After 7 years of lugging kettles full of hot wort up and down a flight of stairs, I’m thinking about building a three-tier gravity-fed sculpture over the next year. I’ve thought about doing this before, but my limitations have always been: (1) not being very mechanically inclined; and (2) not being able to weld or not knowing someone who can weld.
Well, my next door neighbor is very mechanically inclined (and a very nice guy) and I’m confident that he either knows how to weld or would know someone who does, probably on the cheap.
Anyway, this is sort of long introduction to a few questions I have:
Are welders able to build a sculpture without a detailed CAD drawing?
What sort of details does a welder need to build the sculpture?
I’ve only just started looking into building a sculpture, so I’m sure I’ll have other questions along the way. I would be grateful for any suggestions! In particular, it would be helpful to know what sort of materials I should procure for building the sculpture frame.
My experience with both questions has been “depends on the welder”.
I would hand draw a sketch to start with including general dimensions of your vessels. Take a few pictures of examples with you and take it to welder and ask what else they need. Every welder I know will help you with the details, if they are interested in the project and have the time.
You’ll need a basic design. Try researching online or getting some pointers from local homebrewers and/or local homebrew shop. You can try to simulate the Blichmann toptier design as a starting point.
For most a detailed CAD drawing is not needed. But a they will need a good idea of what you want - that can be communicated through drawings, dimensions, pictures, talking, etc.
For materials - Box tubing and angle iron are the two common materials I see them built from. They both come in varying dimensions, wall thicknesses, and alloys. Most of those decisions are based on your budget.
Why not build it out of wood? Wood is much easier to work with and is cheaper than welding a steel one. I have a 3-tier wooden gravity fed system, it works great.
I’ve thought about this, Tom. I’m sure I could made a great sculpture with wood, but I sort of like the challenge of using steel. Also, I would think the steel structure would offer a more long-term durability. Here in Minnesota, where the winters can be brutal and the summers hot and humid, a wooden structure may become unstable over time. I could be overthinking this (which I frequently do), but I’ve made the decision to go with steel. Also, I can get angle iron pretty cheaply in Minneapolis.
Why not use SteelWorks pieces for your sculpture? I built one out of that 2-3 years ago and it’s still working away. When I first built it I was using 5 gal coolers, then moved up to 10 gal… Last November I moved to 20 gal B.Boilermakers and it is still sturdy enough for that.
I did the same thing. Although mine is technically a 2-tier since my burner is seperate. I made mine out of 4x4’s and notch cut for the 2x4 cross members. It is solid. The one down side is it is more flamable than metal ;D
It could depend on how mobile the OP would like his stand to be and/or how elaborate he may want it to be. Lots of factors will come into play but generally a metal stand is a bit lighter and more portable. I tend to over build with wood so everything ends up weighing a ton. I’m much more likely to be more conservative with metal. There are so many options available that it is really comes down to what you want your build to be.
Have fun with it no matter how you decide to build it!
Lowes and Home Despot have this type of material. Just bolt it together per your specifications. Also, you can always easily modify or dismantle the structure (if necessary)- which would be a challenge with a welded rig. This would be my route.
Yesterday, I discovered Google Sketchup, to which I may now be addicted. Here is a mock up. The rings in the upper right are going to be heat shields for the hurricane burners.
Remeber measure all of your equipment( or any equipment you might buy or change :)) to make shelf heigths .Once welded you’re committed. Another thing to consider on the top sides and bottom sides is to reverse the angle so it faces up then pots kind of lock in. If you use a cooler you could make a slight angle on middle shelf (wish I thought of this a couple years ago). Good luck on the build.
Not sure why the images don’t appear in the post. When I created the post they appeared… Anyway the brewstation I built also is also where I store my brewing equipment… It has wheels on it so when I am ready to brew I wheel it out into the middle of the garage. I store all of my equipment on it - even the propane tank. When I’m done I wheel it back into it’s corner and hope the wife doesn’t hit it when she pulls into the garage (which she’s threatened to do many times).
I will definitely take actual measurements of my equipment. But one nice thing about Sketchup is that you can scale your drawing in actual units of measurement.
I’m definitely going to use the stand for storage as well as brewing. I’ll also be adding casters to my design so I can roll it out of the garage. Really, the trickiest thing will be making space in a one-stall garage!
I would definitely put casters under it. Even if you don’t move it often you will need to move it. For another $80-$90 mobility is more than worth it. IMHO
