Building my first copper still

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

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Truckinbutch
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by Truckinbutch »

DBCFlash wrote:PTFE doesn't melt like other plastics, I've been told. It's composition will break down before it melts. I have put some thought into the joint and I will only glue the section outside of the pot so the hot vapor can't get to the glue joint. If you look up PTFE tube you can find one for a fair price for your fluid transfer.
I just looked at the Everlasting Gasket thread and it looks okay, but I'd need a huge one for my 9 gallon pot. I'll see how things go with my hose gasket and if it's a bust I'll look into making one of those.
I just made 2 17" od x 16" id gaskets for my 15 gallon boiler/cap seal .One for use and one for backup . #1 is going strong after 7 runs without removal .
Only took 84' of 1/2" tape for each one .
I am going to invest in wider tape to wrap faster .
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by corene1 »

+1 on the everlasting gasket.

If you want one that will not wear out . Simply cut a gasket to size from a piece of thin copper sheet and then wrap it with the teflon tape. It won't lose it's shape and every once in a while just put a couple more wraps on it. I have a couple of these that have been around for a year or so and still working well.
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skow69
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by skow69 »

PTFE tubing is so stiff and hard, I've never had any luck getting it to seal anything because it won't conform to the surface flaws. Let us know how you turn out.

I wouldn't bother trying to glue it. Just wrap the joint with tape.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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I will certainly report my level of success/failure. I'll have a few sacrificial runs to evaluate it. Sounds like I might as well go ahead and order up a couple of wide rolls of teflon tape as my back-up plan.
I am really happy that you've all been open about your skepticism of my plan. You've got me thinking of plan-B and plan-C, and I love having ideas rattling around in my head!

This hobby is testing and reviving every corner of my creative brain. Electronics, chemistry, plumbing, culinary, metal working, fabrication, art, thermodynamics and my love of whiskey! I'd have never made it this far without the help of all the people on this board, and I thank you!
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corene1
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Re: Building my first copper still

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DBCFlash wrote:I will certainly report my level of success/failure. I'll have a few sacrificial runs to evaluate it. Sounds like I might as well go ahead and order up a couple of wide rolls of teflon tape as my back-up plan.
I am really happy that you've all been open about your skepticism of my plan. You've got me thinking of plan-B and plan-C, and I love having ideas rattling around in my head!

This hobby is testing and reviving every corner of my creative brain. Electronics, chemistry, plumbing, culinary, metal working, fabrication, art, thermodynamics and my love of whiskey! I'd have never made it this far without the help of all the people on this board, and I thank you!
Heck , some of are on plan XYZ. and still working on it.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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corene1 wrote:
DBCFlash wrote:I will certainly report my level of success/failure. I'll have a few sacrificial runs to evaluate it. Sounds like I might as well go ahead and order up a couple of wide rolls of teflon tape as my back-up plan.
I am really happy that you've all been open about your skepticism of my plan. You've got me thinking of plan-B and plan-C, and I love having ideas rattling around in my head!

This hobby is testing and reviving every corner of my creative brain. Electronics, chemistry, plumbing, culinary, metal working, fabrication, art, thermodynamics and my love of whiskey! I'd have never made it this far without the help of all the people on this board, and I thank you!
Heck , some of are on plan XYZ. and still working on it.
Wait,yall got a plan!!!!! Hell,i was just exploring this lil rabbit hole
Remember not to blow yourself up,you only get to forget once!


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Re: Building my first copper still

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Damn! Just got a call from the fabrication shop and they "can't" weld the stainless nut to the stainless bowl. After sitting on it for two weeks. Guess I'll just have to do it myself. The tradesmen in New England have an uncanny knack for constantly disappointing me. Plumbers who leave leaky connections, cable installers who cut a line from one room to get another to work, mechanics who replace half an engine then discover it's actually something else and now welding fabricators who can't weld two pieces of stainless steel together. And every one of them offers up some gobbledy-gook explanation why they did it wrong, or didn't do it at all. Professionals my ass...
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Found another Fab shop. They said it'll be done Friday or Saturday. If they do I think a quart jar of something magical might find them this summer.
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by Truckinbutch »

corene1 wrote:+1 on the everlasting gasket.

If you want one that will not wear out . Simply cut a gasket to size from a piece of thin copper sheet and then wrap it with the teflon tape. It won't lose it's shape and every once in a while just put a couple more wraps on it. I have a couple of these that have been around for a year or so and still working well.
You are indeed a Goddess ! That answers my problem of moisture invading the cardboard when the still sits idle with moisture pooled against the gasket .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
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Re: Building my first copper still

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DBCFlash wrote:Damn! Just got a call from the fabrication shop and they "can't" weld the stainless nut to the stainless bowl. After sitting on it for two weeks. Guess I'll just have to do it myself. The tradesmen in New England have an uncanny knack for constantly disappointing me. Plumbers who leave leaky connections, cable installers who cut a line from one room to get another to work, mechanics who replace half an engine then discover it's actually something else and now welding fabricators who can't weld two pieces of stainless steel together. And every one of them offers up some gobbledy-gook explanation why they did it wrong, or didn't do it at all. Professionals my ass...
That sucks :cry: Around here our professional welders swear that they can weld anything from a broken heart to the crack of dawn . One claims he has almost perfected a wooden rod for welding up knotholes in pine boards . :moresarcasm:
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
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corene1
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by corene1 »

Truckinbutch wrote:
DBCFlash wrote:Damn! Just got a call from the fabrication shop and they "can't" weld the stainless nut to the stainless bowl. After sitting on it for two weeks. Guess I'll just have to do it myself. The tradesmen in New England have an uncanny knack for constantly disappointing me. Plumbers who leave leaky connections, cable installers who cut a line from one room to get another to work, mechanics who replace half an engine then discover it's actually something else and now welding fabricators who can't weld two pieces of stainless steel together. And every one of them offers up some gobbledy-gook explanation why they did it wrong, or didn't do it at all. Professionals my ass...
That sucks :cry: Around here our professional welders swear that they can weld anything from a broken heart to the crack of dawn . One claims he has almost perfected a wooden rod for welding up knotholes in pine boards . :moresarcasm:
I like that! My dad always said he could weld bubbles to a beer can. Smallest thing I have ever TIG welded by hand is 2 pieces of .030 stainless wire, butt welded together. Some of the new computer assisted setups can do amazing things.. Checkout this laser welder welding a .007 thickness tube to an assembly. Notice the ball point pen in the first picture for reference.
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by jb-texshine »

corene1 wrote:
Truckinbutch wrote:
DBCFlash wrote:Damn! Just got a call from the fabrication shop and they "can't" weld the stainless nut to the stainless bowl. After sitting on it for two weeks. Guess I'll just have to do it myself. The tradesmen in New England have an uncanny knack for constantly disappointing me. Plumbers who leave leaky connections, cable installers who cut a line from one room to get another to work, mechanics who replace half an engine then discover it's actually something else and now welding fabricators who can't weld two pieces of stainless steel together. And every one of them offers up some gobbledy-gook explanation why they did it wrong, or didn't do it at all. Professionals my ass...
That sucks :cry: Around here our professional welders swear that they can weld anything from a broken heart to the crack of dawn . One claims he has almost perfected a wooden rod for welding up knotholes in pine boards . :moresarcasm:
I like that! My dad always said he could weld bubbles to a beer can. Smallest thing I have ever TIG welded by hand is 2 pieces of .030 stainless wire, butt welded together. Some of the new computer assisted setups can do amazing things.. Checkout this laser welder welding a .007 thickness tube to an assembly. Notice the ball point pen in the first picture for reference.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Nine days into my fermentation and I've gone from about 1.096 SG to about 1.01 SG so by my reckoning my wash should be about 11% alcohol. At this point it's still slowly chugging along. I tasted the wash and it seems like most of the sweetness is gone. Tastes like some sort of cheap wine. This is working better than I expected.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Got my PTFE tube in and installed it on my pot. Had to make a jig so I could slit the inside radius of the curved tube, then simply snapped it onto the edge of my pot.
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This sucker's as tight as a nuns shoelaces!
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by jb-texshine »

If that tube dont work out try wrapping the edge of the pot and the lid both,but seperately ,with ptfe plumbers tape.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Got my 220v fan today and swapped the old 110v unit out. Wired it up and now there's a quiet hum and a gentle breeze going across my controller. Happy days!
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Re: Building my first copper still

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My Birdwatchers wash is at 1.000 SG. by my calculations that's 12.3% alcohol. I think it's still going.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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jb-texshine wrote:If that tube dont work out try wrapping the edge of the pot and the lid both,but seperately ,with ptfe plumbers tape.
Yes. I think, this would be the better seal.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Pot lid is still at the fabrication shop. Might be done tomorrow. I'll test it out then and we can see if this plan works like I want it to.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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.998 SG now and seems like it might be done. No change in 24 hours. 12.6%. alcohol. I found a better way to seal my sight glass windows and soldered the last bits or my column.I pressure tested it, found one more little leak and sealed it.
I need to finish my reflux coil which I won't use on this first run, put the clamps on my pot so I can seal the lid and hopefully the Fab shop will be done today. If all these things happen today I might start my cleaning runs tonight.
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by der wo »

Good luck! :thumbup:
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Re: Building my first copper still

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You sound like a kid on Christmas. Ain't it cool? :D :D :D
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Re: Building my first copper still

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skow69 wrote:You sound like a kid on Christmas. Ain't it cool? :D :D :D
I feel like a kid at Christmas! I'm already thinking about my next build...don't tell my wife.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Installed my latches to keep the lid tight against the seal.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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Got my lid back, put it all together and ran a couple of gallons through. I have a couple of leaks to attend to, but those are going to be fixed shortly.
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Re: Building my first copper still

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:thumbup: :thumbup: Lookin good . :clap:
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by city shiner »

That is a good looking still! I'm very interested to see how much fores/heads compression you can get!
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Re: Building my first copper still

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I'm going to try to learn how to drive this thing as a pot still before I attempt to generate any kind of reflux. Gotta learn to crawl before I try to run...
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Re: Building my first copper still

Post by Little Hank »

That looks sweet. Is that Rumpelstiltskin?

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Re: Building my first copper still

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DBCFlash wrote:I'm going to try to learn how to drive this thing as a pot still before I attempt to generate any kind of reflux. Gotta learn to crawl before I try to run...
D'ya know - that's what I did and I was so pleased I never did open the reflux valve ! :oops:

Happy inaugaraition :thumbup:
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