New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
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Hi All
Brand new to all this, never even brewed beer or wine before. I'm going to be using a all glass still, I got a whole bunch of new laboratory glassware at a estate sale. There are 3 different condensers,(graham,liebig,alihn) all 300mm long. 5 different columns,4 vigreux of different lengths, a 300mm snyder?, the boiler is going to be a 5000ml round flask. I know its small but it all I got for now.There's 20 something assorted beakers, graduated cylinders, triangular shaped flasks some of these are used, and a box full of clamps and stands. I paid $125 for the lot so if it breaks I'm not out too much.
Well I guess that's it for now, ANY help on how to put all this together would be great...
Welcome to the Forum.
Good luck with the glass.
For $125 dollars, you could have built an S/S and copper still that won't break.
Think about it as you sweep up your new still.
Please be very very careful if you truly intend to use a glass rig... I highly doubt that you will find a 500ml flask to be a worthwhile boiler... If you were to start out with 500ml of 10% ABV wash there will only be 50ml of ~95% ABV spirits in there and that is without considering making proper cuts... By the sounds of the size of your condensers you would end up with a majority of your distilled spirits in the condenser and head space within the flask...
You might want to do some serious research and rethinking of what you want to do as far as home distillation is concerned... We're here to help you along but also to keep you safe...
Rad make's a good point, you'll only get about a shot of spirit after every run. I'd say it's really not worth doing. For an hour of distilling is that really worth 1 shot glass's worth of alcohol? Probably not.
Do what you want but I'd suggest upgrading. You can buy a real still for just a hundred bucks more, it'll be a lot more satisfying.
Oh and welcome to HD, I'm just trying to give you good advice, not to turn you away.
Agreed, you need to be VERY careful. Think about the safety issues involved with having very high proof alcohol in a container which can shatter near a heat source.
Everything you need to know to safely distill a quality spirit it on this site.
Enjoy.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
Guys it's a 5000ml flask (5liters) And it's all "borasilic"? glass,lab grade, pretty tough stuff! According to the manufacturers web site the "boiling flask" is good up to 550deg F
Uncle Jesse wrote:Agreed, you need to be VERY careful. Think about the safety issues involved with having very high proof alcohol in a container which can shatter near a heat.
Welcome to the boards. I'd heed advice and opinions given. What everybody else said, plus a laboratory setting is very different from a shed or a garage.
Lab grade equipment is great if you are in a lab trying to brew up a cure for herpies or toe fungus but it is very fragile and we don't want any one getting hurt or in trouble because of there "stilling equipment" not being safe, breaking. We want everyone to be safe, and to enjoy this hobby, with hopes of proving that it should be legal, the same as beer and wine making. Burning down a house or garage because a glass condensor broke is a setback. Be careful, take every precaution and think every action taken through thouroughly. Be safe!! Please.
There are some good youtube vids on setting up etc. Indirect heating may be the way to go ie sand tray.
As to its use, get another still and make some alcohol or buy your self some cheap alcohol dilute, macerate or place herbs in a head and you have an ideal rig for making good quality gin etc.
5 litres would be a pain in the ass to run wash in.
That is also consider'd to be rather dinky.. Lots of folk would agree that a 20 minmum is best.
Small is doable as members are challenged for space...But most would prefer at least 20 liters..I recon.
The apartment is just too small for that size still and mash buckets.(according to my wife) . This is just to get my feet wet so to speak. And hopefully prove to her that bigger can work.
Long time listner first time poster
Just joined I also live in australia
And started out with a 6litre flask
I also have a glass setup they are not as fragile as people think I went for the bigger size 24/40
sure they are not nearly as strong as others made of steel or copper but strong enougth
but the boilers are extremely expensive and if you live in another country to where they sell them forget about it
So i made a fusion - the boiler is a modified stainless steel keg and the rest is out of glass
I machined a solid brass taperd adapter to fit the glassware
I will be posting some pictures soon within the next few days when i have some time to take some
I haven't seen anything like what i did anywhere on forums or online
WOW! Allglass, you might just as well thrown a bushel of bananas into the monkey pit, got picked apart just a little there didn't ya. Just a little joke by the way guys. Welcom and I agree do be safe.
Sometimes I wonder why is that Frisbee getting bigger......and then it hits me.
Just to let you know if you haven't done your first run yet don't forget to add some copper to your tubing or you will get an awfull rotten egg smell from it because of the yeast
If you don't you will waste lots of carbon trying to filter it
Trust me on this and many people out there don't tell you or just simply don't know how to stop that
I had to do a lot of searching to find out why it was smelling so bad and how to stop it
. This is just to get my feet wet so to speak. 
And hopefully prove to her that bigger can work.