Jan
16

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DIY Countertop Brewing System

Category: Brewing Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

I started brewing beer using kits back before I could purchase beer in the store and got pretty good at it.  I graduated beyond that to brew in a bag setups but about a year and a half ago decided that I wanted to go with a brewing system and my fancy fell to the brew in a conical systems… After a lot of cutting, geometry, and welding… well I still have leaks… obviously my stainless welding on thin sheet leaves a “bit” to be desired.

Nesting stock pots

Nesting stock pots

I was still working to get the holes patched when I saw some stainless steel stock pots on sale at one of our local grocery stores.  Now the cool thing was that the same lid fit all three sizes of pots (12, 16 and 20 quart) and the pots shared the same taper.  That meant the 16 quart pot would nest tightly inside the 20 quart one while leaving a gap at the base – perfect for a heating element.  So the 16 quart pot would make a perfect malt basket within the larger brewpot. For Canadians it was the Superstore where I picked up the pots so all of the Loblaws should have the same ones – no doubt they will be available stateside as well.

With the pots as the basis of the unit I decided that I wanted to be able to put together a functioning weldless automated brew system in a weekend.  Did I succeed, well nearly… I found that the silicon gaskets that came with the weldless fittings wasn’t quite up to snuff – so I ended up using them in conjunction with food grade silicon sealant which needed a few days to set.  But to do it again… well it would take a full day of work and then after waiting a week just to be on the safeside you’d be brewing next weekend. Oh, and apart from using an air powered nibbler with my compressor to create the hole for the element it didn’t take any fancy tools.

How’s the capacity… well I can brew just over 2.5 gallons which allows me to either do half batches or when I do a double run a full 5 gallons.  How does that net out in terms of time?  Well a double batch is roughly a whole day… but seeing as how things are pretty automated the time commitment from the brewer ends up being about one hour total.

Now how are we set in terms of cost… well, excluding the brew pump you’re looking at about $100.

Here’s what you’ll need in terms of components…

  1. STC 2000 temperature controller – available with either a 12 volt DC or 120 volt AC output – I used the latter because I had it but if you are buying one choose the former so that you can operate the relay without an adapter.  Price is about $10
  2.  Relay –
  3. (3) Electrical cords – just pulled some three prong (grounded) ones from my project materials pile
  4. GFI Outlet
  5. 120v 15 amp stainless steel water heating element
  6. Stainless Steel Nut for the water heating element
  7. (1) 1/2″ stainless steel bolt (X”long) and nut
  8. (1) 1/2″ weldless fitting
  9. (2) 1/2″ stainless steel ball valve
  10. (4) 1/2″ stainless steel hose barb
  11. ( X ft) Braided Silicon food grade tube for suction side into pump
  12. (X ft) Silicon food grade tube (pressure side return from pump)
  13. (1) 1/2″ stainless steel pipe cap
  14. (1) tube food grade silicon sealant
  15. (1) roll of teflon tape
  16. Conduit parts for the power boxes and end of the heating element.
  17. Project / electrical boxes for the electrical components

Tools

  1. Corded hand drill
  2. Step drill bits (up to 3/4″ diameter)
  3. Sheet metal nibbler and compressor if necessary
  4. Adjustable wrenches (including two large enough to handle the nuts on the heating element
  5. Screwdrivers, wire cutters, etc.

Installing the heating element

Electric Element and Nut

Your element and the associated nut will look something like this…

 

 

 

 

Marked out ID marked out on pot

 

Use the nut to trace out the inside dimensions of the hole you’ll need on the bottom of the bigger pot – you’ll see about how high up in the next picture.

 

 

 

Drill a pilot hole roughly at the center of the circle you’ve drawn.  Ideally center punch to make starting the drill easier.  Then switch to a step drill to enlarge the hole so that the nibbler can fit into the hole.

 

Step bit on Element hole
Use the nibbler to expand the hole to roughly the correct diameter

 

 

 

Element hole expanded with air nibbler

  

You can either file or use an air die grinder with a grinding stone to finish up the hole to dimension.  Trial fit until the element threads through the hole you’ve just created.

 

 

Air die grinder finishing up the hole

Element installed in the pot – nut on the inside

Here we are with the element and gasket threaded into the pot for test fitting.  When you do the final fit you’ll want to apply food grade silicon sealant on both sides of the fitting

 

 

 

 

Installing weldless fitting – pot outlet

Marking out diameter for weldless fitting hole

You’ll need to go through the same procedure to install the weldless fitting that you used for the element.

 

 

 

 

 

View inside the lower pot – element and exit port installed

 

Here’s the view of the inside pot with the element and the drain installed.

 

 

 

 

In the next installment I’ll cover the steps necessary to wire up (and cover up) the element leads and the rest of the fittings on the boil pot, as well as the steps needed to modify the inner pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jun
17

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The essential power tool – the corded hand drill

Category: machining Tags: , , , , , Leave a Comment

Welcome to “Tool Tuesdays”.  In an environment where everyone seems to have a top ten I thought I’d add my own – but since it’s tools we won’t be stopping at ten.

Without question I think the must have power tool – regardless of how much work you do – is the 3/8″ corded drill.  It’s really a slam dunk given how much use it is likely to find in anyone’s home, and how much effort it will save compared to doing the same job by hand.  At the same time a good unit is low cost – you are looking at less than $50 for a unit that should serve a home shop well for years – and on sale the price might fall to half that!

Now, what exactly do you need to accompany the drill to get the most out of it?

A twist drill bit set - note the reduced shank diameter on the 1/2" bit to fit the 3/8" drill chuck

A twist drill bit set – note the reduced shank diameter on the 1/2″ bit to fit the 3/8″ drill chuck

Well, for starters a set of regular twist drill bits.  Don’t go super discount here – they will just frustrate you.  You don’t need to buy pro grade bits but pretty good quality drill bit sets come on sale at attractive prices fairly frequently – pick one up.  Ideally you’ll be able to get a set with a range of sizes – which generally come with more of the small bits which break more frequently.  If you can only afford a set of bits with one of each size up to 3/8″ or 1/2″ (which if you have a 3/8″ drill will need to have a reduced diameter shank) get a package of 1/8″ drill bits which I find is the best all around pilot drill size.  Remember if you are drilling metal you’ll want to get a can of oil to lubricate and cool the bit while drilling.

A spade bit

A spade bit

Twist drill bits will go up to 1/2″ in a hand drill without issue – larger twist bits are available but those really need a drill press or specialized drill.  Rather if you are working with wood there are a few more styles of drill bit.  Up to nearly 2″ there are spade bits – these are simple and cheap.  If you are drilling where you might hit a nail these are the bits to use.  An added advantage are the extensions available for this style of bit – need to drill through a foot of wood – as needed to be done with the homestead cider press – and this is the bit for you.

If you are doing much finer quality wood work requiring larger holes you’ll probably want to get forstner bits.  These cut around the periphery of the hole and chip out the central section and don’t tend to rip out wood as much as you would with the spade bit.

A hole saw set

A hole saw set

Larger holes in metal or wood can be accomplished with a hole saw.  Instead of cutting out all of the materials as the preceding bits have these only cut out a thin strip around the radius of the cutter.  This is allows you to cut a much bigger hole using less energy.  If you are cutting metal choose a bi-metal set.

While we covered a whole bunch of bits you might not need anything beyond a set of twist drills.  But you will want a set of power driver bits – these are bits with screw heads.  These make putting in and removing screws easy.  Remember you may need to drill a pilot hole for the screw first depending upon what you are doing.  Get a bunch you will find that these tend to wear out, even the really good ones.  Bulk packs are reasonably priced – pick up a set and you’ll love using screws.

A set of power drive bits make installing and removing screws easy

A set of power drive bits make installing and removing screws easy

Finally, there are a bunch of tools that have a shank to fit into the drill chuck including wire brushes and shown here a buffing disk that was just used to polish the stainless steel on the homebuilt stainless wood pizza oven.

Why corded when cordless are available.  Well a few reasons – good cordless units that could compare with a corded one in terms of power are going to be expensive,  cheaper ones just don’t measure up for power or longevity of the batteries.  Plus these drills don’t use much power so you can easily use a light gauge long extension cord for a reasonable price.  As well, if you are going where you’ll only have your vehicle you can easily power these off of an inverter attached to your vehicle battery.

Hands  down you need at least one corded drill along with a twist drill bit set and driver bits in your home.