Simplest (?) Keggle Cutting Jig

[SanMarzano]

here is my Jig
20 min to cut 3 kegs

 

[vinylicious]

After borrowing a 10 gal. kettle for my first two batches, it was time to make my Keggle. All this after I got an extract kit for Xmas...I am hooked!

Finally got around to cutting the keg last night. Figured I would post my version of the angle grinder jig. I picked up a Task Force Angle Grinder at Lowe's for $20 on clearance. Luckily it had a thread on top for the handle.

Jig is comprised of 5/16" threaded rod, 1 1/4" PVC pipe and 1 1/4" PVC coupler with some nuts to hold to the threaded rod in place. All in this cost about $6 and was well worth it.









I went slowly and let the weight of the tool do the work. Only took about 10 minutes and I have a nice 11/7/8" hole. Now all I need is my weldless fittings from Bobby and I am ready to put this to work.

 

[evandena]

I used this, but I extended the inner PVC to the bottom of the keg. Worked like a charm.

 

[KYB]

Eh, all this seems unnecessary. I just used the guard as a guide against the lip of the keg and went around it. Perfect circle.

 

[vinylicious]

I figured for the 5 minutes it took to set the jig up it was worth it to have a secure attachment to work with a tool that i had no prior experience using. Plus now, if/when I cut up any other kegs, everything is uniform.

 

[passedpawn]

Eh, all this seems unnecessary. I just used the guard as a guide against the lip of the keg and went around it. Perfect circle.

I cut 3 kegs for a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago.

Here's one I cut for him with the jig. Guiding on the rim would not have ended up in a nice circle (note the dent in the rim). His other two were in better condition tho.

 

[D-MOTITAN]

Eh, all this seems unnecessary. I just used the guard as a guide against the lip of the keg and went around it. Perfect circle.

I used a lid from one of the SWMBO pots with a black marker. Used the grinder with a cut off wheel.......ta da

 

[kevink]

Eh, all this seems unnecessary. I just used the guard as a guide against the lip of the keg and went around it. Perfect circle.

Never knew anyone who didn't take the guard off a grinder before even plugging it in for the first time. Funny.

Define "perfect."

 

[SGFBeerBuzz]

yeah, i pressed the ball the other night on my anheiser-busch keg a buddy gave me and what did i get? a face-full-o-beer. yucko.

Lay it on its side first. This should prevent the fountain of old nasty beer in your face.

 

[Quadrupled]

Passedpawn, or other DIYers, what thickness disc do you use for this? The grinder I bought came with a 1/4 inch thick metal cutting disc, but I expect that many of you may have used a thinner (1/8 inch?) thick disc.

Also, did you use any "metal cutting disc", or are there special discs for stainless steel (if so, I haven't found any yet)?

Thanks

 

[pickles]

You need to use the thinner disc. Any metal cutting abrasive disc will work. I'd buy a couple if you have more than one cut to make.

 

[passedpawn]

Passedpawn, or other DIYers, what thickness disc do you use for this?

.045". I use up one of these disks per keg. Lowe's or HD.

 

[Quadrupled]

Excellent, thanks for the info!

 

[uncleben113]

I'm finally cutting my keg today and I'm so glad I found this thread. The jig was really easy to make and I'm about to head out there to test it out. I think mine is going to cut a little less than 12 inches at the current set up so I might adjust it a little bit.

Here are a few pictures of my set up currently:

I had some extra space inside the top hole so I stuck a piece of 1 inch PVC down into it to help stabilize it. My 1 inch piece is actually resting on the bottom.

Here goes nothing!

 

[dutchoven]

.045". I use up one of these disks per keg. Lowe's or HD.

IMO the Dewalt XP discs are worth the extra few bucks ... I find they cut much smoother than the cheapy discs from HF and the like.

 

[uncleben113]

Here's my finished product. Worked like a charm. I could only get an 11 inch max diameter since my blade guard stuck out so far but that will do just fine. I'll have a hinged false bottom in there that I think will work perfectly.

I used the same blade as previously mentioned and it worked great

It left some pretty jagged edges that I'm going to polish off shortly.

Thanks for the idea! You saved me a lot of time and headache

 

[bmbigda]

I did this last night and can't believe how easy it was. Thanks for posting.

I did run into a snag, or maybe I wasn't doing something correctly. I bought the suggest 1-1/4" pvc coupler. It wouldn't fit inside the hole unless I removed the spear. Problem is - I could not get the spear out. I've taken them out a couple times before in the past, but this very old keg would not cooperate.

I ended up using a 1" coupler, breaking off the 2 retention tabs on the spear, and wrapping the 1" coupler a few times with duct tape to get a snug fit.

 

[barryfine]

Thank you posting this jig! I used it earlier today and it worked perfectly!! I found that it helped to use a little oil on the pvc so it would slide better against the keg. Here are my results:

Part way though

Cut through, but still needs to be finished.

After a few minutes with sanding flap wheel:

 

[kevink]

Barry,
That's a nice, big hole! Does it fit a particular size lid?

 

[barryfine]

Barry,
That's a nice, big hole! Does it fit a particular size lid?

Thanks! This was the size the jig wanted to cut it at so I just went with it. This is going to be a boil kettle so I didn't bother trying to match the hole with a lid.

 

[passedpawn]

Nice Barry. That's a home run there.

 

[gifty74]

A buddy and I took it one step further and had a piece of Delrin machined to fit in the hole almost perfectly (slip fit with some Pam spray). We also got a piece of M8 threaded rod which fits the holes for the handle in the Skil angle grinder. We used some washers and nuts on either side of the Delrin piece, and a nut to hold the rod snug in the angle grinder. This worked so good it's not even funny. A bit more elaborate, but we feel was worth the extra time. We had the piece machined for free at work, and the M8 rod was $7. Free nuts and washers and we're getting off pretty cheap. We also got some super sweet lids from Warezdirect. Stainless and real heavy duty. We measured them up and cut our hole just under 12". The lid fits perfectly. The jig is so smooth and accurate we had very round holes cut with little clean up work. Pics and a youtube video below...

 

[passedpawn]

Nice! That is a CLEAN hole. Great video too.

 

[Crosley623]

I'm sorry, bit I just don't understand the obsession with all of these jigs. I just just out a keg with a jigsaw and it came out great. All I had to do is take. A piece of sandpaper and smooth out the edges but it was definitely much cleaner than a grinder could ever get it.
Just a thought before people head out and buy a grinder just for this reason.

 

[dutchoven]

Obsession = a nice, precise opening. There's definitely a million different ways to cut a keg ...

 

[passedpawn]

I'm sorry, bit I just don't understand the obsession with all of these jigs. I just just out a keg with a jigsaw and it came out great. All I had to do is take. A piece of sandpaper and smooth out the edges but it was definitely much cleaner than a grinder could ever get it.
Just a thought before people head out and buy a grinder just for this reason.

Pictures? I have trouble believing a jigsaw could make a cleaner hole than a grinder. Are you saying your hole was "muchg cleaner" than the one above?

 

[kevink]

If you can wield the jigsaw there's no reason at all that you could not make a nice hole. A lot of people, though, have no skill at all and would end up with nasty hole. You could make a perfect hole with a drill, a few 1/8" drill bits, and a file if you had enough time!

 

[nate456789]

My jig for cutting tops off.
Like slicing butter. Takes about a minute to do a top.

 

[kevink]

We kill a lot of kegs around here. lol.

 

[dutchoven]

We kill a lot of kegs around here. lol.

Not killing ... We bring them to life ...