Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi all,,
As I have ordered and paid the deposit for an awesome new FSD Neutraliser I reckon it is time to upgrade my boiler!!
I currently use a 50L keg with 2 X 2200w elements but no other accessories...
I am very keen to pimp this keg with a 4" ferrule, a fill port and some kind of drain. Would also like to cut the lip down for aesthetics and ease of use.
Problem is I have no tools and no skill. The steel fabricators want about $400 for the labour and that is just way too much! Can anyone in the Adelaide area come to my rescue??
Happy to pay just need it to be significantly less than the above quote!!

Look on Gumtree for local fabricators, while no help to you there is a boily from my work who advertises his services there.
Not really for our hobby specifically but he is quite good at what he does.
Im sure someone will be doing the same in your area.

Yeah the other one would be Facebook. You are not going to get a shopfront to do what you want for any cheaper, so will need to find someone who works from home.

Don't have any friends who are handy with things like this?

Is $400 for the tig purge welding and cutting the top?
Thats cheap if it is :-B

rumdidlydum wrote:Is $400 for the tig purge welding and cutting the top?
Thats cheap if it is :-B

:text-imwithstupid:
Mine just cost near $450.
4 inch fill and ferrule, 1 inch outlet and a secret something something :cool:
No purging though, got a simple tip from my mate to avoid purging and get rid of the welding marks :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Will start a post when I've got pics

Yeah its called pickeling paste.
You only "need" to back purge a tig weld if it will be unreachable once its all welded.

Very acidic gel type substance that you brush on, idealy when its still a bit warm from welding, leave it for a few mins and the give it a quick wire brush and rinse off with water.
And it will look just like the parent metal.

rumdidlydum wrote:Is $400 for the tig purge welding and cutting the top?
Thats cheap if it is :-B

Really? If that's cheap, it makes macks milk cans attractive. I got charged 100 bucks for fill and still mount, drain and 3 legs. Admittedly it wasn’t purged, but to be honest I reckon you're going overboard if you think you need to. That's a lot of argon!

Just as easy if you don't have pickling paste

10 seconds with the scotch brite pad

Thanks for all the replies.
I know loads of people who can weld .... None can do stainless :angry-banghead:
I get the pricing thing... Their hourly rate is $80 and they have other costs to cover I just can't afford to pay over $400!
Ill keep doing what I'm doing for now... Will follow redux' lead and set up a simple pulley to remove the still for easy cleaning.

Cutting out the holes is the most costly / time consuming....I did mine using a dremel with cutting disks, got the ferrules ect from 5star then got a chap to weld it up for me...he charged me ~$100 all up and that was for 2 4" ferrules.

:oops: oops
Yeap, my $450 included a lot more tig welding for my PC, rc and top/ bottom spacer sections. Sorry.
If they're quoting $400 tell em to get stuffed

If your mates have stick welders and know how to weld, you can just purchase the stainless welding rods and go at it. Welding stainless is not that difficult, and stick welders do a fine job for what we need. I had mine welded with a stick.

Ah ok ... I'll have a chat with them again and see what they say!

My thoughts too Adam007. I was wondering why no one was advocating arc welders. The blokes I work with arc weld stainless all the time and do a bang up job. Surely the ferrules and keg are thick enough for it. I can understand thin stainless use of other welders.
With stainless I reckon cutting the stuffs the biggest pita.

Mate done mine with stick less than 10 mins inc cleaning surfaces no leaks no probs yet to date :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Don't fall for the BS of how hard it is to cut.
The good lord invented plasma cutters for this very reason.
All they need is to cut the hole 2mm smaller than the ferrule weld the ferrule on and then grind the lip back to the ferrule.
You could probably grind it back your self to save a bit of money as well.

If you take it to a boily with half a clue, especially if they are a little lazy, you will get it done quickly.

Scotch brite is good, keep an eye on the parts you clean up with it tho, spots can redevelop.