Add a Bung Hole.

[jmac]

Ok. Here's a little no-brainer. I'm sure you pros out there mastered this before moving to your huge stainless steel and oaken casks....

It seems trivial, but I hate removing my primary bucket lids to aerate the first 1/3 sugar break must. Not to come off a too big a baby, but it hurts my fingers. Furthermore, my mycological hobbies have taught me to be a virtual Howard Hughes about the dangers of contamination. Where most ppl see a plain, white plastic, I see a surface teaming with pestulant muck bunnies ready to devour.... You get the picture.

So, take a hole saw and drill out your pail lid to a size that will fit a solid bung stopper. I used a a 1-1/4 inch hole saw, sand papered the high spots and wallah: a hole that makes my power drill aeration tool proud.

My tool inserts into the willing hole, does its deed, then pulls out for a speedy cleaning & storage. It's better than--ok, not everything.

Happy Drilling.

 

[Boatboy24]

My tool inserts into the willing hole, does its deed, then pulls out...

Context is everything.

 

[jmac]

Context is everything.

Wow, when u break it out like that.
"Honest officer, it's a DE-GASSING tool".

 

[wineforfun]

Great idea for those of you that snap your lid on during fermentation but my lid sits loosely on top while in the primary. Just move it off, stir, squeeze, etc. and sit back on bucket.

 

[mainshipfred]

Careful jmac, remember what you told me yesterday about Goldie Locks

 

[Hoxviii]

For those that might not have a hole saw set laying around or maybe has a bung of a slightly different size, take a look at a step drill.

They're cheap and what I'd consider a necessity for any home fermenting endeavor if you're the thinkering type - nothing is better for putting a hole in a thin-wall metal or plastic vessel.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C5O16DI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[sour_grapes]

nothing is better for putting a hole in a thin-wall metal or plastic vessel.

As convenient as a step-drill is, don't you think a hole saw is better for this task?

 

[Hoxviii]

As convenient as a step-drill is, don't you think a hole saw is better for this task?

This gets a resounding "maybe" and a hearty "it depends".

In plastic, whatever makes the hole is the right tool. Honestly, a spade bit or a big twist bit would have been just as appropriate.

Hole saws and step bits both have a place in your toolbox, but for tinkering around a lot with sheetmetal or thin plastic I'd be reaching for the stepdrill more often just because of fewer bit changes, generally cleaner holes, and typically less deburring.

When you get into heavier wall stuff (like a keg), I'd buy the right size hole saw.

If i already had a hole saw set from 5/8 to 1 3/8 on 1/8 increments those would get used more often, but for the infrequency that i have to drill holes that big in metal i just keep a step drill around since the step drill is more versatile for the stuff I'm doing.


So for this particular application, the answer is "whatever you have available is the right tool".

 

[jmac]

..... I'd be reaching for the stepdrill more often just because of fewer bit changes, generally cleaner holes, and typically less deburring".

Yes! As a tinkerer in many things that involve pvc, plastic and sheet metal, I would have a step drill as my wingman. If I had my druthers... and a step drill at the time (mine that goes to 1-1/2 is missing in action) I would used it. The one I drilled on bucket #1 was with a spade. And sure enough, it left a predictable wobble lobe that needed a good sand paper fingering to make a tight easy seal with the stopper. The one on #2 was with a hole saw... It too needed big touch up to even and debur. I am going to harbor freight today and picking up another step drill to add a bung to my newly acquired 2 gal bucket lid. Nice and clean and a one stop for a wide range of hole sizes.

 

[JohnT]

Just as a side bar.. Do you have one of these???

There are all sorts of versions of the bucket-opener. Some cost as low as $8.