Polishing stainless kegs

[bulp]

G, day blokes i am currently getting my gear together for some ag action and i'm trying to get my legally bought kegs to a mirror finish within reason. Just wondering what anyone has used to achieve this, i, ve gone down the sandpaper route eg 80, 100, 320 ,400 , 800 grit with reasonable success but some of the kegs you see on the internet has left we weak at the knees with keg envy i know its a bit of a wank but hey i'm a wanker any help would be appreciated thanks guys.

[warra48]

Try a flap wheel in a drill.

[drsmurto]

Ask Trough Lolly - he has the shiniest kegs i have seen!

[Kevnlis]

He hand polishes with brass-o I think

[lethaldog]

Does it make your beer taste better? i wouldnt say my kegs are the shiniest i have ever seen but the still dispense mighty fine beer, ppl put down racking and bulk priming etc. as just time consuming lady da, well i can tell ya that this fits that category and i wont be in to much of a hurry to polish my kegs

[drsmurto]

ah, but Lethal, these arent dispensing kegs but are the mash tun/HLT and/or kettle. I cant find the link to TL's Ag setup but you need sunnies too look at them.

[lethaldog]

Ahh ok ( penny drops ) fair enough then.

[Kevnlis]

I believe this is the thread you remember:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/i ... =19920&hl=

I have it bookmarked... beer porn at it's finest!

[rwh]

A friend of mine recommended Autosol and I was bloody impressed. It polished up the pipes on my motorbike to a mirror-like finish, and I'd imagine it'd do the same for any steel brewing items as well.

[Timmsy]

Yep autosol would be the go but rather then using a cloth use allfoil. A mate that use to detail harleys recomended that and it works a treat

[Kevnlis]

Alfoil? How do you do that?

[Timmsy]

rip it off, scruch it up and put autosol on it and rub it in like using a rag

[Kevnlis]

Thats an interesting idea, I would think the scrunched up alfoil would scratch the surface though? I will have a go and see how it comes up

[rwh]

Aluminium is much softer than steel, so I doubt you'd have a problem.

[Timmsy]

when you put pressure on the foil it squashes up more and then you get a nice flat surface. It works well i used it on my Harley pipes when i had 1 and mates do it. Mate wouldnt suggest it if it scratched as he wouldnt want us damaging to chrome on the pipes.

Also i was thinking maybe a car polisher. Like the grinder type on the kegs with a decent polish?

[Kevnlis]

I realise aluminium is quite a bit softer than steel, just am not sure you would get a good mirrored finish without leaving scratches.

Yeah like the electric orbital car polishers, though it might be hard to do a curved surface with one of those? They tend to get away from you even on a flat surface!

[bulp]

Thanks for the quick responses guys will give the alfoil a go i only just bought some autosol the other day too. cheers!

[Trough Lolly]

It's a labour of love!!



Basically, I laid the kegs on their sides between two carpentry horses and worked my way down through about four grades of sandpaper with the Makita Finishing Sander. I worked "across" the kegs, sanding each hoop of the keg with the same grade of paper. So, you need to sand each keg about 4-5 times in order to get a really shiny finish - and make sure that you sand in the same direction each time - don't "cross sand" them or you'll be at it forever!

As for my 8 corny kegs, well they were in pretty ordinary shape and I just used a large soft cloth and some autosol (brasso took too long) after lifting the stickers off with a stanley knife blade. It was a PITA to make them clean but they look noice in the fridge, except for the odd ding in the bottom of a couple of them - but they all hold pressure so that's not an issue!

...I told you I was a "beer tragic"!!

Cheers,
TL

[lethaldog]

Thats an interesting idea, I would think the scrunched up alfoil would scratch the surface though? I will have a go and see how it comes up

His mate details Harleys, I reckon he would probably know what he is talking about

[bulp]

I've just had a crack at my kegs, first i gave them a bit of a touch with one of those rolock buffing pads (sought of like a plastic scourer) then hit it with the autosol and alfoil and i have to say it came up brilliant just like a mirror with no evidence of scratching. i was stoked ! very happy. Now the only problem is finding the time to complete it thanks for the tip Timmsy.
p.s i thought i'd better say that previously i had hand sanded them with 80,240,360,400 and 800 sandpaper. i think i have a problem.