Keg Polishing

[Janitor47]

Maintaining something isn't as hard as the initial polish, but you have to keep up on it, and that's where the never dull and stuff comes in.

I think after my build is all finished and polished and photographed, I'll try a brush finish on everything. I like the look also, and the upkeep is 0, which kind of fits my lifestyle.

[PsychDoc]

Woe to you, moonshiners, For you clean the outside of the keg and of the copper, but inside they are full of wash and mash. "You blind Bootlegger, first clean the inside of the still and of the parrot, so that the outside of it may become clean also. "Woe to you, rum runners and swill makers! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.…

I couldn't help myself...

But seriously, the copper I get, but the keg is going to be wrapped in insulation or blackened by a fire. Isn't it? But it looks good. If a guy wants to polish, then polish. It will give you something to do while you wait for the yeast to do its thing.

[Truckinbutch]

Never saw no pay in rubbin on a hunk of metal when I could be stillin or rubbin on my lady .

[Janitor47]

You must not be good at it then, TB

[TxRed]

I know I'm late on jumping in on this, but I found wet sanding the keg with 600 first helped when I polished it with the buffer to get more of a mirrored look.

[Janitor47]

Woe to you, moonshiners, For you clean the outside of the keg and of the copper, but inside they are full of wash and mash. "You blind Bootlegger, first clean the inside of the still and of the parrot, so that the outside of it may become clean also. "Woe to you, rum runners and swill makers! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.…

I couldn't help myself...

This was awesome.

[1965 wite]

i am in the process right now of polishing my kegs. I will not spend a ton of time on it as i am sort of on the fence about polishing it in the first place. What i did was used chemical paint stripper to remove all paints and stickers. I then used sanding sponges of two different grits. course and then fine. I would say the course was about 150 and the fine was about 220 grit. I then sanded the whole thing with 400 grit. sanding around the keg in the same direction to give it a uniform brushed look. Then i used a 4" buffer kit from Harbor Cheese with the white compound to polish. I would estimtate i have about 5 hours into the whole job. its not mirror like but looks way nicer. Problem now is everybody that sees it sitting in the corner notices it! While it does nothing for the likker i like polishing things and it just looks cool. Now i need to polish my pony keg thumper. gonna build a rolling cabinet with a hinged table top to conceal the whole setup. I would like to build drawers to hold all the different equipment. I post a pic when its all done.

[BigSwede]

I'm into aesthetics, while others are into pure function. There's nothing wrong with a still with solder blobs running down the column and old Budweiser stickers on the keg, because that still will produce the exact same product as one all gleaming so that you need sunglasses. It is 100% up to the individual.

That said, if one decides to polish, the good news is that subsequent touching up of the polish will be 1,000% easier than starting from scratch. It is a fact of metallurgy that a fine surface finish (shiny) has a surface area exposed to oxygen that is magnitudes less than stock. This means it'll oxidize less, and slower. And when you want to buff her back up, it's a lot easier than starting from scratch.

What I like to do is finish/polish each individual piece in a multi-piece rig as it is completed. Less work that way, you aren't buffing for 20 hours on a giant completed still.

And it doesn't hurt to throw a garbage bag over the rig after use and tie a cord at the bottom, keeps oxygen (and snooping eyes) away.

Again, it's up to the individual. Some guys like a factory toyota, others like chrome and lacquer and shine.

[MountainWilliam Bill]

Really depends how shiny you want it, but a good all-around cleaning product is Barkeeper's Friend. Makes my kegs look pretty-darn good, not really high sheen, but decent. Get the powder and a scrubby pad for most cleaning.