New column for my pot still

[corene1]

What to do when you don't have a wash to run on Friday night or whiskey to blend . Make a new column! I had a piece of sheet copper laying around and have been wanting to make a new column for my pot still so I did , I am wanting to add a little more length to my existing column as it is only about 20 inches tall. This is what I have so far . I will join it to my 4 inch column tomorrow . I am going to leave 6 to 8 inches of the straight 4 inch and add in the new tapered column. It is a total of 26 inches so it will be 32 inches overall. it flares from 4 inch to 5 inch then tapers back to a 3/4 outlet . I will plumb it from there to my thumper and condenser with 3/4 inch copper tube. Making the tapered tube really tested me. I need to work on my metal forming skills, but I think it looks pretty good for only having my hands and a wooden mallet to work with.

[googe]

I'd say there's absolutely nothing wrong with your forming skills mate!, outstanding work! . I'd kill to have skills like that!. Well done!.

[F6Hawk]

Should be in a stillin' museum somewhere. Nice work, corene!

[corene1]

Should be in a stillin' museum somewhere. Nice work, corene!

Thanks F6 but I am not that old. I really like the old style look and from what I can tell from articles I have read it should lighten up the spirits a bit. Almost all of the whiskey stills in Scotland and Ireland are tall and tapered so I thought I would give it a try. If it doesn't work well I can go back to my old column. I guess I am just a tinkering person at heart, but I like to experiment with things.

[corene1]

Day 2
I got it all plumbed up and am doing my cleanout runs this afternoon. Looks like I need a bigger pot now, this one is only 9 gallons.

[Halfbaked]

Wow now that's nice! Get you a bigger pot and use that one as the thumper. Nice job!

[midwest shinner]

Beautiful work corene, great job on the tapering, I'm sure that was pretty tough. I have problems getting prefabbed copper pipe together at times cool idea having the thumper on the stand, never seen one like that

[corene1]

Thank you , I appreciate the compliment.The tapered tube really tested my patience , that is for sure. I annealed the copper sheet and used an old wood baseball bat as a mandrel after cutting the butt off. The rest was just hand work and adjustable screw type hose clamps. I can hardly wait to get it running again to see what comes out. At least I can finally use the turbo yeast I got from my friend at the local brew house for something constructive. Making a sugar wash with it for a sacrificial run tomorrow. I really won't mind throwing that stuff away!

[redmud]

Awesome work I like it! Let us know how it runs?

[corene1]

I will absolutely keep you posted. I am going to start another mash series tomorrow. It is a modified all grain with molasses wash that I have run with that still in it's old configuration so I will have something equal to compare this column to. Then I guess I will have to do some serious taste testing . Sounds good to me!

[Samohon]

Very nice build corene1.
Stay safe...

[midwest shinner]

I use turbo yeast for the same thing corene and only for the sacrificial runs. May i suggest that even though you won't be consuming it, to try only using a half a package of the turbo for a 5 or 6 gallon wash so you don't get any funny off smells in the wash. I just don't like the idea of running a stinky wash thru a nice brand new still. Its just my opinion though

[Oxbo Rene]

Yep, very nice ! ! ! ! !

[slow trickle]

Good looking set up you have there. One of these days I would like to try my hand at building my own. If I could have only half the success some of you have had it would be great.

[Prairiepiss]

Could someone upload those pics to HD. So those of us that can't see hosted pics can see it? Uploading to HD works so much better.

[corene1]

Could someone upload those pics to HD. So those of us that can't see hosted pics can see it? Uploading to HD works so much better.

I would do that except I don't know how. I can build stuff but computer stuff whips me every time. Does photobucket have a way to do that?

[Hoodlums Hooch]

Nice rig Corene. Where did you learn how to do your copper work from...just curious?

[corene1]

Nice rig Corene. Where did you learn how to do your copper work from...just curious?

I learned it from my father, he was a welder and I used to go work with him as a child so I grew up quite differently from my sisters. I work at a welding and machine shop now so I have picked up a lot of things from there, but am just learning about copper.

[corene1]

Could someone upload those pics to HD. So those of us that can't see hosted pics can see it? Uploading to HD works so much better.

It just dawned on me. I have been trying to figure out how to post pictures in(HD) High Definition . but in actuality you want them posted to(HD) Home distillers . I swear I am not blond!
I thought this was Homedistillers. Is there another place to post these pictures?

[corene1]

Awesome work I like it! Let us know how it runs?

Just finished my sacrificial run and I am very happy with the results. I ran it with the thumper and got 5 quarts of ?????? I understand about turbo yeast now. It stinks but it was a quick way to make something to throw away, plus the stuff was given to me. Any ways It ran 5 quarts at 83% ,80%, 75%, 65%, 50% , I should have checked the ABV of the wash so I could have gotten a % of alcohol in the wash . It finished at .990 but I not sure what the actual start was. I got in a hurry. I think those are some good numbers for a pot still though even if the wash started at 20% . With my original column I would only get those kind of numbers with a spirit run so I think I am going in the right direction, and it was all very clear , no hazing whatsoever. Now to get busy with some good all grain mash!

[FightnFive]

Here ya go PP

[corene1]

P8020025.jpg

P8030027.jpg

Here ya go PP

Thank you so much for the image post . I have been trying for the last hour trying to figure it out . Do you go to the upload attachment bar on the bottom of the post? That was going to be my next try.

[FightnFive]

Thank you so much for the image post . I have been trying for the last hour trying to figure it out . Do you go to the upload attachment bar on the bottom of the post? That was going to be my next try.

Yup. Click upload attachment ->select file -> upload file -> click "place inline" and post.