Now that I'm happily fermenting in buckets, I'm obviously thinking about how I can tweak them. I wouldn't want to leave well enough alone!
I find one of the bigger downsides are the lids. They're a pain to get off the bucket (mine are anyway), you can't see what's going on in there. They don't always seal. etc., etc. So I had been thinking about replacing the lids with something easier/better. I looked at the Gamma lids, like they have on the Vittles Vaults, those seemed pretty good but they would also be a pain to get off for cleaning. Then I had the idea of just using a clear piece of acrylic (or similar) with a gasket. I wanted something rigid enough to tighten down and compress a soft gasket. I was able to find some 12x12x1/2 thick polycarbonate on ebay for less than $15 each. I didn't think I'd get something so thick for that price. It appears they sell a lot of cut offs from PC glazings on ebay, so smaller PC pieces are actually pretty cheap.
Anywho, the PC is very rigid so it will only need a couple of hold down points, maybe 4, and another nice thing about 1/2" PC is that you can drill and tap it. I'll probably put a couple of 1/2" NPT fittings through the lid for various connections. Maybe set it up for pressurized transfers.
Also, my thinking for the long run is to go to stainless stock pots for fermenters. These lids would fit exactly on the Update International 20qt stock pots I had in mind to use. Bonus! I may even be able to carbonate in them (and add a cooling jacket). I found someone on ebay selling almost exactly what I was planning to do, except for use as a vacuum chamber for degassing silicones:
https://www.ebay.com...=item3aa277fdb9
Same stock pot and everything. Weird.