building pot still

[bundy]

I am after a bit of friendly advice,i was thinking of having a go at building a pot still to fit my 25lt boiler.
1- should i stick to the still spirits one i have
2- would building one be better than the ss one
3 - where do i find plans and instructions
4 -this would find me something to do
5 - would the cost be high
6 -or am i pissing into the wind
Cheers

[MacStill]

I am after a bit of friendly advice,i was thinking of having a go at building a pot still to fit my 25lt boiler.
1- should i stick to the still spirits one i have
2- would building one be better than the ss one
3 - where do i find plans and instructions
4 -this would find me something to do
5 - would the cost be high
6 -or am i pissing into the wind
Cheers

Hi bundy,

1 & 2, I reckon you'd be much happier with a larger copper pot still head than with the little still spirits thing you have, a 50mm column would make for a lot quicker runs than the tiny thing the SS one could do.

3, pot stills are so simple and yet some are so much more complex with the addition of thumpers and so on, there's no real set plans for one really, but if you try searching for "pot still plans" on google images you'll see hundreds of different designs.
I really like this type of design for a pot still.

P3121364.jpg

It's a 500mm length of 50mm into 2 x 90's, then a 50mm to 40mm reducer before the shotgun condenser, the internal of the shotgun is 4 x 8mm tubes that are slightly crimped for turbulence.

4, Yes it would, and not only that, but I think that building your own still helps to broaden your knowledge of the whole distilling process.

5, definately not ;)

6, You might find that buying copper in lengths under 1 meter is hard, and this is where the price starts to get high, but I might be able to help you out there.... perhaps even send you a "kit" that you solder together ;)

Hope that gets you started.

Cheers.

[bundy]

i like the sound of the kit idea, i know i can only buy copper in 1mtr lengths as i tried to buy some before.
will have a think and pm you for more info
cheers Bundy

[MacStill]

I have everything here now that you would need to do this ;)

We just need to sort you out for your boiler connection on your other still to make it interchangeable via a triclamp, like the setup I made for bassb

Cheers.

[MacStill]

There are many cheaper options than the one in that picture that you could build yourself, and probably a lot less fabrication required ;)

You could always build a simple column of say 200 to 300mm long with a single 90 on top, then reduce down to 15mm (1/2inch) for a worm in a bucket setup, probably wouldnt cost you more than $120ish if you hunt around.

Actually if you cut the top and bottom off your ebay still then slide the middle out, you would have about 450mm of 50mm column :D

Something like this is real old school stuff, yet it works as well as anything modern :mrgreen:

Cheers.

[MacStill]

Here ya go bundy, searching my shed today for something I found an old liebig I built ages ago, it's ugly as fuck but it's a ripper, and dont leak..... a bit of sand paper and a file could get it looking shmick!

Couple of bits of copper fittings, some de leaded brass, your ebay column chopped up and your on your way :mrgreen:

pot head.jpg

All you need is the $10 backing nut from tradelink and your in business.......

[bundy]

had a look at ebay still and should be able to unsolder fittings, would get 400mm of 50mm tube.not sure what you mean by backing nut though.

[MacStill]

had a look at ebay still and should be able to unsolder fittings, would get 400mm of 50mm tube.not sure what you mean by backing nut though.

Wouldnt you get more pleasure using a hacksaw? :lol:

The backing nut is the nut brazed to the bottom of your reflux still, for easy change over on your boiler ;)

[bundy]

well still turned up yesterday, after a bit of elbow grease and leaning how to solder over a few weeks this is the end result after a cleaning run,4lt vinegar and 4lt water for 30min when up to temp. i will put a wheat bran wash through tomorrow.
if any one can see a problem please let me know.
you can see the original build a couple of posts back.

[MacStill]

That looks really good mate, cant see any problems there at all ;)

The only thing I can suggest is that the liebig doesnt have to be vertical, you can angle it a fair bit to get your collection point a lot higher, as long as it has some slope down for the distillate to trickle down your in business. you might just need a brace of some sort, I just cut a V in the top of a tomato stake and trim it off to the desired height :)

liebig pic.jpg

Edited to add pic.... place the brace under the bottom hose connection ;)

Cheers.

[rumby]

Very nice gentlemen.

Mcstill you dont any more of those second hand liebigs laying about.

I am thinking a keg with two elements ( I cant distill outside) and have a crack at cutting up lead solder still.

Then run all the stripping runs through my relux still with no packing.

[rumby]

5mins after adding that question, I have the still running, washing machine, tv, I went outside a plugged in the grinder to do some maintence to the chicken coup and I tripped the safety switch, power overload. Will running two elements be even worse, as gas is going to be a problem.

[MacStill]

Very nice gentlemen.

Mcstill you dont any more of those second hand liebigs laying about.

I am thinking a keg with two elements ( I cant distill outside) and have a crack at cutting up lead solder still.

Then run all the stripping runs through my relux still with no packing.

Yeah I've got a nice one here actually, built it for a LM/VM rig that never got picked up, PM me for more details ;)

[rumby]

Mcstill,
Thanks for the new toy to play with, spoke to my brother inlaw last night, he is going to put in a new switchboard and run another circuit under the house so I can run the two elements at once, awesome (only down side, free labour, so xmas is coming, but he will get it down).
Looking forward to getting it up and running over the next weeks.

Bundy what have you insulated your colum with.

[bundy]

the insulation i bought is a heat resistant foam rubber from a firm Actrol parts p/l. comes in a 2mtr length for around $12. they have all sizes you could think of.

[crustyo44]

Hi,
I can't seem to open these jpg pictures. Any secret to opening the pictures. From a novice in distilling and computers.
Regards,
Crusty

[jamjar]

The site had a web attack over Christmas and the site had to be rebuilt, so lost a few pics.
I think they are working on a way to restore them.

Greg

[crustyo44]

Hi Greg,
Great to hear that. I like looking at pictures to see what does what and also what I like to aim for. As a member of several other forums ( non related to consumable beverages) we always get spammers and attacks.
These dickheads achieve nothing but make things more difficult for bona fide members.
Well, Upppm.
Regards,
Jan.