bundy wrote: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.