Drilling Hole in Brew Pot
Adding weldless fittings to a brew pot be it a boil kettle, hot liquor tank or a mash tun can make brew day much easier. After I noticed how much the typical homebrew shop charged for a hole in a pot, I took particular interest in doing it on my own. Here is a basic guide to drilling a hole in a brew pot.
Gather Necessary Equipment
1. Nail Punch Set
2. Drill (corded perferred)
3. Small sized metal drill bit (3/16 inch)
4. Step bits (harbor freight has the best deal on them)
5. Metal file
hole punch and step bit
Measure and Punch
First measure out where you want to put the hole, you can use the pot handles for reference if need be. Once you find the location use a hole punch and a hammer to dent the pot to keep the drill bit from slipping.
line up hole punch and hit with hammer
hole punched and ready for drilling
Drilling the Pilot hole
Drill the pilot hole with a small sized metal drill bit. This is used as a guide for the larger step bit, without it things could get dangerous.
drill pilot hole
Drilling the Hole
Using the step bit, drill the hole to the appropriate size to fit the weldless fittings. Drill slowly step by step and do not apply excessive force.
drill hole in pot for weldless fitting
Smoothing Things Out and Assemble
Use a metal file to smooth down the inside of the hole and remove any hanging burrs.
file off metal burrs
Assemble the weldless fitting and test for leaks.
attach fittings
hot liquor tank with both a ball valve and sight glass
hey there… a couple ?s:
on you HLT, you have SS fittings, whereas on you mashtun, there’s brass. is there an advantage of using one vs. the other? does it matter? I don’t seem 2b able to locate SS ball valves at the hardware store is why I ask. maybe I’m in the wrong section.
you added a sight glass and temp gauge it appears. I’m not too worried about gettin fancy but that sure looks handy. what parts do we look for to complete this task. very interested. thx for the good instruction on your site.
In general brass as an alloy contains a small amount of lead in it, which “may” leach in certain environments. Saying that I think its so minor that it is not anything to worry about. I basically switched to SS for looks and I feel that SS is easier to clean. SS fittings are more expensive then brass fittings and are usually a lot harder to locate. I picked up the SS fittings at a great website called http://www.bargainfittings.com . They have all kinds of different kits for both coolers and kettles.
Love the setup! Getting ready to build my own setup soon. Thanks for the ideas.