This will raise a few shrieks but the bottom of the water channel includes a silicone gasket. However, this is covered in water, and should never come into contact with product. The ONLY reason for this is to enable enough pressure to build up to run a thumper. This is a TEMPORARY MEASURE. The final design will use a 4" or 5" triclover or flanged connector to the pot as a semi permanent connector, for attaching a taper to a 2" tri clover that will be the normal disconnection point.The Starting Point
This is the water seal section to the boiler. Cone shaped inner section to divert condensate away from the water seal. Mates up to 2" tube. It is a bit ugly but I was playing around with construction techniques. I have since found that you can buy copper jam funnels that are an excelent alternative if you don't want to make one. It sits on top of this inner pot.
That in turn sits inside this outer boiler.
This is how it is attached to the boiler. The three stainless turnbuckles were intended to hold down what ever is attached, to maintain a good seal and also to enable enough pressure to built up to run the thumper without blowing out the water seal. I don't think that will be a problem as the rig is quite heavy, BUT they have turned out to be a really easy way to get the offset pipework stabilised. REALLY EASY. I would recomend it to anyone using an off centred design that tends to lean to one side.
I am actually planning to use a thumper but the same tapered arm and condenser shown below could be connected directly to the boiler. I have some extra bits on order to make up an extra section of tube that will let me couple the tapered lynn directly to the boiler without the extra fiddly bits. For now I am using slip couplings, but once finalised these will be replaced with tri clamps or possibly bolted flanges.
Thumper Lynn arm and what will be the thumper.
Lynn arm and condenser to put on the thumper.
This Liebig condenser is this design. I have not put on the external coil yet, to provide the third cold surface, as it may not be needed. The blanked off coolant tubes where it would be connected are installed just in case.
It is essentialy a Liebig inside a shell design, with a vapour path down the centre of the inner Liebig and also around the outside to make most efficient use of all the cold surfaces. Using an outer T one size up with reducing couplings made the assembly a bit easier. It is a fiddle though.
My thumper will be too small for 2" in and out (that was the plan), so the input side will be reduced to 1.4"
The combination still concept.
Combine a 2" column to be used for heads and tail separation at low boiler power, over a T junction that feeds a thumper for the hearts phase. 2 separate condensers, one for feints and one for product.
This was the basic plan:
The idea was to split off the heads and tails at low power through the column then run the hearts through the thumper.
The Reflux Head.
I know I over engineered it.
In the future it may end up on a 3" column, so I built it to suit. 
Two valves in the design. I want to be able to run in either VM or CM mode. REMEMBER this is just an add on to a pot still and not at this time a reflux still in the true sense.
OK I overdid it with the 12" double coil, but if it ever ends up on a proper column it should cope OK with virtually any boiler input I will be using. I am intending to split off the heads, either through the top port in CM mode or through the larger lower port in VM mode. I won't know which works best untill I try it. Either way I will then shut both valves and build up enough pressure to run the thumper section.
Thats the oversized head with a slip coupling (indicated) to the column. There are two 1/2" temperature probe ports. One above and one below the reflux condenser. I am stilll waiting for the USB temp probes to come from Hong Kong!! There is a slip coupling at the point indicated. I managed to fit in 42" of stainless steel scourers as packing. Less than optimum for a reflux still but should be fine for heads separation.
Stripping Head
I also built a dedicated section of column to work with my big Liebig for stripping runs
The big Liebig has been posted before and was inspired by RumBulls post. It has one vapour path between two cooled surfaces, The outer cold surface is cooled by a coil instead of an outer jacket but that is a minor variation. There is a 90 degree bend in the vapour path, which with the compression coupling alows the condenser angle to be adjusted. It also lets me fold it up for storage, which is usefull.
Feints condenser
A basic Liebig. It should cope with the intended application of heads and tails separation at low boiler powers. If needs be there is an additional bigger condenser that can fit in between this one and the head. I am planning to electroplate the inside of the brass couplings with copper to get over the possible lead-in-brass issues.
Everything is modular and based on slip couplings. I don't know which setup will be used in the end - it all depends how things work out.
I am going to build the additional section of tube that will allow me to connect the tapered lynn arm and condenser directly to the boiler for a normal pot still. Am just waiting for delivery of a few bends. If the combined column/pot design turns out to be no practical advantage I will take the column off the thumper T junction and rebuild it to be used on its own on the boiler. An end cap fitted to blank off the T junction will then give me two sets pipework. One for a thumper and one for no thumper both to use the same tapered lynn arm and condenser and a separate 2" column all of which will run on the same boiler. Plus the stripping rig off course. All starting with 2" tube that can be moved to a bigger boiler later.
Just need to finish off the thumper and start on the cleaning runs
EDIT: Sorry. Is that better?
