Build #5, the Blockhead

[Fecus]

Oh man that's awesome! Just so happens I was getting really interested in metal spinning recently and your project just adds fuel

[Hawke]

My lathe has a little bit too loose of tolerances in the headstock. Had to go with the throughbolt to keep the disk centered. This was ok for this project, as it needed a hole in it anyway. I've got most of the parts machined for the correct tool rest, just need to find time to do a little welding on it. Also looking at the headstock to see if I can tighten up the stop lugs. (It can rotate 90 or 180 degrees)

Did a cleaning run on it a few days ago. Man, it runs sweet.
I had about 1.75 gallons of junk from previous cleaning runs and some heads and tails. Adjusted to 40%, gave me about a 3.5 gallon charge.

Heat-up was about 20 minutes. The first fill of the parrot showed at 85% (Not adjusted for temp). It took nearly 1 gallon for it to drop to 70%. From there, it dropped about 15% per quart. Recovered just about everything I put in.
It didn't seem to care whether I was pushing it at a quart every 7 minutes (first quart), or squeazing a quart an hour (last quart of the gallon). I could have put a dime under the parrot outlet and every drop would have hit it, as there was absolutely no surge in the delivery like I get with my liebigs.

[Slow & Steady]

A QUART EVERY SEVEN MINUTES!!!! Great Day in the Mourning... Lets everybody go over to Hawke's house cause he aint ever going to run out of booze... Dude you built a Muscle Car, it may take 20 minutes to warm up, but it does 85 out of the starting gate and empties the tank at a rate of 1 quart every seven minutes... Dammmmmmmn!

Now you need to make a Peated Barley Mash and tell us how it tastes ...

I have to agree concerning your worm's performance... at 1 qt per seven minutes it is performing very well... I guess that is why I prefer a worm.

S&S

[Hawke]

Think it will be great for stripping in a hurry. (Was 100*F+ in the shop that day)
Have to do most of my runs after the sun goes down.

[Hack]

It didn't seem to care whether I was pushing it at a quart every 7 minutes (first quart), or squeazing a quart an hour (last quart of the gallon). I could have put a dime under the parrot outlet and every drop would have hit it, as there was absolutely no surge in the delivery like I get with my liebigs.

Another convert! I love my worm, it's similar in design. I've never pushed to see how fast it will run for a stripping run, because I use a thumper, but I sure like getting about a gallon an hour for a spirit run.

[Hawke]

Targeting for about 2 gallon an hour for stripping, and a gallon an hour for a spirit run. But, it is good to know it will run quicker, if needed. Think the biggest factor in the design is the tapered arm.
Have a batch of rum going now, should be ready to run by next weekend. I'll see how it really performs then.

[HookLine]

I could have put a dime under the parrot outlet and every drop would have hit it, as there was absolutely no surge in the delivery like I get with my liebigs.

That's interesting. A worm in a barrel sounds more and more attractive for pot stilling. Certainly save some water.

Think the biggest factor in the design is the tapered arm.

Which bit? Angle of taper? Length? Ratio of inlet to outlet size? All the above?....

[Hack]

Which bit? Angle of taper? Length? Ratio of inlet to outlet size? All the above?....

I know this question is for Hawke, but I think this might give some insight. My still was originally 3/8" copper tubing coming out of a mixing bowl cap with a 3/8" copper worm. When I first upgraded to a 2" column andtapered lyne arm similar to Hawke's, minus the blockhead, it doubled my spirit run collection rate. Then when I replaced the 3/8" copper worm with 5/8" it doubled again, even with running a thumper.

I hold the mixing bowl cap on my still with a bungie cord. In the original configuration I had to be really careful. If I ran the heat too hard I could build enough pressure in the boiler to start a leak around the flour dough seal on the mixing bowl. Upgrading to a 2" column and a tapered lyne nearly eliminated this. Now with the 5/8" worm I can leave the bungie cord off and have no problems with pressure causing leaks. I discovered this when a recent experiment with a heat shield focused too much heat on the bungie and it failed. I either had to shut down or try without, so I continued and kept an eye on it.

I think because a worm cools along a longer length it's not such a shock to the vapor which helps eliminate surging. Also the length probably helps smooth out any surging that may occur. My worm is about twenty feet long with about twelve wraps in a six gallon bucket. I don't circulate the water in my bucket. Only the top 4" or so gets very hot and the bottom of the bucket stays cool.

[Hawke]

Hook,
I think it's all of the above. It goes from 3" down to 3/4" over 36". Takes out all the sharp sholders that disrupt the vapor flow in the normal potstills we build.
I tried tapering pipe a few times and could never get my cuts right, ended up with lumpy or bent tapers that just didn't 'fit'.

I was running a very small trickle of fresh water into the bottom of my flake stand, but it was way less than I run through the liebigs. With a bigger bucket, that probably wouldn't be required.

[Fecus]

Hook,
I think it's all of the above. It goes from 3" down to 3/4" over 36". Takes out all the sharp sholders that disrupt the vapor flow in the normal potstills we build.
I tried tapering pipe a few times and could never get my cuts right, ended up with lumpy or bent tapers that just didn't 'fit'.

I started by building a 10" cover and spinning an adapter cup for the bottom.
Then using the Cone Layout, made patterns for a tapered lynearm and the fustrum for the head.

You can see a slight dome in the top.
Originaly, I was going to drop my old bowling ball on it, but could not find it. I used a boat anchor instead..

Pieced together some prior quotes. I really like the design of this still Hawke. Looks awesome and by the working description, sounds like it works! I'm kinda curious why you didn't spin the whole frustrum/adapter cup as one piece? I think you mentioned the lathe was a bit wobbly or something. Seems with the right mandrels, one could spin all the parts for this still, except maybe the lynearm in my limited spinning understanding but perhaps two or even three pieces that could telescope together, fitting one inside the other and have just one or two circumference joints to solder.? Just thinking and wishing. Great job

[Hawke]

Yes the lathe has a little too much slop in it for good results. Also, I didn't have a spinning rest, so ended up getting a crack in the copper. (couldn't use a backing stick to keep the ripples from forming) That mandrel was made up for making an onion. With proper equipment, it could be done.
I think I'm finally satisfied with stillin' equipment.(For the moment )
If you tried to spin this as one piece, I think you would need a lathe capable of 14 inches of swing. You could get by with a 12" swing, just make the head shorter.