let the fun begin

[likkerupfront]

was in another town near here the other day had a few minutes so i strolled into the scrap yard and asked... would you by chance have any sheet copper... and guess what i got ... a sheet of 20 gauge 122 copper... whooooopeeee and you couldnt beat the price... a whopping 4o bucks... i really think i can lay everything with exception of the fustrum on it for cutting...so now a piece of 19"x12" 25 gauge should be suitable for the last piece of the puzzle..i have chosent to build the 12 gallon version of the kentucky still that husker modified ...I'm sill a bit in question on the worm size 1/2" annealed copper 20' in length enough or too much.. heres my copper sheet and more pics to follow as i progress thru..

[likkerupfront]

got some cutting filing and sanding of the edges done last night.. turns out i will need a piece big enough for the arm about 12" x19" and the collar 3" x 24" oh well progress is progress though

[kurgan]

Looks good Been a long time since somebody posted a build of one of these, keep us posted. I still have a desire to build one of these some day. Oh, and 20 foot of 1/2" type L tubing should be enough for this. I've still got a 50' 1/2" worm I never finished, still coiled around a 12" sakrete tube form.

[likkerupfront]

thanks for the words kurgan ... i have made a little progress this week.. i found getting the bottom part of the pot together to be a bit tedious.. getting the pan made was pretty straight forward following the instructions set forth by pinto on you tube.. i then used my pattern to cut an osb board in the circle and "drove" it into the pan and used my body hammers to further tighten the fit between the sides of the pan and the up section of the fustrum.. at this point we started riveting and "walking" the copper in.. we then soldered and allowed to cool and came back with the body hammer.. the round with the body hammer occured after the pic i am posting and really tightened the fit between the entire creation and allowed for the final run with solder seems to hold water so we are off to a good start.. the top section of the pot has been formed and is ready to start rivetting if i can have some me time tonight... i will post pics of my top and when it gets riveted in later this weekend...

[Bushman]

Nice find, I went to our local recycle scrap yard and they don't really deal with copper? This makes no sense to me as copper is like buying gold.

[likkerupfront]

well i got some time this weekend so the bottom part is done i have now began working on the lid and lyne arm... i am not so proud of these pics but i think it'll look much more like copper porn once i get to detail it... but hey its my first experience with sheet copper and fabrication with little to no instruction... i did however make a nice collar top i was able to break the top put a piece of 6 gauge wire in and break it over and then use the edge body hammer to get a really nice tight fit and tin it into itself this yielded an unbelieveably nice collar nice and sturdy ready to have the top fitted to it... lookking forward to some more time and the cleaning process as well.. i have decided to rob the turkey fryer for my thumper.. i will be making my lid from a remnant sheet of copper making it much easier to install my fittings.... pics of that to come.. well here is where we are as of now...

[likkerupfront]

well ... it is now what i intended it to be.. however it has to be cleaned, polished, water run ,vinegar and water, run and sacrificial popov run, then on to the fun part... i have located a good source for "wild water" in other words spring water coming from deep in the mtns of east ky... i have my mash tun and will be picking up my 20' section of type l copper today so possibly next week i will be reporting on my first run... i have named her big ugly ... i really wanted to use big nose kate but my daughter is katie and i was afraid i may be sleeping outside with my still if her mother and her both decided i was insensitive in my choices.. any how i wanted to post a couple pictures and allow you folks to share in her ugliness....

[Prairiepiss]

Nice work sir. That's a good looking still. Should make you a nice drop.

[heartcut]

Nice. She's gonna be a pretty one.

[likkerupfront]

had some time the other evening after doing a fill up with water and touching uo the leakers.... i was setting there looking at big ugly thinking ol girl i've scrubbed you inside and im not gonna take you to town looking like that... so i got a can of never dull out and a terry shop towel in about 35 minutes this is what i had... look any better?

if all goes as planned my stainless thumper with copper top and 20' worm will be done this weekend ready for a massengill run then a popov run while my sweet feed works off

[Braz]

massengill run

[knucklhed]

Big Ugly No More!! She's lookin pretty sexy right about now!

[likkerupfront]

and she makes a right good drop as well... finished my first sf run last weeknd good flavor .... gonna do it all again tomorrow evening

[heartcut]

Congratulations- nice piece of work.

[likkerupfront]

just a little update now we are into about 7 months of production in our lil hobby... or addiction or sickness or the adjectives could flow on forever.. several runs and mashes have passed through the ol girl and as you guys have all noted one will learn their device and what when and how it does it.. the ol girl comes to heat sends steam to my thump and the thump sends steam to the worm and in the last 5 feet or so once shes thumping along well it turns to liquid,, the flame is barely flickering and i get roughly 4 drops a second and a twisted stream occcassionally.. about 8 hours after the fire is lit it kicks to 120 proof or 60% dont smell or taste very good and i turn her off... result is a quart of that and a quart of heads about 12-14 oz of fores which i have used to clean carbs kill weeds and other critters ...and roughly 4 qts of very nice likker(usually 136-142 proof) ... from 12-14 gallons of mash and 2 qts from last weeks run(heads and tails).. just an update and wish me luck as i start to gather the necessaries for my first all grain in the next week or two at most..

[kurgan]

Good deal. It's ironic that you update this now. I was just pricing copper sheet last night for a 6 gallon build

[likkerupfront]

krugan be sure to check your local scrapyards as that is where i found all the material for big ugly.. the first piece i got was 44 usd and the second was like 32 and i have enough left for several funnels...

my next suggestion and i will buy these if i build another this winter ... on Ebay there are people in the UK that sell "boiler rivets" these are copper rivets that work in a "pop" rivet gun and have a closed backside. this will make assembly of the project much much easier and simpler and much more leak proof..i found the leather type nails and washers were very difficult to work with and damn near impossible to do alone...

i love the consistency of the ol girl the taste is very consistent and if you wanna slow her way down she will produce 170-180 neutral proof all day n half the night...

i am running a 2 1/2 - 3 gallon thumper and 20' of worm... if i can be of any help just let me know..

[likkerupfront]

well I have been away from the posting side of things for a while but as this hobby has grown and the taste of the product has become something to behold I am about to embark on a creation.. a younger big sis for the ol girl ...big ugly will most likely be the proud older sister to miss kitty's hot rod... miss kitty I think will be in the neighbor hood of 20 gallons...still in the copper acquisition stages... but guys I must say this has been a wonderful ride ...