Saw plans online to make a stir plate its farely simple only question is what to use as the box? Anybody make there own and what did you use for the box? Looking for something that will look nice.
You can go to radioshack and purchase a project box to use as a means to house your stir plate. I recently bought and used one to make a digital temperature controller.
I used a small wooden craft box. You can get them at hobby lobby or michaels. Cost $6-8 if I remember correctly.
Project box from Radio Shack for both of mine.
Cool, Thanks guys I will check out radio shack and see what they have.
Just starting to get into home brewing and all the equipment is getting expensive so trying to save some money on the extra’s.
Worthwhile project for short dough. Might have to give it a shot, as I usually forget to shake my starters…
A stir plate can be a fun project if you can source most of the parts from home. Old computer: Fan and magnets. Then the rest should be found for less than $25.
You can get by with out one. A gallon jug and swirl it every time you walk by works well also.
Project box from Radio Shack here too.
Inside with muffin fan and magnets from an old PC tower:
Pic of first trial run with H2O:
I used an old frisbee, a tuperware container, chopsticks, and a model train controller that I got for $10 on ebay.
It doesn’t look particularly “nice,” but it works!!
that one looks pretty good I think im going to stop by radio shack tomorrow and build one. Im a pc guy so I have extra fans laying around just need magnets, project box, and a regulator for the fan speed.
[quote=“Worts_Worth”]I used an old frisbee, a tuperware container, chopsticks, and a model train controller that I got for $10 on ebay.
It doesn’t look particularly “nice,” but it works!![/quote]
That’s pretty sweet! You should see what happens if you get it up to 88 mph! Watch out 1985!
Just kidding – that’s pretty impressive.
I know that this isn’t very technical – but here’s what I do for a starter. Twelve to 24 hours before I plan on brewing I…
-buy a 3 L bottle of spring water from the grocery store
-pour out a little more than 2/3 of the water (ideally retaining 750 mL of water in the bottle)
-add 3 oz. of DME and the yeast directly into the water bottle
-put the cap back on and shake it up to mix thoroughly
-loosen the cap so that CO2 can escape
-periodically – give it a good shake to encourage yeast fornication.
One day I’ll invest in a stir plate. But in the mean time, my low budget method works well.
I went to the local cigar shop and picked out a stylish old cigar box for $1.50.
A bit more to mine, but here is a couple of pics of one of mine in a project box.
[attachment=1]Stir-1.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]Stir-2.jpg[/attachment]
What are the magnets for? Do you put metal in with the yeast?
Spins the stir bar.
I like that project box Baratone Brewer. Where did you find that one?
Radio Shack. I have scuffed the top plate so that it would not be so slick. I also put rubber feet on mine since I have air vents in the bottom.
As a pc guy, you should have some crashed hard drives lying around. Crack them open and use the magnets inside.
Are homemade stir plates louder than the ones you buy at the store?
