Source of stainless perforated sheet in Auck?

[Chris Coutts]

Hi all,

New to RealBeer, so hi everyone :-)

Gearing up to make a false bottom in a SS 50L pot. Needing a piece of stainless perf sheet... anyone know a place in Auck who supplies? About 400x400mm, and about 2.5mm diam holes, at 4mm centres. And 1.5mm thick should do it. Am I being too fussy?

Cheers for any advice

Chris

[Nicholas Jones]

Couple of options. For well priced laser-cutting go to One Stop Cutting Shop in Silverdale, these boys are good, quick and best pricing Ive found in Auckland, I use them near weekly at the mo for work. You however will need a dxf/dwg file to cut from, unless you have CAD ability or know someone who can draw it up, otherwise you'll be paying to have it drawn too. They may do perforated with just a small setup fee however. I do however have the DXF I drew up for the false bottom I made for our setup (3mm slots and about 60% open area from memory, 2.5 would have been better, I cut in 2mm SS plate, gets over 80% efficiency) I would happily pass this on, its to suit a 425x425mm Chinese stock pot

For Perf sheet you could try these guys http://www.punchpanels.co.nz/ , Ive just had a bunch of brackets/hooks made for our fermenters through these guys and they do a good job.

Lasering will almost certainly be more expensive

[Chris Coutts]

Thanks very much for everyone's replies! Epic.

I was just going to hack up a piece of perf sheet, but getting it a slot false bottom lasered sure is tempting. Will do a bit of ringing around.

[Nicholas Jones]

This is mine for a 425mm pot (think they are called 71L on trademe). Just spot-tig'd it on top and tacked the 3 feet together on the underside.. Ran some silicone tube around the perimeter over the edge of the plate which was split along its length to seal the plate to the wall of the mash tun. Sits about 55mm off the bottom, if the pot is domed in the centre you will need to cut the centre feet down a little to suit. See dxf's attached, if anyone wants to use this feel free

[Chris Coutts]

Hardcore! Is that plate laser-cut with slots? Does your tap and pickup enter the pot sidewall under the false bottom?

Yeah, mines a 50L trademe special, with the happy asian chef guy on the side. Yep, domed bottom, so my pickup will have to sit off-centre.

[Nicholas Jones]

You got it, lasered with 3mm slots in 2mm plate. Tap and pickup used to be off to the side under plate however have now made a manifold with 3 evenly spaced pipes coming out of the bottom of the pot then joining and going to a tap on the side.. Complicated, and not really worth the effort for the minimal efficiency gain.. looks cool though. Ive also put fine wire mesh over this now though as was getting the odd bits and pieces passing through and blocking valves that a only barely cracked open. Getting 80% total efficiency, think it works to be 87% mash efficiency.

[Chris Coutts]

Hi, just an update, I got a biggish piece of perf sheet from Sefar in Onehunga. 2mm holes, 1mm thick 304 stainless. I'll have bit spare, if anyone wants to buy it for $30ish. Should be enough for a 400mm diameter false bottom. Drop me a line if interested, I'll have a better idea how much is left after this weekend.

Cheers

Chris

[Daniel Ashman]

Hey Chris can you remember how much this sheet cost you? Did you get it laser cut to size? I want to make a false bottom for my 50L (about 390mm diameter) pot.

[Chris Coutts]

Daniel Ashman, send me a txt on 021 520 149 if you'd like to buy my leftover piece of perf sheet. Should be enough for your 390mm pot. I'll check tonight.