keggle/ metalurgy/ John Palmer
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:55 pm
I have a funny story I wanted to share with everyone. I recently converted a sanke into a kettle. I was turned down over and over by welders while looking through the yellow pages. So I checked craigslist and saw an ad for a stainless welder. When I called the guy, I told him: "I kind of have an ambiguously legal ownership of the vessel I need welded. Is that a problem?"
"nope."
"great! I'm trying to make an all stainless, electric water heater tank....."
"Oh! Are you a homebrewer?"
"yes!" I replied.
Turns out the guy was a homebrewer, and the guy who does all the stainless work at all the breweries in town! Jackpot! I got to his house and he had drawers of fittings to make keggles. So I felt like I could really trust him to do a great job. As I was wrapping it up, I told him I'd be happy to rub the "blue" off with some oxalic acid afterward. He asked me where I learned about that, and I replied, "Oh from John Palmer. I learned all about different types of stainless and how to re-passivate the chromic layer."
"Well, I'm a stainless welder, and he's wrong. Who are you going to believe, a homebrewer or a stainless welder?"
"uh... John Palmer is a metalurgist," I said.
He did do a hell of a job on the welding, and is a hell of a guy too.
"nope."
"great! I'm trying to make an all stainless, electric water heater tank....."
"Oh! Are you a homebrewer?"
"yes!" I replied.
Turns out the guy was a homebrewer, and the guy who does all the stainless work at all the breweries in town! Jackpot! I got to his house and he had drawers of fittings to make keggles. So I felt like I could really trust him to do a great job. As I was wrapping it up, I told him I'd be happy to rub the "blue" off with some oxalic acid afterward. He asked me where I learned about that, and I replied, "Oh from John Palmer. I learned all about different types of stainless and how to re-passivate the chromic layer."
"Well, I'm a stainless welder, and he's wrong. Who are you going to believe, a homebrewer or a stainless welder?"
"uh... John Palmer is a metalurgist," I said.
He did do a hell of a job on the welding, and is a hell of a guy too.