"polishing your keg" is more than a clever euphemism

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

If all of you guys want a easy way to do this, then check into greasless compounds. You can select your grits all the way up to 800. You just load up your buffing wheel, and dry it with a hairdryer, and then hit up your keg. You will get a much better surface ready for final polishing this way in 1/2 the time. Follow this up with some white rouge, and your gonna have mirror keg.


I think starting with 120 grit will make more work for you, and more scratches.

It would be really easy on a keg because there are no hard spots to get into really

I have polished a few auto parts out before, so this is where I learned all of this.

 

[Chriso]

You just load up your buffing wheel, and dry it with a hairdryer, and then hit up your keg.

Sorry, could you explain that in a little more detail? I don't understand the process, but really want to do this. Sorry I'm daft.

 

[Bobby_M]

I clarify in the first post that 100grit is way too coarse for most kegs I've seen. I'm convinced that the "fine" gatorgrit finishing pad is a great place to start and it doesn't take long at all to get a nice even finish ready for polishing.

 

[The Pol]

Couldnt I do this to my cornies too? MMMM, NICE

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah you can but I hardly ever see mine.

 

[BierMuncher]

If I do this I'll end up with "pretty" kegs. I don't know if I can have that.

I know that I can't have that.

 

[brrman]

You need to make a "story stick" for your water level. No need to keep it written on your kegs!

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah but then he'd have to start slappin hoes to maintain his street cred. Tagging is easier.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

BM, I continue to be amazed by your ugly junk. Did you spray that thing with adhesive, or just rummage through a stack of kegs to find one with bumper stickers all over it? well done....

 

[user 574]

I'd love to do that to my keggles but I think you'd see all the dents even more in my brew kettle. Do believe mine fell of the budweiser truck at about 80 mph going down I-10.

but I'm wondering how that gator grit would work with calcium build-up on my tiles of my pool with the angle grinder. Hmmm...

 

[BierMuncher]

BM, I continue to be amazed by your ugly junk. Did you spray that thing with adhesive, or just rummage through a stack of kegs to find one with bumper stickers all over it? well done....

It was clean when I found it...but rolling it home 3 1/2 miles probably wasn't a good idea.

 

[tranceamerica]

A plain steel wirebrush embeds particals in the stainless that will rust forever..

+1 on this. keep anything that's been in contact with plain steel away from stainless, or your stainless will start rusting from the plain steel particles. This is true too if you use steel tools (like a steel wire brush).

 

[Nwcw2001]

Yeah but then he'd have to start slappin hoes to maintain his street cred. Tagging is easier.

OMG that is about the funniest thing I have heard/read in ages.

OOPS Bobby made be pee a little!

 

[Loweface]

I'm wondering how that gator grit would work with calcium build-up on my tiles of my pool with the angle grinder. Hmmm...

I know you weren't really serious but I thought I'd share. I once sanded the paint off an entire Motel Swimming pool (9 foot deep end) by myself with a 5 inch disc sander... Took my three days and left work each day looking like a smurf from the blue paint dust... Wouldn't recommend it...

 

[ghart999]

Where can I get this #2 and #6 polishing compound that's being used?

And I just rub some on the polishing pad?

 

[Bobby_M]

It's in Lowes' tool section near the buffing/grinding pads. You spin up the grinder and touch the compound stick to the pad.

 

[niquejim]

You all have tooooooooooooo much time on your hands if you take the time to polish the kegs. I understand a car, but cooking utensils need to be clean, not pretty.
I guess 25 years as a baker has jaded my view.

 

[Nwcw2001]

I understand a car, but cooking utensils need to be clean, not pretty.

Yeah but when was the last time your car made beer for you???

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't HAVE time to spend on my showpiece brewery, I MAKE it. That's what this obsession is all about. Smells like sour grapes around here

 

[conpewter]

What do you guys think about the abrasive ball sort of things from harbor freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96945

I think this could work well for cleaning up a keg if you don't have an angle grinder. It might work even better because of the irregularities of a keg side.

 

[Bobby_M]

It will clean it up but certainly leave a matte finish and take forever on a drill.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Sorry, could you explain that in a little more detail? I don't understand the process, but really want to do this. Sorry I'm daft.

Sorry for the really long delay, but the greasless compound comes in tubes about 1ft long and different grits. You take your buffing wheel (sewn cotton) and spin it on whatever you have to spin it (drill, buffing machine) and then take tube and load the wheel up with compound. This only takes a sec to load the wheel literally.

After the wheel is loaded up you get a hairdryer, and dry the compound on your wheel. Only takes a minute to harden. You now have a nice easy way to sand stuff smoothly via cotton wheel.

The advantage is that it is not overly harsh(when right grit is used) and sands uniformly and gives a great polishing surface. You can achieve this by sanding like normal, but it takes 40x amount of time. If I am going to polish something, this is a staple before actually using a polishing rouge.

The key to polishing metal is assessing what grit to start at, and when your ready to go to the next finer grit.

 

[Chriso]

Thanks very much, makes a lot more sense now. I couldn't figure out what was drying, the cotton or the keg!

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Thanks very much, makes a lot more sense now. I couldn't figure out what was drying, the cotton or the keg!

Here is a good link for them.


http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=435&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=433&iSubCat=435



Caswell has them also.

 

[The Pol]

God is telling me to build a Brutus 10 and to polish my kegs. Why? This thread, and I have stumbled upon (3) converted kegs (bulkheads and thermowells) for $175. I will begin rubbing my kegs when I get home!!

 

[Bobby_M]

I also found this: http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/usca/abrasives.html

However, I just placed an order at Caswell for various buffing wheels and cutting compounds for the last two kegs in my rig. Of course when I get around to it, I'll post what I bought and how well it went.

 

[The Pol]

I am going the Gator Grit and polishing compound route... 3 hours ber keg isnt a huge deal to me really. It is going to take me 12 months to build and scavenge all of the parts I need for my Brutus 10 build anyhow. My wife and I are planning to build a wooden brewing rig, something that is stained and nice enough to place in a semi finished basement at some point. There is one posted here on HBT somewhere, dark stain and laquer finish, and highly polished kegs... that will be HOT.

 

[The Pol]

ANYONE try the GATOR GRIT POLISHING discs? I saw them at Lowes, didnt see any plishing compound... anyone try these? ALSO, is the FINE Gator Grit pad enough to prep the keg for polishing? THANKS!

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, if you read through the earlier part of this thread I show all the pads and compounds I used. The fine pad is a good place to start if your keg is in decent condition. Then you go to the polishing pad and use the #5 compound. Then switch to a fresh pad and use #2 compound. You should get one keg done on two fine pads and two polishing pads.

 

[The Pol]

Where did you find the polishing compound? I looked all over Lowes and saw nothing yesterday, just the pads themselves. THX Also, I have one keg that is a little rougher than the others, should I use the coarse pad, then the fine, then the polishing pads? I will be getting started on my three keggles on Monday.