Mods to the mash tun

[Islandboy85]

I added a bulkhead for my return on my mash tun finally. It's my first weldless bulkhead done. I haven't water tested it yet. The return manifold is part of my original on I made a few years ago. I opted to reuse it versus building the more common h-shaped one so that as I add my grist and stir it up I will have more room. If I brew a big beer I can add four pieces of copper tube into the manifold to raise its discharge level.
I still need to modify my kettle for the whirlpool port, but I'm not sure if I want to install in low in the kettle or high up in the kettle with a copper line ducting the wort to the bottom of the kettle. Since I've only used welded fittings I'm just not fully comfortable with them yet.
I used one of my arbor saws from work. It cuts way cleaner than a step bit and less mess left behind too. The photos of he inside an outside show how lean it cuts. There are no burs. I did knock the edge down just to give the oring a bit more protection.

 

[mpcluever]

Nice

 

[Islandboy85]

I brewed on it yesterday. I didn't even add any short copper pieces to the return manifold, but it performed great with a 30.75# grist bill. The sight glass/thermowell, however would drop the level while the pump was running, so I may need to add some holes to the thermometer guard to allow for more wort to flow through it.