Another Crazy Idea (wood boiler lid)

[jmc91199]

One material that never gets spoken about, at least in the context of still building, is wood. No i haven't been sampling too much. I have a 15 gallon copper boiler. Just bought it on ebay. turns out that the lid is made of tin. I was told it was copper but underneath a layer of rust and dust i found tin. So now i have a boiler with no lid. Here is the question. can i make a lid out of oak? it would be a hell of a lot easier to fabricate a lid from solid oak than from copper sheet. Next question, will the alcohol vapor leach out poisions from the wood or just cause some wierd off tastes.

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

Go with the copper or stainless. The wood will only become laden with foreshots and the other nasties, and you will never be able to really clean it.

[jmc91199]

Great point.

[speedfreaksteve]

That's a shame! A 15 gallon boiler would be amazing. Although I would hate to see how long it would take to distill a 12-13 gallon wash!

[OzarkWhiskey]

I can run (2) 6 gallon washes in about 3 to 3.5 hours

My boiler is 8 gallon, I run 6 gallon wash in about 1 to 1.5 hours

[Uncle Remus]

With my pot still I can usually knock off a 50-55 litre wash inside of 6 hours.

JMC if you got a 15 gallon copper boiler, I would definitly spend the money and take the time to fabricate a lid out of copper. It's really easy to work with if you anneal it.

[speedfreaksteve]

With my pot still I can usually knock off a 50-55 litre wash inside of 6 hours.

JMC if you got a 15 gallon copper boiler, I would definitly spend the money and take the time to fabricate a lid out of copper. It's really easy to work with if you anneal it.

If you weren't using propane and 3" column then I bet it would take all day and night to do a batch!

[Uncle Remus]

If you weren't using propane and 3" column then I bet it would take all day and night to do a batch!

Yup go big or go home. You ain't seen nothin' yet wait till you see Layla!

[jmc91199]

I get the annealing part since that would make the copper soft and easy to work. Once the piece is fabricated how do you harden it again or do you need to?

How big is too big on a pot still. For instance a 4" X 18" column would be great for striping runs but would it work well for spirit runs? I can easily get 75% with my current set up.

[Rocky_Creek]

There are still a few partial wooden stills in the rum areas, they used to be more common. Wood has been used in southern stills many times, sometimes in the body sometimes as an old barrel for the head.

[Uncle Remus]

I get the annealing part since that would make the copper soft and easy to work. Once the piece is fabricated how do you harden it again or do you need to?

One you work it a bit it will work harden, if you need to work it more you have to get it red hot and quench it again.

[Mech Eng]

I think the wood will get moldy and nasty over time - stick with copper.

Maybe think of using more then one column for that beast?