Copper gauge

[a-donovan]

What is a propper gauge for making potstill thumpers? I have a line on some 22 gauge but thats like .055" seems thin to me ..

[shadylane]

I deleted the gage chart it was
*Birmingham Gauge Standard B.W.G.

[freaky_cutout]

Here is a table with some metric values for the rest of the world.

http://www.armstrongmetalcrafts.com/Ref ... eight.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[a-donovan]

Thanks for the input but my question was what thickness should i be using, i was thinking something along the .080 + range. This would involve me ordering in a full 4x8 sheet though..

[MichiganCornhusker]

I made a 25 gallon pot still from 16 oz copper sheet.
It's plenty strong and easy to work.
If I had it to do over, I would use a heavier gauge for the bottom, just for better heat dissipation, but this one works just fine and has held up very well after almost 2 years of pretty good use.

[corene1]

Deciding on the gauge of the material is directly related to the size of the vessel. If the vessel is small you can get away with lighter material than if it is a big boiler. . Beings it is a thumper you can use the same gauge throughout since no burner will be on the bottom of it. On a small vessel 16 ounce is good but if you go up to the 10 to 15 gallon range I would up that to 20 ounce. Here is a copper chart to check sizes .055 is pretty darned heavy copper, right at 48 ounce.