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Drilling into Steel
I really want to install a spout on my hot liquor kettle and boil kettle and I am thinking of just taking my Dealt to them...
What kind of bit do I need to drill a clean hole and not F- up the kettle? Do I need to weld the seals? Any great tactic to doing this?
Thanks
Sean
I'm assuming your kettles are made of stainless steele. You have two options in adding a spigot to your kettles. Welded and Weldless. Welding your spigots in requires a TIG welder or it can be done with a MIG welder, either way it's a dicey operation doing it and not burning through the thin metal of your kettles. I would suggest weldless fittings if you can't weld the fittings yourself or find a good welding friend to do it for you. I like to use a hole saw bit to cut my holes, they make closer tolerance holes and don't mangle the sheet metal like a large diam. bit would. You could always just step it up a size until you get the diam. you want. Go to www.morebeer.com for a look at welded and weldless fittings for your kettles.
As a machinist let me offer one bit of advice that will help in he drilling of Stainless steel. Use plenty of cutting fluid. Granted the SS is thin but SS tends to heat up fast when machining it and can work harden. Work hardening is the increase in hardness of a metal induced, deliberately or accidentally, by hammering, rolling, drawing, or other physical processes.
You will have to do a very thorough job of cleaning up to make sure there are no traces of the cutting fluid but it is well worth the time to make sure you don't work harden it as well as saving the cutting tool, either a set of regular drills or a hole saw.
Yea, you might think about using something like cooking oil for your cutting fluid. Something that if for whatever reason it ends up getting left behind a little won't be as bad for you and your beer. Stepping up the hole is also a good idea. I've found I actually like the weldless connections. It gives me the ability to really clean stuff.
DT
From another machinist, don't forget to drill at a low speed. If using a hand drill DO NOT drill full speed (rpm) you will ruin the bit or hole saw. Me I would use a hole saw at a slow rpm. Good luck!
hole saw works good ive done it on my sankey kegs
I use a step drill bit on my SS kegs.
I drill slow and pause a bit half way through to prevent overheating.
I don't use an lubricant though.
You can use a bit specifically for metal drilling. Use a low speed drill. I build transit busses at work and we drill into stainless steel frames. If you try to drill at high speed it burns up the bit and it dulls extremly fast. Go slow, and use some muscle behind it but don't bend the bit if it's a small bit. You can use a lubrucant but it's most important ot drill slow. We use Edge at work, a lubricant for drilling metal, helps keep the bit from overheating but again the most important part in drilling into stainless steel is to drill at a low speed.
DC
Use a hole saw!!
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