Bokakob 2" mini-still column

[duracell]

Another question, I built my coil this evening. It's 6" long double helix using 1/4" copper. Did a test and the flow rate is around 1.6L / min. Is this sufficient?

[Pooyan]

That flowrate will do xoltri, a minimum flow of 1L / min. is required, with the 1,6L / min. you are safe...
If i do a stripping run with my bok the flowrate lies mostly around 0,4L / min. using tapwater.
Glad to hear it worked out with the valve...

[duracell]

I'm glad my coil has a good bit of headroom. When I was coiling it the tube flattened more than I would've liked but I figured I'd continue on and see how it turned out anyway.

[knightt]

My New Still!

Before I start I want to think this community for such great info. Building this still would have been completely impossible without you! Thank you again, and for such great information up here.

So here we go. This is my second attempt at building a still. First attempt was a pot still and I tried to do it on a budget. cut some corners and the still does not wok. Can't get it to seal. I figure its a write off. $200 bucks down the drain.

This time I figure I would build a bok. Followed he plans loosely (they were loose plans to begin with)

DSCF6076.jpg

I went for a keg as the boiler. I found a 1500 watt 110V element to place inside the keg. Drilled a 1 1/4 inch hole in the outside to fit the burner through. I have the 1" copper female on order and it should arrive this Thursday. For the electrical controls, I priced a 1500w dimmer at $170 dollars..... So I ended up cannibalizing an old fridge and taking the "dimmer" for one of the elements and mounting it int a box. I also kept the light that tells you when the element is on So, it lights up when the boiler is on!

I did something slightly unconventional and made a slate face plate to mount the electrical into. It looks great and will look even better after I hone the edges and seal it. I was not ale to use use a regular electrical box because there was no enough room to mount all the hardware. I ended up using a stove box where there is more room. I wanted to use a outside plastic box, but was concerned about the thickness not allowing the copper female to catch the threads inside the keg. I hope the "dimmer" ends up working. I tested it a little but have not done a real run with it yet. It appears to work well, even though it was designed for 220volts. I just hope the temp will go low enough. When drilling the 1 1/4" hole through the electrical box, I took care to choose a place that had minimal punch outs so that the gasket would have something to seal against. It limited the places where I could place it, but it ended up working very well.

I used the triclamp to attach the still to the keg. Really good idea. It was actually much cheaper than all the hardware for copper threads down here. ($24 for the male of the 2" copper alone) I had never soldered stainless to copper before and purchased a mapp set to do it. What a mistake. After 4 attempts and using up all my silver solder I tried again with propane. Worked like a charm. I think the heat was igniting the flux too quickly and then the solder would not take. Perhaps I need "high temp" acid flux or something, but it did not work at all. Big waste of $60 bucks. + probably $10 of silver solder. Just use propane. even on the 2" no big deal. Real easy, while, perhaps a little harder than copper to copper, but still easy

I also made the "mistake" of ordering a "short" furrule. My still is a little off square because of it. It did not fit the 2" copper as well as it did in the video I watched here on the site. It was a little loose, but tight enough to make a solder joint. I will order the "long" furrule from now on. Considering the price of the units, in the future I would replace all the copper threading with triclamps. It would be cheaper and the triclamps are so much nicer. no Teflon tape to worry about and no worry of any kind of leaks. I ordered the teflon gasket to go along with the triclamp. The guy said that teflon was not necessary except in highly corrosive environments. I read somewhere in these forums that only teflon should be used but really doubt the accuracy of this statement. Why not food grade EPDM or Silicone? Temp wise they are both ok. Both approved for food grade applications. http://www.stpats.com/gindex.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow says teflon is overkill for beer or wine making. Anyhow. moving on. Price was 30cents difference. Why not teflon? It took a while to source the triclamps and parts. Ended up purchasing them from http://www.stainlessprocess.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. They had it shipped to me and I got it in a couple of days!

Keg I got from the beer store (Canada) Just went in and asked for an empty keg. The guy called me when there was a 58L returned. I payed the $50 deposit fee and was off with the keg! Removing the hardware out of the keg was a bit of an ordeal. I had no idea how to do it and jammed screwdrivers into it to try to turn it. Sprayed beer everywhere.... For thouse of you who want to know, turn the keg on its side, use a screwdriver to release the pressure. Then find a small slot screwdriver, there is a slip of metal that holds the inside hardware in place. Pry it out until you can get a pair if pliers on it and pull the metal ring out. The hardware will now just come out. You can even re-insert it later if you like

The coils are double helix coils. They measure 6.5 long and sit 8" into the still. It was my first attempt as making one of these. I think I made he coils a little tight. I pulled them out a little, but at first they were all touching. There is aprox 15' of tube in the coil. I purchased 20' of the stuff. The rest of it sits on the outside of the still with very little left over. As soon as I get my scrubs, I plan on stuffing the 1" hole in the middle with scrubs. If I were to do it again, I would have started with 1 1/4" pole or 1 1/2" pole. The copper tubing "flattens" down to max 1/8" so, there would have been plenty of space, then I would be able to fit more copper scrubs in the middle. This should work just fine though.

DSCF6086.jpg

There is a 1/4" hole in the to of the test cap for breathing; even though it is not soldered on. I soldered the cold in onto the alc out pipe as a secondary cooling. It means that in order to remove the cooling coils from the rest of the still, there is one of 3 compression fitting that needs to be loosened. I could not find quick connect fitting for 1/4" as that would have been ideal. I attached 1/4 " hoses onto the bottom of the water ins and outs with a hose thread adapter on the water in. I think I will get a hose connector to standard faucet converter so I can easy use the still in the kitchen (or any bathroom etc.)

The Still stands 59 1/2" tall + 24" height of the keg. The Reflux chamber is 50" and 46" of that could be filled with scrubs. I am wondering if it would be worth while soldering a little cross hair of copper wire across the bottom of the reflux chamber. I am hesitant if I will keep all my scrubs or if they will fall out

I used 3/8 " pipe for the alc out spout and 1/4 for everything else. I noted that not all 1/4" OD has the same ID. (see picture) the thermometer fits very nicely in the smaller ID and is very loose in the larger ID. So, I used the smaller ID for the thermometer holder and the larger ID for everything else. I had a 1/4" valve sitting around from my last attempt at building a still, so I installed it on the cold in tube. I know its not necessary, but heard one person say they like it and eah, I had the valve sitting there, so why not?

I specifically made the dimensions of the keg so the alc out spout would align with a large vessel on a kitchen counter. I wanted minimal space between the bottom of the spout and large collection vessel. One of my oversights was that my cord from my thermometer is not long enough to allow the digital base to sit on the counter. I would need to drop the height a min of 3-4" in order for it to work. Its space that a triclamp instead of expensive copper threading would have afforded me. I don't know what the smart solution to my issue is now, but oah well, it could just dangle, or put a bucket up side down on the counter or some thing to get an elevated surface.

DSCF6074.jpg

I have my first wash started. Sitting in the pail in the pic.

Still have to fasten the element into the keg, Might do some more prettying of the outside of the still. I used some heavy sand paper and made scratches. I also have excess solder drips from my many attempts to solder the stainless (when I didn't know what I was doing) Sealing the face plate would be nice, honing the edges to make it round and we are all set. It would have been much easier to just get a blank face plate and drilled holes into it instead of using slate... Obviously. Done some good internal cleaning, but still have to do water, vinager, alc cleaning run.

I also plan on building a case for it all. It would be nice to have a place to hold some teflon tape for the copper threads, the extra teflon gasket I ordered, thermometer, and all the parts for the still.

Any questions please ask.


View Album Of Still Lots of pics here of things I have talked about along with may close up shots.

[W.S.C.beachman]

I'm getting gitty!!! I will be starting my Bok in the next couple weeks....hopefully!!! I was looking for needle valves and this is what I came across at Lows.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_73313-104-LFA14 ... le%2Bvalve" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Do you think this will work? My issue is that it says "Polyethelene" I really like the needle valve Xoltri bought, but it looks like it is no longer available and the next one up is like $60 plus. LOL

[axle1960]

I'm getting gitty!!! I will be starting my Bok in the next couple weeks....hopefully!!! I was looking for needle valves and this is what I came across at Lows.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_73313-104-LFA14 ... le%2Bvalve" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Do you think this will work? My issue is that it says "Polyethelene" I really like the needle valve Xoltri bought, but it looks like it is no longer available and the next one up is like $60 plus. LOL

The polyethelene they are talking about would be the "plastic" line that this valve was designed to hook up to. You can just see the little piece that slips in the tube to stop it from being crushed by the ferrel went the nut is tightened down. As long as the ferrel will slip over your copper tube, it will work and you don't need the little insert.

Axle

[Kiwi-lembic]

beautiful work ..lovely still ...well done ..it seams a legend this unit

[W.S.C.beachman]

Thanks Axle,
Yah that's what I will use then, looks like I better get started on the rest of the condenser. I have 3/8 copper tubing that needs coiled and put in the slats to direct my condensation to the needle valve and back down the center of the packing.

[HeadCase]

Hey All, I was looking at the templates that Pikluk posted in the OP and found them to be a little too small for the 2" or 1.5" that was shown. Doing research I found the Wiki had another template for the 2" that had a few other details listed. The templates are pretty much the same but I found the Wiki provided ones to be a bit more informative.

So with the 2" I rescaled and resaved the pdf as a resize. So there is the original (for 2") and the resize (for now 1.5"). The Resize still has 2" written in the text but is printable to be at the size of 1.5".

I had to pull the original into Acrobat and print scale to 77% to make the dimensions work. There is a major difference though, the gap between the slant plates has also shrunk by 77% so you may need to fidget with it a bit, however is is still between 0.25" and 0.75" which is the typical range that people are putting their gaps at.

Original:

BokaTemplate_rev.pdf

Resized (Rescaled to 77% of original):

BokaTemplate_1.5-Resize.pdf

My reasons for this? I simply needed a 1.5" template and the one provided didn't fit properly. And I liked the other template vs the OP templates.

[stilly_bugger]

Every time I see those copper threaded unions I get jealous. Just can't find them here in Oz

I know this was mentioned ages ago, and I'm not sure if someone has already replied with this answer or not (from memory they haven't), but here's a 2" brass equivalent that is readily available in Australia:

adaptor.jpg

adaptor2.jpg

From memory the male adaptor cost $11AUD retail and the female $15AUD (Aug '11).

[knightt]

I live with the consequences of using these threadings. Using 2 stainless ferrules, a triclamp and a tefflon gasket is a much slicker way to go. Faster to undo, no tools required for tightening and releasing, better chance of making a positive seal, position the pipes in any of the 360degrees (rather than the two needing to stop where the threading does). No repacing tape when re-threading. Parts become interchangeable. Make a 2' or 8' column, or have a separate column un-packed and ready to interchange. or split the pipe into 2 sections and only use half of it sometimes. Or pack them with different items. The cost is also comparable (I think a little cheaper in my case).

You can also solder it all together. No welding or brazing needed. They are harder to find, but can be ordered of ebay. I get mine from http://www.stainlessprocess.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow which is a local company but do ship. Surely every area in the world hads a need for food processing, so there is bound to be one in your area as well.

First time I did it I ordered "short" ferrules, which turned out to be a mistake as there was a very small amount of play which when I soldered it all together was slightly noticeable over the 5' of pipe. The "long" ferrule would have made for a much straighter connection, so I order long from now on.

Stainless is harder to solder than say copper to copper. I found that its a breeze if you get it very clean (no finger prints) and make sure your flux does not ignite before you are established flow. This for me meant using propane rather than mapp gas, so the high temps of mapp do not ignite the flux.

Just got myself outfitted with brazing gear (mapp gas, brazing rods and brazing flux) It costs much more to outfit yourself with brazing ($200 for the brazing rods alone, compared with $20 for high quality silver solder) but the rods are 15% silver which is much more silver and the final product is stronger. Not that I have had any issues with my soldered joints.

For me, ferrules over threading.

[troubadeer]

Do you have any idea what purity you're getting? It's the primary factor that is holding me back from trying it

[troubadeer]

Hey,
Congrats on the still. On your collector plates, why did you have that piece sticking out? It looks like some sort of drip edge?

Any idea on the purity you get out? I'm going to attempt mine

Thanks

[Prairiepiss]

You mite go check out the wiki page for the boka. It covers the build pretty good.
http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Boka_Refl ... w_To_Build" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Braz]

Do you have any idea what purity you're getting? It's the primary factor that is holding me back from trying it

Depending on how you run it, a Boka slant plate will give you 93-95%.

[wolfpak382usa]

i've been reading this post and it is probably one of the best for somebody that's about to build a boka. I just had some copper given to me today and am about to attempt my own boka. My question is, what about a 3" boka ? I haven't heard any comments on a 3" build. Are there any advantages or disadvantages? Should the dimensions be up sized ? (distance between the plates, output tubing size, etc.) I was given pieces of 3" and 2" in various lengths. Here's what I have, any suggesttions? (2" or 3" build ?) I have enough that I thought about making 1 column 46" for reflux and 1 column 16" for pot mode.

3" copper I have----- a piece 30" long, 2 pieces 16" long, 1 piece about 10" long. I also have the same in 2".

[Coaster]

@ wolfpak382usa,

Suggest reviewing the ‘Some Still Drawings’ thread located in the Research and Theory sub-forum. That thread provides diagrams and dimension information for Boka Reflux Still builds.

Regards,
Coaster

[wolfpak382usa]

Already read it. I have read through many threads and so far haven't found anything on any of them about a 3" boka. I've even done many searches but it brings up all kinds of subjects that don't even pertain to 3" boka. Maybe I'm just not using the search engine right. Just thought maybe somebody on here might remember seeing a thread on the subject.

[rad14701]

Already read it. I have read through many threads and so far haven't found anything on any of them about a 3" boka.

I know for a fact that they exist...

[wolfpak382usa]

I did finally find one that hawke had on here. It did answer a couple of my questions but i still have one more. I'll keep looking though, i'll eventually find it. That has to be one of the worst search engines though, really.
I was waiting on your response also rad, new you would, i know how you like to see the newbies struggle on here...lol

[rad14701]

I did finally find one that hawke had on here. It did answer a couple of my questions but i still have one more. I'll keep looking though, i'll eventually find it. That has to be one of the worst search engines though, really.
I was waiting on your response also rad, new you would, i know how you like to see the newbies struggle on here...lol

So you figure I, or someone, should just do the searching and spoonfeed you the links...??? That doesn't generally happen here unless someone has a pretty good feeling they know where to look and have the time to burn...

Here's how I can help... Up in the header there is a Forum Google Search feature... It works better than the search engine that comes with phpBB... And I even gave you the link... See, here you thought I was just a smartass but I still helped you just the same...

[Coaster]

@ wolfpak382usa,

Sorry to have to disagree with you but if you CLOSELY look at those drawings in the ‘Some Still Drawings’ thread that I referenced in my Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:21PM posting in this thread you will notice that the drawings do in fact have diagrams and dimensional information for both 2” and 3” Boka Reflux Still builds. I used those drawings when I built my 3” LM/VM Boka Reflux Still and did not have any problems with those drawings.

Regards,
Coaster

[Lynx_Gen]

hey all, i'd just like to point out, not sure if its the same here, as the stickied version of this build over in the new distillers reading lounge

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13598" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

That one,
But Im not sure the link to the template is right..? is it supposed to be a 1/4" gap between plates or wasnt it made bigger?

I remember when i made mine i found out after that the gap shoulda been bigger than what i had, cuz I'd had an old template or something???

I was just browsing around and such and came across that thread and the link to the templates and figured id should get the up-2-date ones since i stumbled across em, for future referances.. lol

anyways,

L8rs, and happy hobbying!

(And im jealous.. guess im just gona have to keep practicing till i make one all nice n smexy like yours! )

EDIT: and yes I know this is kinda reviving a dead thread that hasnt been posted in for a long while, but I thought it was important enough to warrent.. *Cringe*

[rad14701]

Lynx_Gen, you are correct... The new specifications for air gaps between plates are a 3/4" for 2" columns and 1" for 3" columns... This helps eliminate a drastic increase in vapor speed as well as helping eliminate choking and flooding...

[Lynx_Gen]

is it possible to get the link changed to the updated template? or at least have a note put in there kinda thing?

lol..

I mean I know now, live n learn, but it would just kinda be not good to let ppl keep downloading the bad template with the wrong dimensions on it.. lol

[rad14701]

is it possible to get the link changed to the updated template? or at least have a note put in there kinda thing?

Well, he did state to go larger in the first post of that topic...

I didn't follow the 1/4" between plates, I gave it more like 3/4".

However, once I track down the location of the newer templates here in the forums I'll change the download link accordingly - or at least add it as an alternate with a note...

EDIT: To say that there is a revised template, HERE, in this very topic for 2"...

[Lynx_Gen]

Purfect

when i built mine, i just didnt know that there was an alternate template.. I had read through so many different builds and stuff..
i didnt find out till after..

anyways, she works okay, just cleaned her out tonight!

[whitey71]

Great work you may have inspired me to build instead of buy.For me soldering fittings to pipe is no big deal but soldering those slanted plates and small tubing is confusing me. Any help is appreciated. If its already been covered please point me there. Thanks

[yamastill]

Nice unit. The baffle with the notch in it, its that the upper or the lower one?

just received my packing today.got one pound of copper mesh , only made
32" of packing with it, will need more .
i want to fill it to about 2" below the bottom plate.
playing with that right now steady at 94% about 400ml/h from low wine ~50%.

test cap are about 10$ cheaper then a regular end cap lot thiner too,it fits over a 2" I.D. copper pipe,
but since it was only to hold the coil at the right height.
the 1/4" hole its for safety its a vent hole to prevent pressure built up.

[yamastill]

So have parts and pieces gathering up. One question I have is the plates inside, what is the correct spacing and how much opening do I need to leave at the end for a 2" column?