Home made stir plate

[thebuddrik]

How many people have made their own stir plate? I know how it is done, I am just cerious about a few things. Like for instance, how do I get the harddrive magnets off of the the bar that they are glued to? Will they break like normal magnets?
Thanks

[triple-oh_six]

I've made one.

This guy has written a great article, complete with a how-to on harvesting mags.

Eric Beer:

http://onebeer.net/sp_howto.shtml

Prost,
triple-oh_six

[aleguy]

strong magnets are ubiquitous in our society. If you can't get them off a hard drive you could dig one out of an old speaker. should work fine unless you use a subwoofer, in which case you might need to build a really big stir plate and use a five-gallon starter. This might come in handy if you want to brew ten barrels at a time.

[thebuddrik]

Can I find a flat bottom flask (something for yeast starters) and a stir bar in town.
I figured something flat bottom so the stir bar will make the least noise possible.

[aleguy]

most people use a borosilicate flask of either 500 or 1000 ml. I am unaware of anywhere in town to buy them. you might try the ULL bookstore, or school/ teacher supply stores, but I think your best bet is to go online.

[redtail28]

I made one I use two rare earth magnets. There the size of
a watch batteries and are very strong.
My fan motor is 120v and I used a dimmer switch to control the speed. Works good but it take patients to get the stir bar
and magnet going.
[img]http://www.deadyeast.com/phpBB2/userpix/5_IMG_0393_2.jpg


As far as for stir bars I had to order mine from More Beer.

[GuitarLord5000]

Can I find a flat bottom flask (something for yeast starters) and a stir bar in town.
I figured something flat bottom so the stir bar will make the least noise possible.

Until you get a flask, you can just use a flat bottomed drinking (beer) glass. That's what I've been using, and it works fine. It only holds about 1/2 liter though. Still, that's plenty large enough for my 5 gallon batches.

Strong magnets are quite easy to find, as aleguy said. I've got a couple extra neodymium bars here, if you need one.

As for the stirbar...I purchased a couple online, but the shipping cost far exceeded the cost of the stirbar. As it happens, I have an extra one of those also, if you'd like it.


Cheers
Dave

[yeastmeister]

Flasks are nice, but not entirely necessary. Look at the pictures above, and I believe thats a recycled wine jug. I've used those, and also used the gallon jugs that Marcellos sells. The bottoms are a little domed on both of those, but the stir plate seems to be able to handle it (again, look at the pictures above).

[thebuddrik]

i am in the process of making my stir plate so i am not ready yet but when I am ready I will use whatever I got. I just got my fan. tomorrow i will hunt down a rheostat and a transformer. I think that I have the magnets taken care of.

[GuitarLord5000]

Wow...............

[aleguy]

I'm afraid to ask what you're doing with all that hardware. It reminds me of the pictures on the news when they bust someone.

[thebuddrik]

Ha ha, I told my wife the same thing when I set them on the table. I'm just here for the magnets. Don't worry.