East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper.

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N8v Whisky
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by N8v Whisky »

Popcorn used a mix of pressurized gas and kerosene (maybe diesel). The hole was used to put the burner in. This heats the mash inside out and reduces your chance of scorching. The Gas would get it to burn and the kerosene made it burn more stable. He sharpened a coon pecker to poke the soot out of the holes when they stopped up. By no means cleaner than propane but cheaper and a little less suspicious and easier to tote in bulk.
You used to see his stills in Maggie Valley at the Mom and Pop motels as decor until he got caught. Either that or copper stealing junkies got em!!
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SmokyMtn
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by SmokyMtn »

This coincides with my suspicion as well. This is an old Knoxville Tn tv program that featured local people and local subjects.

Look at the pictures during the program.
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by The Baker »

Looked it up.

A coon pecker IS what it sounds like!

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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by SmokyMtn »

The Baker wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:48 pm Looked it up.

A coon pecker IS what it sounds like!

Geoff
Coon pecker, what in world are talking about?

This video shows more stills with fire tubes in the middle of the boiler.
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ezlle71
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by ezlle71 »

I’m building a 30 Gallon copper pot. I have som extra 3” copper pipe, I think I am gonna add this design feature for the ability to run on the grain if I feel like it. Wonder if I have electric elements in it too if I would have to remove them when using propane?
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by The Baker »

Look it up on google.

A coon pecker is the penis bone of a raccoon.

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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by Prairiepiss »

Have you ever seen the barbq style Propane deep fryers? Where it uses a brush burner style burner shooting into a 4” square pipe that runs into the fryer turns 90 and another 90 back out and 90 up to a stack. And the oil covers the whole tube. I would think something like that might maximize the heat input if you gonna do it.
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by Prairiepiss »

Something like this. You can see the burner and the stack. The tube just goes in does a 180 and back out.
44BAC06B-3B42-4861-99C1-3C583B9C8D6C.jpeg
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by shadylane »

I've seen pics of the Tennessee stills, but it looks like it wasn't meant for be fired with wood like I thought.
Any ways, I asked an old man that was born into a family run moonshine business.
He said the design was pretty common.
The gasoline burners didn't make hardly any smoke when adjusted right.
And carrying jugs of gas was easier and less suspicious than a truck load of 100pound propane bottles

Said most of the Tennessee stills were made out of galvanized metal.
But some of the better where made out of iron, then coated on the inside with tin.
Said The liquor from the galvanized pots was only fitten to send to the cities.

I kinda wonder if some of the Tennessee stills were made out of tin plate.
That might explain why some were called silver clouds
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by SmokyMtn »

Found this on Craigslist last night
Screenshot_20210413-085817_DuckDuckGo.jpg
Screenshot_20210413-085833_DuckDuckGo.jpg
Screenshot_20210413-085907_DuckDuckGo.jpg
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by ezlle71 »

Cool pics, that round one with the slop arm looks well used or went 10 rounds with Tyson. The mailbox one I'm curious about. The big square one is what I've had described to me as a boxwagon still. Thank you for sharing.
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by SmokyMtn »

I think the mailbox one might be a thumper. It looks like it might have a in and out slip joint. Just a guess though. The square is peculiar. Both stills appear to have the hole. The copper one looks like you can make it out on the right side.

I just find the design interesting and thought I would share. Enjoy
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by SmokyMtn »

Screenshot_20220519-163702_YouTube.jpg
Screenshot_20220519-163755_YouTube.jpg
Screenshot_20220519-163434_YouTube.jpg
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by Worm Food »

Just curious, but these 'gasoline burners' that are referred to, are they anything like the "Arctic-Torch" that is similar to a 'Tiger-torch' except designed to burn 'liquid propane'?

It actually ISN'T liquid propane that is burning, but a coil that the liquid propane is fed through that surrounds the actual flame-port so that the heat of the flame 'boils off' the propane therefore vapourizing it and with the aid of a check-valve, prepare said vapour for combustion?
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Re: East Tennessee Pot Still Design?

Post by Yonder »

“Coon pecker, what in world are talking about“

Raccoons have a bone in their penis. Honest ta God, when I was in college I had to help on a grad student’s thesis about the damned things. Your college dollars at work.
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