What are you building right now?

[noremorse1]

Counterflow Chiller. It was surprisingly easy to make. I am about 95% done... just need to pick up some 3/8" sweat to 1/2" hose barb fittings for the copper coil.





I already had all of the tools and stuff to sweat the fittings. I bought extra fittings in case I goofed up and had to buy some cutting fluid for my step bit for the holes in the end caps. It cost about $50. Granted... I did not need to buy solder, flux, torch... etc.

Here is the video I used as my guide:

[Ozwald]

A hop trellis. I got 2 beams up & a temporary cross beam quick-clamped on them. Unfortunately Big Sky country is just that today. Clear bluebird skies & hot as hell. The freshly transplanted hops weren't going to wait for me to finish & were getting extra, extra crispy. I got 6 mounds & only 3 strings running from 1 post with the bines loosely hanging on the strings. Hopefully I got the water on them soon enough. The other 3 might just have to soak it up laying on the ground until tomorrow morning. They're definitely not happy with me, but clear skies, this heat & this altitude are just not friendly today.

They didn't make it

I'm hoping the rhizomes are alright for next year. I'd love it if they shot up new little sprouts this year even if they don't get anywhere, just so I don't have to wait til next May/June to see if they survived.

[mordantly]

A hop trellis. I got 2 beams up & a temporary cross beam quick-clamped on them. Unfortunately Big Sky country is just that today. Clear bluebird skies & hot as hell. The freshly transplanted hops weren't going to wait for me to finish & were getting extra, extra crispy. I got 6 mounds & only 3 strings running from 1 post with the bines loosely hanging on the strings. Hopefully I got the water on them soon enough. The other 3 might just have to soak it up laying on the ground until tomorrow morning. They're definitely not happy with me, but clear skies, this heat & this altitude are just not friendly today.

They didn't make it

I'm hoping the rhizomes are alright for next year. I'd love it if they shot up new little sprouts this year even if they don't get anywhere, just so I don't have to wait til next May/June to see if they survived.

don't feel too bad.. my 4th year hops are most likely all dead.. i forgot to water them for thepast 4 or 5 days and all the bines are gone.. if only the rhizomes can pull through!

[Ozwald]

Made some decent progress on my brewery. It's got a ways to go, but here's what I've got so far. It's a really difficult room to take pictures of, but this is what I've got so far.



This is from inside the house. The room was an add on mudroom of sorts. The poured concrete floor was horrible, varying by ~2" in spots. It's separated from the house by a slider (so I can admire my stainless all the time ) and the door on the far right is the front door to the house. The whole room was painted that ugly pinkish tan. I repainted with a high humidity paint in laboratory white. I still haven't gotten to the trim yet, but that's coming soon. The bottom half of the walls is going to be covered with FRP, I just wasn't sure how tall at the time, so I went down quite a ways more than I needed to.



Inside the brewery, to the right of the slider was a hole in the floor. It leads to a basement window as this used to be the outside wall. In fact the horizontal strip just above the sloppy wiring (courtesy of my step dad) is the edge of the old window sill. The junction box on the left used to be the only plug in there, but since we ran 220 on a separate circuit we moved the 110 closer to the brewstand area as well. Both taps are cold water, the right one will be dedicated to the R.O. system & the left is directly above the floor drain for cleaning. While my step dad put in the wiring, I was busy on building a new floor. Since the concrete was so uneven & I wanted to stay under the slider sill, it was tight. And shimmed. Lots and lots of shims. No two were the same height.



Shim central & the natural gas line.



Starting the first of 2 (maybe even a 3rd) layer of flooring in. I went with multiple layers of thinner ply instead of 1 thicker one for dampening.



Just finished the wall this morning. Hides the old sill & the wiring/water. It's 4' high, same as the FRP that's going over top of it & continuing around the sides of the room. I've also got half of the floor drain hole completed. It's rough cut with a coping saw & finished with a rasp & file for a tight fit. I'm still tweaking that section, but as soon as it's laid in for good I'll finish that up & install the drain.



I also edged it with a 1x4 piece of red oak which will rise above the floor just slightly helping to contain minor spills. It doesn't need to be too high since the floor has a slight slope towards the drain, but it's a nice precaution. The piece of pine is just there to protect it from the door until I decide which route to go for a door catch.

[JakeAndBake]

So while I'm waiting for some money to come in so I can buy the rest of the supplies for my fermenter/keggerator combo, I built a cart for my brewing closet out of some scrap I had laying around. I don't have any pictures with all the supplies on it just yet, but hopefully I'll get one later today since my vacation is starting.





Album of construction is here.

The only thing I'm wondering is whether or not to do any finishing on it, since it's only holding kettles and a plastic drawer with chemicals and brewing supplies in it, and anything not hot-side is going to be sanitized anyways....honestly I kinda dig the raw wood, though I might give it a sanding to cut down on splinters.

[Ozwald]

Nice shelf! Over engineer much? I know how the scrap builds go for sure, I'm halfway through my scrap pallet compost bin & I could probably park a small car on it when I'm done. It would look pretty good with a nice sanding & maybe even a stain but I'd agree completely unnecessary. I would recommend a coat or 3 of spray poly though.

[spiderwrangler]

honestly I kinda dig the raw wood

I always prefer raw wood, in all aspects of life. Er... Yeah. Painting wood on something like this would be a crime. Same goes for overly dark stains and finishes, I want to be able to see the grain. I saw sand it and treat with something to protect it but leave the natural look.

[Ozwald]

honestly I kinda dig the raw wood

I always prefer raw wood, in all aspects of life. Er... Yeah. Painting wood on something like this would be a crime. Same goes for overly dark stains and finishes, I want to be able to see the grain. I saw sand it and treat with something to protect it but leave the natural look.

Ditto. I even avoid stains at all costs, unless it's cheap pine & not always then. Shellac is nice, but it's alcohol soluble & application can be a little tricky until you get some experience with it. Wax is a little better for beginners, but you're just signing up for a lifetime of touch ups. The biggest complaint with poly is that it can leave a 'plastic' look, but that's typically with the high gloss (which I've never liked anyways) & there's a nice work around for it. The matte & semi-gloss both have additives to it which will build up if you're adding multiple layers (also contributing to a hazy plastic look). If you do every coat except the last one with the pure, high gloss stuff & end with the desired finish, the last coat will take the gloss out & not have the build up like multiple coats of matte for example. For something like this, though, I'd just pick up a spray can of semi-gloss & spray it down a couple times for a nice protective coat & be done with it.