Well....here she is.

[njscofflaw]

Well, after a total rebuild of the original that turned out to have "less-than-sub-par-and-not-as-advertised" parts, I decided to upgrade the boiler from 7 gallons to 11. I ran through the first cleaning run tonight, and found a few leaks where I thought I could get away with not having a gasket. I was wrong, and will be making one tomorrow.

It's made with a SS pot and mixing bowl, SS hardware, copper piping (1 1/2" down to 1/2") , and a lead free brass flange (1 1/2"). Gaskets are made of PTFE tape and card board.

It's pretty basic and not nearly as pretty as most of yours but it's functional, I built it, and I'm sure it won't be my last one.

Will be doing my second cleaning run tomorrow, and hopefully my sacrificial run with some old wine this weekend. Just in time too, my washes and mashes are starting to back up (2 persimmon brandy, and 1 AG Rye), and I'm itching to get started on a few more (UJSSM is up next).

At any rate, suggestions, comments, advice.....all welcome.


Thanks!

Fully assembled

During cleaning run

[NY Chris]

Nice job NJ

Should make a nice whiskey.

I see you are using an open flame burner, are you going to run that inside or outside the house? Hard to tell from the pics.

It's a good idea to have a fire extinguisher or a charged garden hose with a nozzle on it ready to go, you never know when a leak may pop up on a new still.

Good luck with it.
Chris

[njscofflaw]

Good eye! There's a bank of windows just out of the shot that are all open, and a fire extinguisher I keep in the garage about 5 feet to my left. There's also a carriage door to the garage car port that's to the right, but I'd rather keep that closed from overly curious neighbors. Thanks NYChris! Much appreciated!

[mister406]

I think this is a very nice build. I was thinking of doing the same. Can you let us know how it works. Looks like it should run like a dream. I question the 1/2 worm as it might require a fast cook,:more heat,but that is only a guess. Good luck and keep us posted

[BoomTown]

I question the 1/2 worm as it might require a fast cook,:more heat,but that is only a guess. Good luck and keep us posted

I 'm unclear on what this means? What size would be optimum for a pot still like this? Why would a 1/2" worm be different from, say a 3/8" or a 3/4" ? Reason I ask is that I use a 1/2" which is inside of a 1" vinyl tubing, and have had zero issues...but then, I may not have noticed something....

[njscofflaw]

mister406,

I'm unclear as well. 1/2" worm is pretty standard and generally recommended for the hobby scale of this size. Second would be 3/8". I have no idea what you mean by the 1/2" worm requiring a fast cook, which would be counter productive, no?

She runs very nicely, and has produced several brandies and whiskeys that are sitting on wood for aging currently. I decided to expand my rig options and build a Liebig to replace the lyne arm and worm as the pail that it was sitting. This was due to pooling in the bottom of the worm from the way it was situated into the pail during the last few runs, which was contributing to some over-smearing issues I was having (it's a characteristic of a pot still hence why I said over smearing). Once I redo the pail and the worm exit point, I'll be using it on occasion for another build I'm experimenting with.

[mister406]

Sorry, what I meant to say is,It seems to me that most everybody seems to use 3/8 tubeing.I was just wondering if that would translate in to the worm haveing less surface area to cool,wich should mean that it would condense more efficiently. I do not really know. I,m just happy yours is working well as I am putting one together almost exactly like this one,and I am useing your photos as a guide.I do not know where the more heat issuse came from as I was thinking about cooling,not heating. I guess it was an early morning brain fart on my part. Keep on enjoying your machine as I will do the same.you have built a nice simple still that almost everybody can copy,and I think that is cool.

[BoomTown]

Well, I'm a FNG too, and I too started out using a 3/8" coil...and what I believe is that it works pretty much the opposite of how you're thinking. http://homedistiller.org/forum/posting. ... 32&t=34705#

The 'vapor speed' thing comes into play, in the smaller tube the gas moves through it at a faster rate. May not sound like much, and it may just be me. I made my coils by slipping the copper tubing inside of vinyl tubing and run the chilling water through the vinyl tubing from bottom to top. I used the whole 15' package of soft copper tubing that you can get at home depot. The difference between the two coils is that the 1/2" seems to do a better job of converting all the gasses to fluid, especially since I've stuffed a little copper mesh into the inlet (about 4") to disturb the stream of gasses as the come in from the pot. http://homedistiller.org/forum/posting. ... 32&t=34705# The the half inch, I know I'm not getting an back pressure build up in my pot, and that means no vapor leaks in my unions...the gas follows the path of least resistance, and it makes me feel safer too.

But I really like your pictures of your works. http://homedistiller.org/forum/posting. ... =34705#You do a nice job.
Boom

[mister406]

Lesson learned. As it is painfully obvious,I am learning while I build.I do think he has a very simple,, clean , still. The photos are espec easy to understand his construction and can be easily copied. For those of us just starting,it is a very good example, I think I am probably trying to overthink my design as I would really like to start producing. I, unfortunately, am one of those people who bought a still from what turned out be a crook,so the hell with it, I will make one,and I like this one