but at 5", all the flaws stand out to me.

I was able to mount a regular sewn cotton buffing wheel on a 4.5" angle grinder and used that with green stainless polish. The results are overall acceptable, but honestly I wish I had just bought a DA polisher from the get-go. At this point, I just can't justify dropping $50+ on a polisher (even at Harbor Freight prices), plus pads and compounds, to get a true mirror finish.

Still looks a lot nicer than the dinged up dirty keggles I started with.

 

[baron987]

Beautiful finish, but, how did you get an AB keg?
If it were any good, I doubt they would have sold it.
There used to be a $10 deposit on these kegs in the past, I think it is now $75 because they were losing so many - Thanks

 

[TxBigHops]

Beautiful finish, but, how did you get an AB keg?
If it were any good, I doubt they would have sold it.
There used to be a $10 deposit on these kegs in the past, I think it is now $75 because they were losing so many - Thanks

Was waiting for someone to go here...

Gets popcorn...

 

[PINOTPHELIA]

Well here's the thing... it's a keggle at this point so if they did sell it as a "boneyard" keg (which they actually fix for a while so they can still use them), or if it was in an abandoned house, or wherever... I'm thinking the shine on this keg was actually what this post was about. It's not going to be dispensing any of their....beer....anymore. I work at a small brewery, I don't want people stealing kegs, but there are a lot of used unusable kegs out there that have made their way to the homebrew world.. and I would have to say that they have jump started more than a few great commercial brewers careers... In closing:
Great looking shiny kegs!
I'd love to do this to my own system, as well as my SS table.
Thanks for the tips.
The popcorn was delicious.

Cheers

 

[bloombrews]

Anyone polish up a corn keg and have pictures to post? I think we all have lots of ugly ones that can use a new look.

 

[mtbr_brewer]

Appreciate all the additional insight and comments. To clear up the question around my kegs . I connected with a former bar owner that was selling out some of the last things he had laying around. I picked them up for what I thought was a stellar deal.

As far as the method, I was definitely pleased with the results but much like mirthfuldragon its what they might refer to in the car industry as a "15 footer". Looks great from a distance, but there are plenty of imperfections up close. With that being said, I'm still into three 15.5 gallon vessels for half what it would have cost to buy one of the brew specific kettles. However, I still get some of the bling factor!

Bloombrews, this process would absolutely work on corny kegs and I know I've seen a thread with some polished ones. However, I can't see myself diving into another set of kegs after I put 12 hours into the three for my e-HERMs!

Lastly, below is a picture of my setup with the 3 polished keggles.

 

[cohen_fetters]

I was trying to get the supplies together at lowes the other day and wasn't able to locate polish compound. I prolly should've asked but I was pressed for time

 

[JPGraphX]

I know there is a pretty lengthy thread on this discussion, but I couldn't find it to post in! I wanted to attempt and polish my keggle, and had originally read the method using an angle grinder.

However, after consulting with my father (an avid classic car restorer) and some individuals in the polishing industry I changed my strategy. In my personal opinion I think angle grinders are turning a few too many RPMs to get a good mirror finish on a keg.

Nonetheless, I didn't want to invest in a ton of expensive equipment to get the job done. I was hoping I could use tools I already had laying around. After some discussions I attempted the following process with good results.

Tools
- 5" random orbital sander (from Harbor Frieght) that I already used for woodworking around the house.
-Hook and Loop sanding pads from a car paint supply store (needs to specialize in painting).
-7" variable speed polisher (borrowed)
-Meguiars polishing compounds

Process
In Hindsight I should have taken a lot more pictures, and I plan to when I polish my second keggle but I'll just describe it for the time being.

-Started with a 220 grit 6" hook and loop pad from a car paint supply store. I found these pads broken down in a 10 pack for $7. It took 4 pads of each grit to get through an entire keg. In hindsight if you want a perfect mirror I might recommend starting with 80 grit and then moving to 220. There are some scratches I just couldn't get out with 220, but I was comfortable with that.

-After sanding the complete keg with 220 (takes the longest of all the grits, roughly an hour) move to a 400 grit pad and complete the process again. I found that each step up took about 10 minutes less than the previous step since you're removing less material. However, you have to be diligent and ensure you are getting all the 220 grit scratches out.

-Continue the process with a 600 grit, 800 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit pads. Then move onto the buffer with a pretty abrasive compound (mine indicated it would remove 1200 grit scratches).

-Next move to a finer grit polish on the buffer, and remove all residue with a microfiber.

Again the total time for completion was 4 hours, but that's not including breaks for numb hands! Again, I might start with an 80 grit pad if you want to get all the scratches out, but you'd probably be adding another hour and a half or more to the total process.

I realize not everyone will have these tools or want to spend $75+ for the pads and compound, but if you are looking to get a mirror finish this is the easiest process I have seen. Below is a picture of the keggle after I finished. Again, it's not perfect but I think moving down to 80 grit would have gotten me there. I might try using 80 grit on just the heavily scratched areas on my next keggle. Let me know if you have any questions.

You didn't use water at all for finer grit?