Buying Directly From China.

[AB-Rad]

I did a search I saw people talking about buying parts from oak stills, but I am thinking about buying a complete still from them for about 4 grand and just a little nervous about handing over that sort of money to some company who has no US representation. IS there anyone here with any experience spending big money with them and can talk me through the process please, or any other Chinese company you have experience with.
Thanks

[MooseMan]

4 grand!?!!?!

How big is the still!? :-0

[Yummyrum]

This tale from MtRainier is a real eye opener .

viewtopic.php?p=7558918&sid=f001b5004f7 ... b#p7558918

[Twisted Brick]

AB-Rad, whatcha planning on making with the new still?

[harold01]

I did a search I saw people talking about buying parts from oak stills, but I am thinking about buying a complete still from them for about 4 grand and just a little nervous about handing over that sort of money to some company who has no US representation. IS there anyone here with any experience spending big money with them and can talk me through the process please, or any other Chinese company you have experience with.
Thanks

Go to the Alibaba website, put in a request for tender, describe what you are wanting and wait for all the tenders to come in
Choose the one you want, pay through Alibaba and your money is safe, you will be refunded if the supplier does not supply the goods

[tjsc5f]

I've purchased several smaller components from Oakstills. If I had more disposable income, I would have no fears in forking over ~$2500 for the 100L, double jacketed boiler/agitator from them.

[tommysb]

I recently bought parts from OakStills, no problems (spool, reducers, clamps etc - nothing as big as a boiler).

They were able to use a shipping option where import duties were already covered. Shipping took a long time (6 weeks?), but the price for everything was known upfront. I would have confidence handing over something like 4k usd to them if I wanted an order that large.

[Powder Monkey]

I’ll echo the experience with oak stills. I bought an agitator and various spools, reducers etc. Total was under the $800 customs limit and everything showed up faster than I anticipated, was well made and well packaged. Peter actually refunded part of my order on his own accord as he noticed a combined shipping that was included in the agitator price, but hadn’t applied to the total order. I hadn’t noticed it. So I was initially hesitant to fork over $ to a Chinese PayPal account but now have complete confidence and would order again.

[Morning Wood]

I have not worked with Oak Stills, however we have worked with and continue to work with DYE out of China. We are opening later this year and ordered our still, cooker and 4 fermenters from them. Ian Smiley is one of their distilling consultants and he personally reached out to us to discuss our needs.

[TwoSheds]

I also ordered a bunch of parts, approaching $1k US from Oak Stills and got everything on time no problem. The only negative i could say is their 3" tri-clamp seems just a hare outside of standard, but I've made it work.

[Tōtōchtin]

Peter at oak stills has deliveried on all counts . He made good on an order that was more my problem than his.
Toto

[AB-Rad]

I did a search I saw people talking about buying parts from oak stills, but I am thinking about buying a complete still from them for about 4 grand and just a little nervous about handing over that sort of money to some company who has no US representation. IS there anyone here with any experience spending big money with them and can talk me through the process please, or any other Chinese company you have experience with.
Thanks

Go to the Alibaba website, put in a request for tender, describe what you are wanting and wait for all the tenders to come in
Choose the one you want, pay through Alibaba and your money is safe, you will be refunded if the supplier does not supply the goods

thanks i will go check it out

[AB-Rad]

4 grand!?!!?!

How big is the still!? :-0

26 gallon jacakted

[AB-Rad]

This tale from MtRainier is a real eye opener .

viewtopic.php?p=7558918&sid=f001b5004f7 ... b#p7558918

This is exactly what i was looking for. Thanks a bunch

[AB-Rad]

AB-Rad, whatcha planning on making with the new still?

all sorts of goodies on the grain and fruit and etc no more straining and clearing because i am lazy:)

[MooseMan]

Thanks for reply Rad.

That's a lot of money for a 100L still.
I totally get that it's jacketed so there's much more involved, but could you not buy a jacketed vessel and build one from there?

Not everyone enjoys the build process I suppose, and just wants a working unit out of the box, so these companies exist for that reason.

[harold01]

My 100L insulated was $2045 USD, ended up about 4K landed

[AB-Rad]

Thanks for reply Rad.

That's a lot of money for a 100L still.
I totally get that it's jacketed so there's much more involved, but could you not buy a jacketed vessel and build one from there?

Not everyone enjoys the build process I suppose, and just wants a working unit out of the box, so these companies exist for that reason.

I looked around for a jacketed pot but cheapest i found was 3k just for the pot nothing else.

[Powder Monkey]

Just wanted to mention when I was pondering my setup upgrade I was looking at jacketed stuff but the price was out of my budget. I ended up buying an extra pot and made a steam injector for on the grain runs. Very happy on the performance for less cost. Extra 26g pot plus parts plus agitator and I’m in it for $1300ish. Plus can do thump runs so it is versatile. I posted pics in the steam build forum.

[AB-Rad]

Just wanted to mention when I was pondering my setup upgrade I was looking at jacketed stuff but the price was out of my budget. I ended up buying an extra pot and made a steam injector for on the grain runs. Very happy on the performance for less cost. Extra 26g pot plus parts plus agitator and I’m in it for $1300ish. Plus can do thump runs so it is versatile. I posted pics in the steam build forum.

I am not that handy, but post some pictures lets see what you did
Please and thank you

[Powder Monkey]

viewtopic.php?t=91741

In the scene of fabrication I can solder but not much more so I did as much plug and play/triclamp/threaded fittings. One piece needed welding for the injector interface where the 2” triclamp to 1” threaded reducer welded onto the underside of the 2”-4” reducer cap at the top of the injector T. (Not sure if that makes sense) I have a buddy that handled that.

[oluf]

I am happy with my experience with Oakstills. They were very accommodating. Don't be afraid to ask for customization. Surprisingly affordable and quality work. They also sent progress pictures which was really cool. I had never imported anything before and that was an experience in itself! I used a broker. Be sure to wait for the export/customs documents from Oakstills before you make claims about value.

[GABrew]

This is such a helpful thread. I am in the process of considering a new rig and was looking at both Hooloo and Yohoyama from Aliexpress. The Hooloo setup is about $2k, but if it's really $4k by the time I consider all the freight forward and shipping and tarrif and all that .. it's a no go for me. Whereas the Yohoyama stuff seems equitable (SEEMS) but I think at $2k the shipping is included.

I'll keep reading, researching, asking questions and when I get to the point I actually place an order, maybe I'll start a new thread to help others who may be in a similar situation.

Thanks!
Chris

[Salt Must Flow]

This is such a helpful thread. I am in the process of considering a new rig and was looking at both Hooloo and Yohoyama from Aliexpress. The Hooloo setup is about $2k, but if it's really $4k by the time I consider all the freight forward and shipping and tarrif and all that .. it's a no go for me. Whereas the Yohoyama stuff seems equitable (SEEMS) but I think at $2k the shipping is included.

I'll keep reading, researching, asking questions and when I get to the point I actually place an order, maybe I'll start a new thread to help others who may be in a similar situation.

Thanks!
Chris

It might help if you list links to the exact still/stills you're talking about. For instance, I've read where people have pointed out design flaws with certain bubble plates/bubble caps. If one design is better than the other, it might be worth knowing before buying. Also people may be able to point out certain aspects of one still that you may not have considered.

[GABrew]

It might help if you list links to the exact still/stills you're talking about. For instance, I've read where people have pointed out design flaws with certain bubble plates/bubble caps. If one design is better than the other, it might be worth knowing before buying. Also people may be able to point out certain aspects of one still that you may not have considered.

Totally agreed. I didn't want to hijack this thread, so when I get closer to making a decision, I'll start my own thread. I'm positive there are valuable opinions and experiences from members here that I would want to know about before pulling the trigger.

The two manufacturers that I'm looking at now are Hooloo and Yohoyama. But I'm still very early in my research. Maybe I'll just go ahead and start my thread and see where it goes. Thanks Salt!

Chris

[tjsc5f]

The two manufacturers that I'm looking at now are Hooloo and Yohoyama. But I'm still very early in my research.

If you haven't looked at Oakstills yet, check them out. Yesterday I received a 100L jacketed potbelly still from them that I ordered through their website back in July. I got it all uncrated and it looks great, but I haven't tried it out yet. Shipping to my door was all included in the price listed on the website, so there were no hidden or unexpected fees.

[oluf]

If you haven't looked at Oakstills yet, check them out. Yesterday I received a 100L jacketed potbelly still from them that I ordered through their website back in July.

That looks awesome! I am really curious how you end up running it. Are you going to start a thread?

[tjsc5f]

That looks awesome! I am really curious how you end up running it. Are you going to start a thread?

Maybe, if I do it will be something similar to what @MtRainier did here:
viewtopic.php?t=74198

There's still a few things I need to figure out and order. Not as many people running boilers like this at the hobby level so it's a bit harder to find all the info and options.

[GABrew]

THis is awesome. In my conversations with "Hooloo" on AliExpress, they suggested a boiler that looks just like the one you posted. Here is a
link: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568046 ... 4itemAdapt

Sure is beautiful. But I don't know anything about running a jacketed boiler, and I'm still trying to get a firm grip on exactly what kind of expense is involved in getting that thing here. I can't afford to find myself in a situation where my $2k purchase suddenly turns into $4k.
Thanks!
Chris

[tjsc5f]

Your link shows free shipping, I wouldn't worry about additional costs on that item. It's when you buy off of websites like Alibaba where you have to set up the shipping, deal with customs etc where the extra costs start adding up.