My 4" Flute Build from Scrap Copper Sheet

[MichiganCornhusker]

I have said in the past that pipe is not the only way, you can use copper downspout (usually just crimped and not soldered yet as roofers use lead) or sheet just like you are doing. I made my own 2" pipe with sheet on one of my first setups.

It is more work to make up sheet tubes, at least for me. Soldering up long seams is fraught with peril. One bad spot and it is difficult to fix it without the rest coming apart. That is exactly why I had the lyne arm left over from my pot build. The lyne arm was good, but I couldn't get a leak proof solder joint attaching it to the boiler cap no matter how much I tried. Repurposing that thing for this build has been great.
I would love to do 4" copper pipe, and I might eventually, especially with all the cool sight window hardware available, but this was a cheap way to try to play with a flute to get some experience and work on my copper skills at the same time.

[Brutal]

Nice!!

[woodshed]

They virtually run themselves if you stay out of its and your own way. You'll quickly find where its happiest. Just run it there, stay out the way and it will run great. Don't try to force any temps or any of your own notions. It will tell you what to do. Super easy kept simple like that. A pain in the balls if you try to control defleg temp and other such nonsense.

How true. Looks great MCH

[Johnny6]

With those pretty tapered tubes, looks like a pipe organ pipe! Unique.

[Swedish Pride]

I've been reading this thread a few times, been reading everything flute related i can lay my hands on recently, want to join the band, love the way you re-purpose scrap to something usable.
but you've left us hanging man, where is the finished flute, what RC did you go with?
How's she running, are you a flute man now or reverted to the pot?

[MichiganCornhusker]

Got busy with work and had to put all my toys down for a while.
I've been envious of all the new flutes posted, too, and I hope to get back to this contraption soon.

[Swedish Pride]

hate it when life gets in the way of play

[Halfbaked]

Let me throw a monkey wrench in this for you..... You have that extra length why not fix it where you can put packing in it like marbles or scoria or spp to make some neutrals and remove it when you like. Love the build MCH!

[Scribbler]

Best
Thread
Ever

[MichiganCornhusker]

Let me throw a monkey wrench in this for you..... You have that extra length why not fix it where you can put packing in it like marbles or scoria or spp to make some neutrals and remove it when you like. Love the build MCH!

I like that idea. I have been thinking about coming up with something to do neutrals, but I know next to nothing about that type of still.
The plates in this one are removable, they're just a press-fit into the column. So I could always add some packing below the plates, or even fill the whole think up.

[Swedish Pride]

from what I've read it's recommended to put the packed column above the plates.
Just cut off your homemade reducer, that should suit the bill for a packed section, then just solder a sheet across the bottom of the flute and a 2" coming out of it for keg connection.
"easy"

[Halfbaked]

Or you could leave the plates and add packing below and if you could rig something above add above also. I am not the right person to get advice from on this though.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Baby steps! This is actually a big step for my pot still brain.
I'm gonna make a dephlagamajigger and try to get this thing running as-is first. Then I might explore a packed column above the plates.
Or, I might just find a way to hook it onto my work-in-progress boiler/steamer/thumper 2-keg system if I ever get that together!
Then I can make some whiskey to fill up a barrel that I haven't finished building yet.
After I finish this job that I'm behind on.
A.D.D. is a bitch.

[raketemensch]

Preachin' to the choir, brother. Every time I try to finish a project like any one of those, I

[yakattack]

Roflmao. I lice you guys

[MichiganCornhusker]

Ok, made some progress today on the deflag.
I cut a couple discs of copper, hammered over a slight flange on each, and fitted them to the deflag housing.
I printed out a couple templates for drilling and drilled them out for 1/2" copper pipe.

The copper pipe is about 5/8" O.D., so I drilled out 1/2" holes in the discs and then found a deep well socket that worked perfectly for swedging out the holes.
There was a reduced end on the socket, just barely over 1/2" O.D., and the fat end was barely over 5/*8" O.D.
I drilled a 7/8" hole through a hunk of oak and used it to bash against. By hammering the socket through the holes I got a nice flare on each one to help with the soldering.

By tapping the back side of the flared holes, closing them up just a bit, I was able to fine tune each one to a very nice tight fit on the 1/2" copper tubes.
I also did the same thing to the deflag housing to be able to add my water inlet and outlet fittings.

I still need to get a couple hose fittings for the water hook ups, but then I'll be ready to clean everything and get it soldered up.

[cranky]

Nice to see you making progress again MCH

[Swedish Pride]

yes!
the Ratrod flute build is back on!!!

nice work on the flaring

[MichiganCornhusker]

Deflag all soldered up. No leaks!

[googe]

Good job mate, yay to no leaks

[raketemensch]

Nice work, man. "Ratrod" fits, it looks like it should be mounted on one...

[cranky]

looks good but I hope you are planning on trimming the tubes on the top side down so they are flush.

[yakattack]

looks good but I hope you are planning on trimming the tubes on the top side down so they are flush.

That right there is flute building (or at the very least Delflag building) gold. Not something I would.have thought about until after the fact.

[MichiganCornhusker]

looks good but I hope you are planning on trimming the tubes on the top side down so they are flush.

I was very nervous about soldering the pipes into the discs. I figured if things got too hot, and that side seam of my main 4" "tube" let loose, I wasn't sure I'd be able to recover. Really wanted to soldering to go right the first time.
So I ran the pipes long, so that I could heat up the pipe good and hot without blasting the rest of the assembly with the torch. It worked very well, and all went together with out a leak. So I will sleep better tonight.

Having the pipes flush on the top is to avoid distillate collecting up there and causing smearing, right? I'm thinking about carefully drilling some return holes in the pipes, just above the copper plate to allow for drainage. Do you think that would work?

I could still maybe grind them down, but I sure hate to press my luck with all the joints holding.

I did finish up a cap for the deflag. I still need to add and elbow and a triclamp fitting for my liebig, but getting close!

[Kegg_jam]

I'm totally diggin the looks of that thing!

[yakattack]

Thought.... instead of trimming, pool solder until it's all flush. Suddenly all your splatter has a use after all.

[Brutal]

LOVING the look of this thing! Had no idea this could be built this way. You should sell waterjet cutout copper kits like that one still company does. "The DIY Flute!" Lovin' it man.

On the pooling issue, as long as it can drain I think it would be fine. Mod it a little and then pour water in it. See how it drains and decide if you're done or need to go further. A small amount of pooling isn't the end of the world, I guess.. It just annoys the hell out of me to know its' happening.

[Kegg_jam]

I'd probably take a dremel with a cutoff disk and either buzz off the pipes flush or put some drain slots in like brutal said.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Had no idea this could be built this way.

Me neither. I've just been kind of wingin it from the start, grabbing whatever I had that was handy to keep moving along.
The deflag took on a real Buck Rogers sort of flair as it came together.

I still need to work out a way to keep the dephlag attached. I'm thinking either some draw latches, or just some simple angle iron brackets glued onto the outside of the copper. Whatever it is it won't involve heat, I've already used up this years supply of prayers to the solder gods by getting this far with no leaks!

[cranky]

My thinking is that holes would be OK as long as there are enough or they are large enough that they drain quickly or it could result in some smearing because the first stuff that pools is going to be the fores. I had to use a die grinder and work carefully to cut and grind mine down. I used the fill with solder method on my 3 barrel PC which worked fine. I can understand caution but my thought is it is pretty important to get that to drain properly however it's done.