Materials for Still

[DrCrook]

Hi All,

I am gathering materials for my first still and had a few questions. First I will shortly describe what I am building.

What I am shooting for
10 gallon simple pot still with a few modular parts. I have decided to purchase a stainless steel 40 quart stock pot (with lid) as the boiler. The modular part will be the column itself. The column I want to be a 3" column. a 2" base will be welded to the pot lid itself with a flange for attaching more parts. A Middle section of 10" will have flanges on both sides for attachments. A "tea bag" section will be a 3" piece that has essentially a wire mesh bag for tea leaves, herbs, spices etc. An L Joint Connector Section and lastly a Liebig Condensor section approximately 24" or so long. Everything will be tightened together with tri-clamps and "easy flanges".

Onto the questions!
I have found a few material suppliers via ebay and such as I am trying to reduce the quantity of money I spend on this as it is purely for hobbyist purposes. The questions I have are:
1. What the heck is Type L Copper, and is it O.K. to use as part of my column? I am purchasing a cheap torch and lead free solder from Home Depot, No idea what temperature it gets up to. It costs $20 for the torch, a striker and some fuel.

2. Is there anything wrong with using this pot? http://www.ebay.com/itm/190803582236" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

3. For the L Joint Connector Section, any suggestions on where to purchase the L-Joint that fits over 3" copper tubing?

4. For the L Joint Connector Section, any ideas on how to build reducers to get the diameter down to 1/2" ?

5. Any tutorials for how to build a Liebig Condensor as far as creating the jacket etc? I am thinking I will use 1/2" tubing for the distillate, and 3/4" tubing for the jacket for the water flow.

Final Statements
I'm a family man and want to use much of the product for gifts at out many family gatherings etc, so please let me know if anything in these designs will lead to poor or harmful product. Also as a family man, I want to make sure that I'm not building something that is going to explode or cause issues, so I haven't taken pressure or any considerations like that as it seems like low pressure, low heat, so let me know if those assumptions are incorrect. My process for building is pretty much just straight soldering and a little cutting and bending.

Thank you very much for any input. I will post my in progress pictures and final product as well as some notes on my first few runs once things get rolling.

~DrCrook

[wv_hillbilly]

Might I suggest you venture over to the must read section, lots of info that you can find of value.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=46

[jholmz]

type l copper is fine its just a copper grade there are others dwv being the cheapest, if the column is going to be 3" why not just weld a 3" easy flange to the pot lid instead of going 2" then having a reducer to go up to 3" save some money, also to save money flanges are expensive to buy just make easy flanges heres a link to it http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 62&t=27056 make the gin basket one of the sections so you can remove it when not needed. the pot you have selected is fine as it is stainless, by L connector do you mean a 90 if so they can be bought at a plumbing supply or online as far as reducing youll probably have to go from 3 to 2 then 2 to 1 then 1 to 1/2 as far as the liebig theres several threads on it here. there should be no pressure inside of a pot still and if proper cuts are made you will get a good flavorfull product to drink. now since these were pretty basic questions that are found throughout the site might i suggest that you step back and settle in for a little reading as while reading you will find answers to questions you didnt know you had or needed to ask that is why we have the required reading on the site hope this helps you out just remember we want all members to remain safe

[okie]

If you don't mind my 2 cents, I know times are tough and that pot for the money looks good but my first still was made from one of those. You would be much better served getting a pot with a thicker bottom. Either that or get a plate to fit under the pot like a diffuser plate.

[IlliniDistiller]

Couple of things: That pot is thin and the lid is even thinner. A 3" riser is a lot to put on there, and in my opinion too big. I would go 2". Cheaper all the way around, pipe and fittings. However, if you must, here's a a decent place with lots of fittings, including 3" to 1" reducers: http://www.pexsupply.com/Copper-Reducer ... ngs-135000. Liebigs are easy, especially with these parts: http://www.pexsupply.com/Cello-WPT-16-1 ... -1074000-p. That and some 1" and 3/4" and you're set. For length, 3' of 1" jacket is plenty long. You will probably have to file out the stops for the 3/4" though. They seem to have reasonable prices there, maybe not cheapest, but not the most expensive either. Just my $.02 worth.

[DrCrook]

Hi All,

Thanks for all of the replies, it has been very helpful. I have been reading constantly on all topics in this hobby lately and have made an order based on everybody's recommendations .

The boiler I purchased a 60 quart beer brewing pot with a false bottom and a sunken lid for ease of clipping. Unfortunately there are no pictures yet.

I decided to keep with a 3" column. 2" welded straight to the lid and has an easy flange on it. (I want to use the boiler for beer brewing too, so now I just put a hat on the small section of the column)

The rest of the column is 10" with an easy flange

I have a section that has a copper basket that is 3", this is for putting herbs/spices in for gin, it has easy flanges on both sides.

A 3" x 1-1/2" Reducer to a 1-1/2" 90 degree Elbow to a 1-1/2" x 1/2" 90 degree elbow reducer forms the top.

The Lieberg Condenser is 1/2" inner tube with a 3/4" jacket, using reducers to close off the 3/4" jacket and 2 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/2" T sections for hose connections.

Ill post some pictures when its done.