Need Help : Still Designs / Plans

[magnuson25]

Hello Everyone,

I have been distilling with a simple alembic pot still for the past 8 years and have decided that I want to take my hobby to the next level and try to build a still from scratch on my own. I have basic soldering and metal working skills so I am confident that I could make it work. My question is, does anyone know of any plans or step by step instruction son how to do it? I would like to build a still similar to the one in the picture.

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated

[Demy]

Do you want something bigger or want to change design?Some more info could help in the answer.

[magnuson25]

I would like something around that size. I would like to build something that can hold anywhere between 8-10 gallons of wash. Currently, I have an alembic pot still with a T500 boiler. It was what I purchased a while ago to just start practicing. I would like to do something a bit more advanced than what im currently running with a thumper incorporated.

This is the still I currently have

Ideally, I would like to build something like the pictures in my first post.

[Setsumi]

pintoshine posted plans of a 6 galon one in the potstil section and stillanoob has a thread with some videos in scaled to 12 galon.

[Boozewaves]

I have seen some plans/step by step instructions for something similar in a book which you can download for free , "moonshine recipes" by Matthew Rowley

https://b-ok.cc/book/2272251/373643

this thread is pretty interesting as well , good instructions for copper forming and some video's , might be something you'd incorporate into your design https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... ad9de6d6b/

[Andrew_90]

Just a question, do you plan on making flavored product exclusively or will you also want to make a neutral at any point?

Making what you posted still kind of limits you to what you can produce.

I started with a pot still and soon realised that without a reflux still that I was rather limited for my chosen products.

[Saltbush Bill]

I started with a pot still and soon realised that without a reflux still that I was rather limited for my chosen products.

Without one of each you will always be wishing you had the other. Both are different tools for different jobs.
If I had to pick only one, and had no choice but to use only one, it would be a good reflux still, VM or LM, It could be "detuned" and used as a pot still when need be, that way I would have the best of both worlds , but only one still......as it is I own 5 ...all have different purposes.

[Andrew_90]

You mean these more to distilling life after the a pot and reflux still .

Next move will be to replace my 30l SS boiler on the pot still to an all copper one, have these geyser already.

Then I want to venture into the coppersmithing world and make a very small Alembric style still to get my toes wet, probably in the 2l range. This for experimentation with flavored neutrals, specifically Gin's.

By then I would have neglected my household chores to such a degree that I will be forced to take a break and attend to the home.

[Ben]

Just put a big tri-clamp on top of your boiler, then you can have all the stills and only one pot