Raw Material Question for BrewSculpture

[DouglassBrewer]

I've been doing a lot of research lately about fabricating my own 1-tier, 3 keggle system. As I start designing it (in SketchUp) I was wondering what metal people use for their sculptures and what the dimensions of the bars are. I've seen rectangular and square beams and I think I want to go with square if that narrows it down.

Also where does one buy the metal?

 

[ThatsMyBeer]

I used a 1x2 .090 gage. Tube steel. I could have probably gone with a thinner gage but i wanted beffy.
My foot print is 22" 60"
In the LA area look up Patton steel. I purchased 80' for about $170.00 call ahead for pricing per foot. The more you by the cheaper it is by the foot.

I hope to have some pics of mine ingle tier up soon. I'm still new to this site.

 

[DouglassBrewer]

Oh so you used tube steel? Why that over a bar? Thanks for the Patton suggestion, looking them up right now.

 

[mikelikesit2000]

I made mine out of 2" square tube. I built mine with the goal of expanding to a 1 bbl system eventualy. So I built it on the big side. I have about 8" between vessels.

 

[Ztp]

While this isn't my permanent brewstand, it was originally built for crawfish boils, I went with 1.5" square tubing for legs, with the majority of everything else made out of 2" flat strap. I then used 6" square tubing to house the burners. This was a very cheap build, and took less than three hours to make.

 

[Chrisl77]

I have 1.5 inch x .083 thick square tube on the way for my build. Should have it tomorrow. Cost me just over $80 shipped for 8 72 inch pieces. Got both my banjo burners today going to start the build tomorrow when i get home from work.

 

[Ztp]

I have 1.5 inch x .083 thick square tube on the way for my build. Should have it tomorrow. Cost me just over $80 shipped for 8 72 inch pieces. Got both my banjo burners today going to start the build tomorrow when i get home from work.

If you don't mind me asking where did you purchase your banjo burners? I have been looking for the best deal on them but have found them to be right around $50

 

[DouglassBrewer]

Wow Ztp, that must save you a TON of weight just doing strap. Have you tried it out? I'd just be worried with its strength.

I'm looking at going for something pretty sturdy so maybe 2" or 1.5" square tube.

Has anyone put sheet metal over the tops so that spills don't get down to pumps below?

 

[Chrisl77]

I bought them from here. They sent me an email shortly after i ordered them saying there fulfillment center was out of stock and it would take 5 - 7 days to ship them. I was surprised to see them on my porch when i got home from work today. I ordered them Friday.

 

[DarkBrood]

Talk to your local cold-formed steel manufacturer - there are many around, but they don't generally get a lot of press. CFS is lighter, cheaper, and thinner than tube steel but just as strong when assembled correctly.....and significantly cheaper. Just be sure to pick up a can of zinc spray for your weld seams (or you can actually assemble with self-tapping screws if you have a pneumatic or power driver). I used to design buildings out of CFS and it's hands-down the most cost-effective form of structural-capable steel available. If you stop by job sites where it's being installed via stick-framing (vs. prebuilt panels), there is a good chance that they have scrap pieces in their trash pile that would be big enough for a brew stand. (With this stuff, it's common to have 4-foot-long lengths tossed out - or even bigger pieces that might have been bent or dented!)

 

[Ztp]

Wow Ztp, that must save you a TON of weight just doing strap. Have you tried it out? I'd just be worried with its strength.

I'm looking at going for something pretty sturdy so maybe 2" or 1.5" square tube.

Has anyone put sheet metal over the tops so that spills don't get down to pumps below?

Yes it saved a ton of weight, and I have had a total of 84 lbs of crawfish and over twenty gallons of water on it at one time so I'd say it is more than sturdy enough. I was just sure to do several passes with the MIG welder on all my joints, inside and out. Its not going anywhere. I haven't brewed on it yet because it was left at my dad's house, and I don't really need three burners at one time... yet. But I will be building another one of these pretty soon with bigger burners.

 

[Ztp]

I bought them from here. They sent me an email shortly after i ordered them saying there fulfillment center was out of stock and it would take 5 - 7 days to ship them. I was surprised to see them on my porch when i got home from work today. I ordered them Friday.

That is by far the best deal I have found, thank you for the link.

 

[thepirho]

I went with 14 gauge 1.5" square tube steel with 1" angle iron for keggle supports, each burn section is 2'x'2 with 9" gap between the three sections

For 20 foot of 1" angle, and 80 foot of 1.5" 14 gauge square tube only cost 100 bucks, and I picked it up locally.

here are some pics
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/our-trip-5-10-gallon-batches-266709/

We built it build so we could store our keggles underneath, and then later use 55 gallon drums or larger pots on the stand with out rebuilding it.

 

[DouglassBrewer]

Thanks DarkBrood for the cold vs hot rolled clarification. I did research and found what the difference was (in terms of how it's made) but that is a good explanation of what it means to me as a brewer.

I'm still up in the air whether or not I want to do the welding myself. I took a metal working class in college where we learned oxy/setlin (sp?), stick and wire fed welding, as well as plasma cutting but we didn't get much practice with it. While I would love the pride of doing this myself, I also want it do be a high quality job and would be worried I wouldn't get true 90 degree angles.

Originally I was planning on making it pretty low so I don't have to stand on tiptoe to look in, but I really like the idea of being able to store the keggles under the stand while not in use. I may have to look into that for the future.

Thanks for all the advice guys, planning continues!

 

[DouglassBrewer]

Quick tag on question, how far from the bottom of the keggle should the burner be? I intend on making the bracket with a slot so it can be adjustable a-la Blackheart: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/automated-herms-system-132119/index21.html

Just looking for a range to put it in.

-----------------ADDED QUESTION----------------

I want to have a burner for each keggle, and plan on using propane as a fuel source. Should I just make a manifold out of piping?

 

[DarkBrood]

Quick tag on question, how far from the bottom of the keggle should the burner be? I intend on making the bracket with a slot so it can be adjustable a-la Blackheart: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/automated-herms-system-132119/index21.html

Just looking for a range to put it in.

I want to have a burner for each keggle, and plan on using propane as a fuel source. Should I just make a manifold out of piping?

It really depends on your burner and how hot you want to run it. Ideally, you want to locate it as close as possible without creating hot spots where wort will stick or burn inside your kettle or mlt. Superior heat-distributing bottoms like multiply copper can be located closer. If you have to have your burner further away than you like, you can create a ring or cone to contain and reflect the heat out of sheet metal easily enough.

 

[DouglassBrewer]

This is quickly dissolving into just my random questions about brew sculptures but...

Does anyone see any reason for not making space under one of the burners for my propane tank? That way I can just keep it on the cart and wheel it around together.


---------------EDIT----------------

And if I construct a manifold, will I get any loss of pressure at the furthest burner?

 

[thepirho]

This is quickly dissolving into just my random questions about brew sculptures but...

Does anyone see any reason for not making space under one of the burners for my propane tank? That way I can just keep it on the cart and wheel it around together.


---------------EDIT----------------

And if I construct a manifold, will I get any loss of pressure at the furthest burner?

Simple physics states that the pressure of a gas in a tube is the same pressure at all points along the tube.

What will and usually happens is that output from the propane tank is not high enough for 2 or more burners.

Say tank is 20 psi and each burner runs at 10, if you hooked up a third burner then you would get about 6-7 psi to each one,

My suggestion is that for the mean time get a second propane tank for the burners. Its not to expensive and it can always act as a spare.

 

[DouglassBrewer]

True, but I will probably be running them one at a time, two at once maybe for 5 min at a time to maintain mash temp while heating sparge water.