nobodys finest wrote:

hello forum,

I spend quite some time to search and browse this forum for inspiration and information. And I wan to thank every one for all the great Information about coffee roasting at homeroasters.org !

I am a total newbie, but I am already hooked to coffee roasting. And I am working on my 500g drum roaster build at the moment. After some thoughts about the drum material I decided to use mild steel for the drum, because I was able to get a pipe (168,3mm diameter, 4,5mm wall thickness) and I am able to weld and process the mild steel way easier.

So before I start with the assembling of the drum, one question popped in to my head. I would highly appreciate any comments and thoughts of all you experienced drum roaster builders.

Would you recommend to sand the steel first, than assemble (welding) the vanes and than use some oil for rustproofing? - Which oil would you recommend, so that it is not causing any problems when roasting coffee later on.

Or would you assemble and then sandblast the hole drum?
I am just a bit concerned about the size and if it would be possible to sandblast such a small pipe with all the vanes and the back of the drum attached.

cheers,