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dharvey1976

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Hi all,

I have been developing a modular Brew stand and could use some feed back. my goal is to fill the gap between a turkey fryer and the multi thousand dollar brew stands. These do not rust. They can stack in many different configurations. I have few pictures below. I have used this modular system as a two tier and three tier and it works great.

As a home brewer is this something any one would be interested in purchasing? If not why? Is it missing something that most people would like? That kind of stuff

please let me know your thoughts



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I think it’s an interesting concept, I’m guessing you could add a third burner if needed? Is there a adjustable gas manifold also?
 
I think it’s an interesting concept, I’m guessing you could add a third burner if needed? Is there a adjustable gas manifold also?

Yes you could add a third burner. At this time I was just using a propane y for the two burners. A manifold is a good idea thanks.
 
What are they constructed from? Almost looks like a channeled aluminum extrusion, but can't quite tell from the photos.
Kind of reminds me of back-to-back skinny uni-strut.
 
What are they constructed from? Almost looks like a channeled aluminum extrusion, but can't quite tell from the photos.

Extruded aluminum.. it nice because it has tee slots and the tee nuts are cheap.. that way you can mount anything to it easily.
 
Extruded aluminum.. it nice because it has tee slots and the tee nuts are cheap.. that way you can mount anything to it easily.

Nice! That design should give a lot of flexibility. Looks like it should be reasonably light weight yet rigid. What are the interconnecting straps made from?

As much fun to assemble as legos! How are the corners of each square attached?
 
Nice! That design should give a lot of flexibility. Looks like it should be reasonably light weight yet rigid. What are the interconnecting straps made from?

As much fun to assemble as legos! How are the corners of each square attached?

The connection straps are aluminum but I just came up with a way to eliminate those and just use stainless steel screws. The corners are connected with stainless steel screws
 
This is neat idea. How does it handle heat? And repeated heating/cooling cycles. The parts near the burner are likely to get much hotter than an aluminum pot would be rated for...

Also it will conduct heat quite well right...this might be a safety issue if you could get burned touching the stand thinking you were far away from the burner so should be safe...
 
Do the corner screws thread directly into the aluminum extrusion, or some other way?

The corners are threaded and the head of the bolt is in the tee slot, there is a hole through the one so you can access the head of the button head screw with an Allen wrench
 
This is neat idea. How does it handle heat? And repeated heating/cooling cycles. The parts near the burner are likely to get much hotter than an aluminum pot would be rated for...

Also it will conduct heat quite well right...this might be a safety issue if you could get burned touching the stand thinking you were far away from the burner so should be safe...

It handles the heat great I have not had any issues the times I have used it.

I do not the heat transfer as an issue because it’s the same as any turkey fryer.. don’t touch when the heat is on or after, as for transfer to an adjoining piece it does not seem to, but I will double check next time I brew.

Thanks for the comments
 
My concern would be the stresses placed on the corner joints over time and relatively soft threads in the aluminum. You might be looking at loosening and stripping of the threaded holes at the corners over time. Maybe devise a steel corner gusset that adds strength and rigidity to the corners?
 
Aluminum will conduct heat faster than steel, but won't get any hotter than steel. The burn hazard will be the same as a steel stand after the burners have been on for 30 minutes.
 
This is great stuff, used widely in industry for light duty structures. By light duty I mean hundreds of pounds as opposed to tons. Plenty strong for our purposes.

It would be simple to fabricate heat shields for any area that gets dangerously hot.
 
We use this stuff all the time to or tables that hold up to 1000lb or more. Its very strong. Both the Bosch extrusions and 80/20 are nice.
 
Very nice setup, lightweight and multi purpose. The extruded aluminum, was this purchased at Lowes or Home Depot?
 
I dig it! And I agree that heat & wind shields, reinforcement in a few places (anywhere that will be repeatedly unscrewed and reattached, high flex, extra weight from moving heavy pots, etc.), and ways to mount add ons in an easy way (I'm thinking manifolds, pumps, water filters, plate or counterflow chillers, a cupholder...you should really make a cupholder!) would be great additions. What do you think a potential price point might be? Don't sell yourself short but don't price yourself out of the market either--I know, Madden statement!
 
The stuff is great but also not that cheap. We would get an order sheet together so anyone wanting to build one would not have to look for everything. It could basically be cubes that you can put together however you like. You won't want to ship them assembled but once you get the hang of it they go together fast.
https://8020.net/
 
I dig it! And I agree that heat & wind shields, reinforcement in a few places (anywhere that will be repeatedly unscrewed and reattached, high flex, extra weight from moving heavy pots, etc.), and ways to mount add ons in an easy way (I'm thinking manifolds, pumps, water filters, plate or counterflow chillers, a cupholder...you should really make a cupholder!) would be great additions. What do you think a potential price point might be? Don't sell yourself short but don't price yourself out of the market either--I know, Madden statement!

I shooting for with a burner between $100 & $200, the non-burner between $50 & $100

I figure what it cost to make it and then add 25% for me

Then my local homebrew shop (Michigan Brew Supply, https://www.mibrewsupply.com) will add there take on that
 
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I shooting for with a burner between $100 & $200, the non-burner between $50 & $100

I figure what it cost to make it and then add 25% for me

Then my local homebrew shop (Michigan Brew Supply, https://www.mibrewsupply.com) will add there take on that
Per cube correct? So a 2 burner, 3 cube setup would cost $250 on the low end. I think that's reasonable. It would be great if you put together a couple of standard setups w/ casters, burners, wind screens already factored in and at a discount from putting one together piece by piece. I think you'll find plenty of people to buy the kits (even if they make some changes/ add ons) and that will make production and packaging much easier for you. Once you start to get orders going and can buy materials and things like burners more in bulk you'll increase your margins...good luck man! [emoji482]
 
Oh, and don't forget about the electric brewer and BIAB markets. A bolt on BIAB pulley tower would keep you hopping!
 
Per cube correct? So a 2 burner, 3 cube setup would cost $250 on the low end. I think that's reasonable. It would be great if you put together a couple of standard setups w/ casters, burners, wind screens already factored in and at a discount from putting one together piece by piece. I think you'll find plenty of people to buy the kits (even if they make some changes/ add ons) and that will make production and packaging much easier for you. Once you start to get orders going and can buy materials and things like burners more in bulk you'll increase your margins...good luck man! [emoji482]

Per cube correct
 
Oh, and don't forget about the electric brewer and BIAB markets. A bolt on BIAB pulley tower would keep you hopping!

Already have a design for brew’n bag... not finagled yet but almost done. Want to get this out there first. I currently am not looking to sell electric stuff maybe in the future but not at this time

Thanks for the feed back
 
I think it looks cool, but my basic rig would probably require too many cubes to be feasible. I want a 3 tier system with one tier being the floor, so that becomes two tier. The problem is that the lower tier needs to hold a rectangular cooler so it would probably need to be two cubes wide. Something like this:

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I think that would get rather pricey.
 
I think it looks cool, but my basic rig would probably require too many cubes to be feasible. I want a 3 tier system with one tier being the floor, so that becomes two tier. The problem is that the lower tier needs to hold a rectangular cooler so it would probably need to be two cubes wide. Something like this:

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I think that would get rather pricey.

I don’t that would fit in my cubes... if you want I can work up a cost for ya
 
I would like to see longer stick lengths that don't limit projects to cubes as the basic building block. There would be some advantages to having upright sections that were x2 and x3 the standard length for taller projects. I feel this could offer simplified construction with the benefit of greater strength.
 
Is the cube for the boil kettle tall enough so that you can drain into a fermenter? Might add casters for portability.
 
Is the cube for the boil kettle tall enough so that you can drain into a fermenter? Might add casters for portability.

I the cube is 15” tall so it will depend on the height of your fermenter. I was also thinking about making some cubes at 10” and at 5” so that you could stack the height you needed. If you look at the pictures that I posted I believe number 4 has casters... they would be an add on.
 
I've designed and built quite a few machine guards out of 80/20. Great stuff. Plus, they machine everything to length and bore holes, as well as include fasteners for you.

To improve upon that design (for what someone in my shoes would be interested in), I would make it fold up, or tip up to require less square footage for storage.
 
Before I went to eBIAB 2 years ago, i looked at this too - some guy had a video series on youtube about his build w/ 8020 (there are 4 parts i think)
 
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