My question is should the hole i have drilled for the welder allow the ferrule to just go in snug or like i have done so far here? Wanted to check before go and get a bigger hole saw.
For my drain plug 1/2 npt plug I plan on going just big enough to fit in so its snug and having welder go right around. Any input would be very helpful. Thanks
If that is the hole that your element is going to go through just make sure the element can make it through the hole you drilled. If it does then I think you could go either way.... Of course this is coming from the guy who just fu**ed up his boiler with a 4 inch ferrule... but that's OK...the welder is going to make something nice for me out of 2 kegs!!!
rgreen2002 wrote:If that is the hole that your element is going to go through just make sure the element can make it through the hole you drilled. If it does then I think you could go either way.... Of course this is coming from the guy who just fu**ed up his boiler with a 4 inch ferrule... but that's OK...the welder is going to make something nice for me out of 2 kegs!!!
Damn that sucks man. Cant wait to see what you got up your sleeves.
My question is should the hole i have drilled for the welder allow the ferrule to just go in snug or like i have done so far here? Wanted to check before go and get a bigger hole saw.
For my drain plug 1/2 npt plug I plan on going just big enough to fit in so its snug and having welder go right around. Any input would be very helpful. Thanks
Realize this is quite an old thread, but I'm wondering what you went with here. I'm about to solder some ferrules to my keg and was wondering if the ferrule sits on top of the keg wall or snugly inside the hole.
If you use a hole saw, I prefer the hole to be slightly under size so the ferrule slaps right up against the keg.
Lately I've just been tracing the exterior of my ferrules using a Sharpie marker. I use my angle grinder to chop a crude hole then I use my die grinder to finish it up, but I still leave the hole smaller than the ID of the ferrule. After welding, I use the die grinder again to buzz the hole to the same ID of the ferrule. Sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Die grinders work great for this stuff.
If I did this quite often, I'd just get a decent carbide hole saw. Stainless really has a tendency to dull the hell out of relatively inexpensive hole saws so I don't bother with them anymore.
For me personally, it depends. For smaller ferrules, when I have a larger hole on the top of the keg that I can get my torch inside of and I can work through (6”+), I make the hole match the OD of the ferrule and insert the ferrule through the keg wall. That way I can weld outside and inside for a sanitary weld.
When I am welding larger ferrules, where I can weld both inside and outside of the ferrule ( 4” and larger) I often cut the hole smaller than the ID of the ferrule and I weld both outside and inside of the ferrule from the top, using the torch to knock down the excess keg wall in the inside seam.
I just drill a hole with a step bit. 1.5tc inner diameter is 1.375. so drill a 1.375 hole and sand/grind/machine the keg radius into the edge of the ferrule. At least that's how I've been doing them. It's not dealing with any kind of structural load, so it just needs to seal. I tried a carbide hole saw once, but I prefer a cheap harbor freight step bit and some oil for lube.
