Threaded Pipe for Brew Stand???

[akthor]

Anyone thought of doing this?

I can't weld so I am trying to think of a creative, cheap way to make a stand of some sort.

 

[JuanMoore]

It would work, but unless you have a lot of pipe and fittings already in hand, I doubt it would be very cheap. The cheapest non-weld stand would be wood. The cheapest non-weld non-wood stand idea is the slotted angle iron bolted together like an erector set. A quick search will give you some examples of both build types. Good luck.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/show-me-your-wood-brew-sculpture-rig-73794/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/weldless-brew-stand-174224/

 

[Duckfoot]

I thought about using black iron pipe for this... Then I realized that it wasn't as flexible as Super Strut and probably not as cheap as welding a tubing frame... Granted, if you have access to a lot of it, by all means, let us know how it works out...

 

[badhabit]

You will get to a point where you will be unable to thread the pipes together, just think about how you would thread together any simple single dimention shape let alone a 3D.

 

[akthor]

I think it would be cool and original looking. I built a little stand out of it for my pump controls so I can attest to it would probably not be cheaper than some of the other designs mentioned.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You will get to a point where you will be unable to thread the pipes together, just think about how you would thread together any simple single dimention shape let alone a 3D.

I would think with straight, 45, 90 and t couplers and caps, you could could do anything you could come up with.

 

[BargainFittings]

I would think with straight, 45, 90 and t couplers and caps, you could could do anything you could come up with.

Until you "try" to join the last corner of a square.

 

[TBaGZ]

I would think you are going to get to a point of not being able to tighten into one thing without unscrewing the same piece from something else.

 

[AnOldUR]

Until you "try" to join the last corner of a square.

LH pipe tap and die. :cross:

 

[BrewScout]

Just buy some threaded unions. That way you can tighten up both pieces and then the union to make a ridged connection. I was a pipefitter for 5 years

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

I'm really surprised I don't see more Superstrut stands

 

[arkham_razors]

I think the weight might be a problem?

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

The slotted stuff is pretty light. I think I could build one as light if not lighter than the ones we weld together.

 

[sarsnik]

Yeah I don't think weight is an issue at all. Take a look at some of the shelving units at home depot. They are made with 1 1/4" slotted angle iron and bolted together.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...roduct-2-_-shelving;202808124-_-202251083-_-N

That one for example has a 1200 lb capacity. If your doing 15 gallon batches, you have 15 gallons of wort at 8lb/gal = 120 lbs. An empty keg weights 30 lbs so 90 pounds with keggles. Then the grain is another 50 lbs.

So the weight you want to hold is about 400 lbs for a typical brew. Even if you have all the keggles filled, its still under 700 lbs.


Even if your still concerned, just overbuild your stand (like I did...) I have 8 upright supports for a stand that is 58 inches long. For the sake of comparison, the home depot one has 4 uprights for 60".

 

[Bobby_M]

Superstrut is so expensive that if I were faced with the challenge, I'd buy the mild steel tube and a Harbor Freight MIG.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

Pretty cheap at HomeDepot...
Welder, wire, grinder grinding discs, more grinding discs, paint, clamps, oh crap more grinding discs... dunno, you might pay more in grinding discs if you're a newbie...

 

[mattd2]

I think it would be cool and original looking. I built a little stand out of it for my pump controls so I can attest to it would probably not be cheaper than some of the other designs mentioned.

A small stand for a pump would be alright if you had the pipe and fittings lying around, an actual brewstand I would think it would be cheaper to just buy a cheap arc welder and weld the thing together - or at least what you spend in fittings would probably equal the price of a welder and at the end you have a stand and a welder

 

[mattd2]

The slotted stuff is pretty light. I think I could build one as light if not lighter than the ones we weld together.

But that is just saying that some of the ones on here could hold up a truck

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

My point was a method of building a weldless stand like the op started with. As for a welded stand we ALL know there's only one place to go...

 

[buckley28]

copper pipe and solder the joints. Super easy.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

at the current price of copper????

 

[mattd2]

My point was a method of building a weldless stand like the op started with. As for a welded stand we ALL know there's only one place to go...

Being in NZ I've never heard of "Superstrut" but just check it out and we call it Unistrut. Good stuff, a lot of industrial sparkies use it for cable runs, etc. but it is pretty expensive (at least over here)
Why not just steel SHS/RHS/tube and drill and bolt the thing together? add a few drilled plates to give it a bit more stability.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

As an electrician we used Uni-Strut (brand name). Plumbers use it also.
Was just thinking that there are all types of brackets and gussets made for strut.
Part of me wants to go price it all out... part of me says that if the price is good and I post it, I'm shooting myself in the foot...

 

[jfrizzell]

Anyone thought of doing this?

I can't weld so I am trying to think of a creative, cheap way to make a stand of some sort.

Pick up a flux core MIG welder for $90 at Harbor Freight and teach yourself to weld.

Edit: I understand you said you can't weld and we are discussing alternatives, but I'm throwing that out there. Maybe you think it's too expensive to get a welder or you don't think you can learn. Plenty of people on HBT have learned to weld and built their stand.

 

[JuanMoore]

Part of me wants to go price it all out... part of me says that if the price is good and I post it, I'm shooting myself in the foot...

Don't worry, even buying at wholesale prices and using the springless channel nuts it will still be very pricey. I love supertrut/unistrut and have used it for all sorts of applications, but there are much cheaper alternatives for a brewstand. I do like the ease of configurability though, and it would be great for burner mounts since it would allow you to easily adjust the burners to any height.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

Don't worry, even buying at wholesale prices... I do like the ease of configurability though, and it would be great for burner mounts since it would allow you to easily adjust the burners to any height.

Since this isn't too serious a discussion and if it doesn't offend the OP
I'd like to put in a plug for our new burner mount we are going to be selling.

 

[buckley28]

at the current price of copper????

Yeah my bad misspoke as I was misreading

Using copper is probably the dumbest thing one could do to build a stand. Now if your using it for hard line plumbing attachments within your rig (which is what I thought I was reading) is a nice choice.

For the brew stand, I used and would recommend metal studs. Cheap, light, strong and super easy to build with. I have a thread on my rig build in here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/finally-new-brew-rig-complete-306454/