New Take on a Great Design... ODs Magic Flute - Mark 2...

[olddog]

Then I'll remove the hose clamps, clean, flux and silver solder..

You would be advised to solder this seam with hard solder, otherwise it could unsolder itself when you fix the top and bottom and tubes.


OD

[Tater]

Ive cleaned up some troll posts and reply's from this thread and re banned trolling. member.Was just a member from a copycat site recruiting and trolling. .So back on topic please.

[Prairiepiss]

You have more patients than me Sam. I would go nuts if I had to use a hacksaw. Your build is looking good sir. And same to you OD. Keep it coming.

[Samohon]

All I have at hand Prairiepiss... Thanks man...

Heres what I got upto after work this evening...

Risers and Caps...

Still the top plate to cut, slots to slice and solder the riser and cap-plate together...
Taking my time and documenting everything...

Back to it again tomorrow...

[Mr.Spooky]

that looks AWSOME OD!!!!!
i dig the tooling
spooky

[Mr.Spooky]

looks likes youve made good use of the dremel tool Sam..i need me one of them.
keeps the pics coming with your progress!!!!
spooky

[olddog]

Great progress Sam , again when you assemble the caps and plates, you will need to use hard solder, otherwise the joints can be unsoldered when you solder the plates and downcomers into the column.


OD

[Prairiepiss]

All I have at hand Prairiepiss... Thanks man...
Back to it again tomorrow...

Oh I know how that goes. I carry around some really nice air tools with me all day long. But I haven't had an air compressor in my van for a year??? I just have to keep a really long cheater pipe with me.

The good thing is. It looks like you really know how to use what you got. And that's what counts.

[Samohon]

The good thing is. It looks like you really know how to use what you got. And that's what counts.

I think its a confidence thing Prairiepiss, after the builds I've seen here on HD with a modest tool setup, anythings possible...
If it were stainless steel, I'd be looking at specialist equipment, but since its all copper, its well within my skill-base...

Thanks guy's, cant wait to get into the workshed this affo...

[Uisge_a_Ghlinne]

Looking good Sam. Keep up the good work. I think your Highland flute may well get a stainless companion. I have been making plates on the drill press, so far its been easier than expected.

[Samohon]

Thanks Uisge_a_Ghlinne, the highland flute is underway...

Popped home for lunch and done a little more... I,m very pleased with how these discs have turned out. I think that they are probably the crux of the build...

The Plates...

I measured the ID of the pipe, added 2mm to the ID, marked copper plate with engineers scribe in a compass and cut...
I then bored a 6mm hole in the middle, inserted my bolt with a couple of stretched plates to hold it at 90°. Put it into my hand drill, clamped my medium file to my mini-vice and went for it. They fit like a friggin glove... I'm well pleased... Never had the lathe or a press drill so thought a little outside the box... Not sure if its been done... Thanks ScottishBoy...
I'm back at work now so thought i'd give yall an update...

Cant wait to get back to it...
Once I've assembled all the components, I'll give them a bath in diluted Hydrochloric Acid for a few mins, that'll clean em right up...

Thanks guy's...

[W.S.C.beachman]

Man I am soooo jealous!!!! I want to start my build...You guys are very inspirational. I try to talk to friends but no one really understands the depth of information and how much we enjoy what we do!!!!

[olddog]

OK guys here is the finished still. I fitted the glass and seals in the sight glasses yesterday, and did a vinegar/water cleaning run. I found a couple of leaks, one at the base of the top sight glass, and the other was a leaky compression joint on the cooling control valve. I fixed both of those and proceeded with the cleaning run with everything now OK.
I found that the plate disabling system worked as planned, as soon as you adjust a valve, the plate dumps all of its liquid to the plate below, or if you turn off the bottom 3 plates, only the top plate will bubble.
I can't wait to put a proper wash through it and see what ABV's I get, the 2 plate prototype worked really well.
Pics below of the finished still.

OD

[Samohon]

Looking great OD, truly inspiring...

I see no reason why she wont perform as good, if not better than the prototype...
It will be interesting to play with the plate disabling system on this build, when a wash is introduced to this baby...
Cant wait to see the results...

Well, on with the show, I'm still hard at it, but I reckon I'll get there after my success with the plates...

Thanks OD...

[W.S.C.beachman]

OD,
Question about the sight glasses. When I zoom in on them they look a bit white around the glass edge. Did you put some thing in their to seal the glass to the copper?

[Usge]

Wow OD. Really looks great!! Inspiration for my weekend coming up!!

[olddog]

Question about the sight glasses. When I zoom in on them they look a bit white around the glass edge. Did you put some thing in their to seal the glass to the copper?

Yes they are seals made from virgin Teflon. You can get it on Ebay, it's easy to cut to size.


OD

[Oxbo Rene]

Question for OD .....
OD, why would one want to eliminate a plate or two anyway ??????

[Samohon]

Very quick update... Here's my sight glasses, I'll use virgin teflon to seal the glass up when installed...
The profile for the 4" surface cut on the copper nipple came from a paper template then cut with the Dremal... Happy with the way they turned out...

Sight Glass...

Also slotted the bubble-caps with a template and Dremal, I'll get a photo of them tomorrow...
Also cut the downcomers and slotted them...
Getting close to soldering all these components together, then assembling this baby...

After all this, reckon the plumbing will be a piece of cake... I hope...

[Prairiepiss]

The way your going it should be a piece of cake. Looking good Sam.

OD that is a beautiful. Can't wait to here results.

[olddog]

OD, why would one want to eliminate a plate or two anyway ??????

On the Pro stills, they reckon you can change the flavor profile and takeoff ABV by using different plate combinations.


OD

[guittarmaster]

The profile for the 4" surface cut on the copper nipple came from a paper template then cut with the Dremal... Happy with the way they turned out...

Sam,
Which Dremal tool did you use? just the regular cut off disk?

GM

[olddog]

Well I run an neutral wash through the still today, it was one that had stalled so there was not too much there to take out of it, but I thought this would do for the first proper run. I don't know what the SG would be as my SG meter tried to head to the bottom of the fermenter, so there was not much.
Facinating is my reaction to the performance of this still, forshots came off at 94ABV and were discarded, heads were taken and the alcometer settled to 90ABV. I now had the opportunity to test the plate dissabling system with something alcoholic. trying various combinations of active plates, I found that if I dissabled plates 2 and 4, I could drop the ABV to 70ABV, which is close to barrel strength being 65ABV. There was not enough alcohol in this failed wash to get much more than 1lt (quart) of spirit from it so I did not have the opportunity to play much more. I am convinced that with a bit more tweaking of the valves/ heat/ and dephlegmater control that I will be able to get a continious run at barrel strength.


OD

[Prairiepiss]

Sounds like a good outcome to me. Congrats. I'm glad my thinking was wrong and the plate disabling system is working as advertised.

[Lawrenceburg Native]

trying various combinations of active plates, I found that if I dissabled plates 2 and 4, I could drop the ABV to 70ABV, which is close to barrel strength being 65ABV.
I am convinced that with a bit more tweaking of the valves/ heat/ and dephlegmater control that I will be able to get a continious run at barrel strength.
OD

OD, Glad to hear that the plate disabling system (PDS) worked for you. Sounds like this still will be quite versatile. It looks great.
-Lawrenceburg Native.

[HookLine]

El primo copper pron.

[Samohon]

Congrats on your maiden voyage OD...

Man. I just knew that disabling combinations of plates on the PDS would work, friggin awesome OD...
The old gogs are turning again OD, all due to your findings on this run. A whole new box of tricks could be added for the vodka maker in the form of a small 4" rectification column at the side, redirecting stillage back to either the boiler or better still, a stillage collection vessel. A flash boiling system could also be added (think ponu) very easily... All for future mods to this amazing still...

The best of both worlds from one great design... Thanks man...

But for now, I'm concentrating on getting my build finish... Cant afford to get side-tracked...

Thanks OD

[Samohon]

The profile for the 4" surface cut on the copper nipple came from a paper template then cut with the Dremal... Happy with the way they turned out...

Sam,
Which Dremal tool did you use? just the regular cut off disk?

GM

Yeah, just the regular cut-off disc guittarmaster.. Very versatile little tool, I really use it a lot...
Just printed out the templates, taped them to the 2" and followed the line slowly with the Dremal...
They really fit well man, but I'm gonna tape some medium grade emery cloth to the 4" and get rid of any little burrs by sliding the the nipple up and down the pipe a few times. I'm really pleased with the way things are going so far, no major obstacles. When I get to the plumbing stage of the build, it will be a cinch to put together...

[W.S.C.beachman]

OH my god I am braking out in cold sweats hear and shaking a little. I want to get started. That's it I am going to start my plan of attack, I just cant wait any longer!!! Man this is the ducks nutzz!! One flute soooo many uses, soooo much to do and learn!!!! LOL

[Usge]

Sam, your work looks great/clean. Wish I was that good with a dremel!!

Anyway, worked on plates this weekend. Tried the dremel circle cutter....didn't work. And it wasn't a good idea for a lot of reasons..including that the cut bit is very wide, and the measure bar for setting center point swings around with the tool, which means it has to be dead level and sweep across the surface (12 inches or so). There was no way to even hold the work down without clamps...which stick up. So, I just put the copper in the vice. It wouldn't even cut through it..just etched the surface. So, ater struggling for hours trying to find a way to get my plates made...I finally got "this" to work:

I trimmed the plate close with snips. Then put it on a bolt/nut with washers. Put the drill in the vise upside down...used my left hand to run the drill...and leveraged an 8" file up against the edge. I'd stop every so often and check it....or cool it off. The first plate took me hours. The 2nd one...45 mins. But, I think I've got something that works. I also soldered up my J-comer (sloppy but its done) and went ahead and mounted/soldered the plate.

Here's the plate/downcomer with j-trap and the cap (just sitting on plate for now...still need to put 1/2" in for the cap). I also finished the 2nd cap ..cut slots...and a 2nd plate. Still need top downcomer, and bottom semi-circle for the back of the j-trap. I'm aiming for a 2-holer (plates).

Still got a way to go, but at least making progress again. Thanks OD and Sam for the inspiration!