i am a complete newbie

[jess1982]

what is a thumper? and what purpose doe's it serve? and do i need copper mesh? inside the thumper for filtering? does it act like a holding area for sediments? and would i put anthing in it for better taste like oak before it hits the condenser? in chemistry we did'nt use one and we made vodka, science was great back then. but then again we sampled it and it was leaded glass so probably not too healthy. any help greatly appreciatted. thx jess.

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

Read the parent site. If you had done sufficient reading on the forum here as well as the parent you would know the answers to your questions. You would also know that you will not be spoon fed information that can be found in less then a minute with a simple search

[Bushman]

Thumpers can serve several purposes, read up on this thread site and you will get more details.
http://ww.w.homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=16

[bearriver]

Yup, this isn't the sort of hobby anyone can jump right into. Despite how exhilarating it can be first getting started. When in Rome do as the Romans do. Too many new members try new things just to have them fail. The tried and true recipes, and proven designs here are like information gold. Take it.

Read all of "the new distillers reading lounge" and the parent site. Also, don't forget the rules of the forum. All of this can be found on the index page. If you read all that stuff before getting started you will be ahead of most people that first get into this hobby.

Good luck mate!