New guy with a plan coming together

[DrGonzo]

Hi all, posting from the Midwest USA, where some of the biggest prohibition battles have been fought. In the past I have been a home brewer. Life finds me back again living in the big city where I really dont have the space to boil, brew, and bottle beer. Some how I decided that there is plenty of room to distill...for my weed wacker. About 18 months ago, I did brew one thing at my current local, and that was a honey mead. Even at 9%+ ABV it wasnt what I was looking for. Flavor was there, but it wasnt the sipping beverage I realized I wanted.

What ever the path, here I am. And the plan is coming together. I am fully capable of fabricating a still tower, but for now I just plan to buy one. When I have a garage and can go big, I will. For now, I am considering this on the more expensive side:
http://www.milehidistilling.com/New_ref ... /16152.htm. At worst it is an expensive pot still, with some practice it seems to be a decent reflux option.

The cheaper option would be this:
http://www.milehidistilling.com/Pot_Sti ... /16150.htm No frills yet high quality pot still. The whole reason I started thinking about distilling was to make a honey brandy.

MileHi does have some nice small still combos, but I want to be able to start with at least a 5 gal wash.


For the boiler, this is my expensive options:
http://www.milehidistilling.com/50_lite ... /16231.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
I would add some stainless turn buckles or something similar to secure the lid. I can get it with a 2in flange to clamp the tower on.

The cheaper option would be a 5 gallon sanke keg. I plan to boil on gas stove. I dont know how well the keg will work. I found a source with a sanke flange for 75 bucks. Still not crazy cheap, but no modding needed.

The cheapest option would be 15 gallon keg for 25 bucks. Great if I had a garage and a burner, not so great on the stove. I guess I could fire two burners. Again no mods needed.


Anyway, any thoughts are welcome. I have only begun to wade into all the info here. So blast away. I plan to pull the trigger soon as I may ferment this weekend.

[rednose]

Don't like the reflux still cause of the plastic stopper for the thermometer.

Built yourself a Bokakob if you are shooting for vodka, it takes you less than 2 hours if you have material and tools on the hand.

Joe

[rad14701]

Greetings, DrGonzo...

We have plenty of good information here in the forums and on the parent site... If you're planning to make brandy you'll want to choose a pot still design that won't strip too much flavor from your wash/wine...

Good luck...

[DrGonzo]

Hey guys thanks for the input.

RAD14701: Being totally new to this I dont know what I want. I would love to crank out a perfect brandy, but I imagine that is a skill that will take time to develop. A tolerable vodka seems less daunting and the place to start. That got me looking at a reflux. Is it wishful thinking that an unpacked milehi reflux still will work like a decent pot still?

Rednose or anyone: There seem to be multiple Bokabob designs. Which one should I be looking at? Most of my tools are in storage, but I could get my hands on a torch and hacksaw. Just found this one for the first time, seems simple enough http://homedistiller.org/image/mini_explained.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[blanikdog]

Not being a reflux stiller I can't help, but welcome to the forum Doc.

blanik

[newerbrewer]

If you are lookin for brandy a pot still is likely what ur lookin fer. Om the reflux side, yes that is the bokakob design most are speaking of. My advice is to read lots, then build, not buy. More fun, more educational, more rewarding, less money. Just me $0.02.

[rednose]

Doc, I''m not shooting for high % booze but good flavor, that's why I'm going for pot stills.

Anyhow I love the Bok as it's very versatil and easy to make.

We had a poll for that and most of the masters suggested to start with a pot still and till now I would underline that vote but a Bok is a good still to start with as you can run it for vodka or whisky, depending what you wanna make in the future.

Go for the double plate with top condenser, that's the easy and bullet proove way.

Rednose or anyone: There seem to be multiple Bokabob designs. Which one should I be looking at? Most of my tools are in storage, but I could get my hands on a torch and hacksaw. Just found this one for the first time, seems simple enough http://homedistiller.org/image/mini_explained.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[DrGonzo]

OK Red you convinced me.

I looked through all of the Boka designs, and have begun building this one:
http://homedistiller.org/image/drawing_ ... e_EL-2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I think this is what you mean by a double plate top condenser?

The trickiest part seems to be the the take-off plate and the 'top shield' plate. I am changing the design slightly so both of these reside in a 3in coupler. I dont think this will drastically change the design. It make be a little weaker, but it will allow me to swap out this section if I screw it up or want to improve it.

I will post pics. Thoughts?

[rad14701]

There are better Bokakob modified designs here in the forums...

[NcHooch]

OK Red you convinced me.

I looked through all of the Boka designs, and have begun building this one:
http://homedistiller.org/image/drawing_ ... e_EL-2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I think this is what you mean by a double plate top condenser?

The trickiest part seems to be the the take-off plate and the 'top shield' plate. I am changing the design slightly so both of these reside in a 3in coupler. I dont think this will drastically change the design. It make be a little weaker, but it will allow me to swap out this section if I screw it up or want to improve it.

I will post pics. Thoughts?

...that was the plan that I based mine off off....I'm very happy with the way it works , produces 90% all day long on a 24" column,

Cheers,
NcHooch

[DrGonzo]

I started building the still. The column is 30in, the take-off/plate section is about 2in, and the reflux head is 13in. I started with a chromed brass sink drain, but after a little reading, I returned it for a stainless steel one.

The column will attach to the sink drain, by way of a nut soldered to the interior of the column. The nut was zinc plated, so this isnt ideal. It is entirely covered in solder. I did this to avoid purchasing one of those 25 dollar copper threaded couplers.

[still crazy]

Is saving $25 bucks really worth drinking likker with zinc , made with lead, leaching back into it?

[rad14701]

If you hunt around you should be able to find a non-zinc alternative that isn't an expensive copper fitting... Even a brass alternative would be better than zinc...

I'm sure glad you scrapped the idea of making an entire column out of sink drain components...

[DrGonzo]

I agree, Zinc is not an ideal choice given its re-activeness. I do disagree that it has lead in it. I work with Zinc parts and casting companies, even in the wild days before RoHS I dont think there was ever any reason to alloy lead with zinc. I will see if I cant find a different 2in NPT nut to use.

This is a picture of the collection parts installed into a long coupler. It looks like there is a gap, but really they over lap about a 16th or so. I notice many designs dont have the over flow hole. It could be easily patched. Menard's had thin preformed disks which made this pretty easy to do. The plates are separated by around an inch. It isnt too pretty, but I havent sweat a pipe in a long time. Ill post a finished picture later. I could see remaking this part, which handy being that it resides coupler section.

Here is my cooling coil. It is not that pretty. I didnt fill it with salt and just patiently tightened its natural coil onto a 1.5in rod. Had to really finesse the bottom loop. This is where salt would have helped. Ended up with a bit of a dent. Not a bad kink though, it should be ok. I flow tested it and it worked fine. Amazing how quickly that coil gets cold with some water running through it. From what I have read, this may be longer then needed. No Biggie, it fits nicely in a 13in section of pipe.

[Kentucky shinner]

you might want to check out this template. It really makes quick work out of installing the plates. I think your plates should overlap a little more and might be better a little closer together.
I made a coil almost just like yours the first time and found that I had to use packing stuffed inside the coil.
Hope maybe this will help you some.

the attachment says 1.5" but it also has a 2"

[DrGonzo]

Thanks, I saw a few threads mentioning a template. I love the slot installation method. I saw some pictures of an awesome application of this. I really wish I had my tools, but like I said they are in storage. Working with the bare minimum here. I dragged a foot stool out on the balcony to make my hacksaw cuts.

It is a little confusing. The original Boka drawing shows about zero overlap, whereas other show more. Same goes for the plate spacing. A few threads mentioned a half inch minimum.

I am convinced on the zinc bit. Mcmaster has threaded copper couplers for 16 bucks+shipping although I will probibly just go to home depot. At my old job, I did a lot more prototyping. I coulda had my machinist whip one up. Those were the days.

[rednose]

This is how mine is built, I left a distance of 10 mm between the plates.

The oulet is straight and the thermometer I have under the output plate but my probe is short and don't touch the reflux liquid but won't recommend it there.

The draft isn't mine, I saved it from somewhere

[rad14701]

DrGonzo, the original Bokakob design has undergone several improvements over the years so it is best to not go by the original drawings... There are several documented builds here in the forums that show most of the enhancements... Well worth doing some research into the evolution of the design...

[rednose]

Here you have the templates which you can print out than cut and you know where to cut the column and how deep for the plates.

you need very few tools like a metal saw, a drill and common solder torch, a file would be helpful to get the plates equal to the column after soldering ém.

Joe

Add; No credit for that neither, saved it from somewhere

[DrGonzo]

I rebuilt my parallel plate /coupler section to match the updated designs out there. I did use the same construction method as before. I already had the copper disks and I doubted my ability to make good cuts with my crappy saw and vise. Very pleased with the solder job the second time around. My soldering finesse seems to be returning. Both plates are parallel, and at about a 35* angle. Have about .4in between the plates and they overlap about .25.

I will post pictures.

Here are my dumb question for the day.
Even with an overflow tab or overflow hole cut in the collection plate, it would appear that ALL the condensed liquid is collected. Right?? Early on, I thought it was of some benefit to have some condensate dripping back down onto the column packing.

So, when in operation the needle valve on the output/collection tube is always run wide open?

[rednose]

Nope, one part of the reflux works with the column packing, the other you have to manage manually.

When you first use the still in likker mode open the valve fully and measure the product quantity, than regulate it to the desired reflux rate, like 3-1 for example.

You need to play with that a little untill you get what you want, as higher the rate as less flavor you will get.

So, when in operation the needle valve on the output/collection tube is always run wide open?