Ok, so I bought a Vevor.. Now improving it

[Bristolian]

This end is where the difficulty lies..


Sorry, did I say difficulty? I meant 'challenge'

Davies base.jpg

I think I'll have to stub > sleeve > stub through the outer jacket reducer - there's not enough clearance to get a normal elbow on that, and a soft soldering iron job at that.

Or, I can cut a wedge down the reducer & the inner jacket, slide the pre-jointed pipe in & seal both with a saddle. Not the prettiest.

Like this, top view:

image.png

[MooseMan]

I think you're way overthinking this mate for a first build and for what's needed on that still.

Just build a nice long Liebig, with the thinnest water jacket you can, and you'll be good.

[Bristolian]

Well, the liebig's been 'built' for a week or so (wiring the vapour tube tomorrow), all thanks to your help and encouragement

For me, this is an obvious mod to the existing - way more simple than the stuff my brain was churning up. The physics means I can shorten the condenser considerably - like down to below 30CM.

It ties in exactly with my requirements - minimal condenser length for maximum effect. I've seen your shotgun build, and that's something I'd have to think very carefully about before even attempting that level of workmanship - this is my 'starter shotgun', I guess.

To me, it's equivalent to building a three-wheeled car and loading it with offsets and balanced weights to keep it from toppling over at the first corner, then *Ping, lightbulb!* realising that by adding just one more wheel, I can remove a whole load of unnecessary weight.

[Yummyrum]

Just be away that if you stick a pipe inside another , you significantly reduce the available area . So the vapour speed will increase considerably . This means it has less dwell time to be condensed meaning the whole condenser may need to be longer to compensate .

For example , a 1/2” inner inside a 3/4” surrounded by 1” wouldn’t work as well as a 1/2” inside a 1” surrounded by a 1.25”

Also as Moose said , the thiner the water jacket on the outer , whether it be liebig or Davies seems to make a more efficient condenser .

Also , have you considered copper capillary fittings . They don’t have the big bulge on them like the ones yiu have been using so might fit better for you

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[Saltbush Bill]

Maybe this thread should have been named
" It would have been easier to buy a keg and build a still from scratch"

[Bristolian]

I'm not a physicist, but the maths & experience of others here that have built these say the efficiency of a Davies-style condenser is very impressive.

the Punkindenser from 2008

WalkinWolf's triple wall 2011, courtesy of LWTCS

Googe's 2012

lampshade's 2013

Jedneck's 2014

Brutal's 2014

And they're sold all over the place as lab kit more efficient than Liebigs.


However, you're all correct that I'm overdoing it for this still - so I'm going to knock up the Liebig as proposed, just so I can get some cooking done!

I will, however, keep working to design & simplify my version of a Davies condenser while the Vevor's a-bubblin'

Once it's underway, I'll start a new thread in the Cooling section

have you considered copper capillary fittings . They don’t have the big bulge on them like the ones yiu have been using so might fit better for you

Yup, I totally agree - end feed is a must here, extremely reduced clearance. I'm also thinking of pipe-to-pipe soldering

[Bristolian]

Maybe this thread should have been named
" It would have been easier to buy a keg and build a still from scratch"

AFAIK, over here they're like gold dust; you pretty much have to nick them or be extremely lucky at a scrapyard.

[CuriousRay]

AFAIK, over here they're like gold dust; you pretty much have to nick them or be extremely lucky at a scrapyard.

https://www.siba.co.uk/awpcp/show-ad/?id=48422

[Bristolian]

AFAIK, over here they're like gold dust; you pretty much have to nick them or be extremely lucky at a scrapyard.

https://www.siba.co.uk/awpcp/show-ad/?id=48422

Thanks!

"Sale does not include forklift"

[Yummyrum]

Thats the way to go .

Damn , 30litre keg . …..now they are like rocking horse shit In Aussie .Some of those would be perfect for thumpers . Thats an awesome price .

Down here , 50 and 80 litre kegs are real common .

[CuriousRay]

I'm not sure if you need to buy all 90, but if you do, you still don't get the forklift

[Bristolian]

Oh damn, lost my HSS bit set. Not surprising, considering the state of my workshop these days - another job for the warmer months.

Off to the hardware shops we go..

[greggn]

Damn , 30litre keg . …..now they are like rocking horse shit In Aussie .

This phrase has me stumped. Do you mean "rare", "mythical", or maybe "unheard of" ?

[Bristolian]

Damn , 30litre keg . …..now they are like rocking horse shit In Aussie .

This phrase has me stumped. Do you mean "rare", "mythical", or maybe "unheard of" ?

You might know it better as 'rare as hen's teeth'

[greggn]

Damn , 30litre keg . …..now they are like rocking horse shit In Aussie .

This phrase has me stumped. Do you mean "rare", "mythical", or maybe "unheard of" ?

You might know it better as 'rare as hen's teeth'

Ah, thanks.

(I'm always learning stuff here)

[Bristolian]

Jesus H. Christ..

Either I'm weak as a kitten, or some bastard deliberately snuck into my house while I was out and spiked my lid with some Alloy From Hell.

[I suspect the answer is (a)]

I've spent the last hour literally standing on the drill to get the cobalt bit to bite (slow & oiled..) so I could get the pilot hole, then I had to get the hole punch in the biggest vice I had while I whacked the Allen key with a club hammer.

Stainless steel is pure evil.

But....!!!

Ta-dahhhh...

The hole punch finish is lovely.

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Time for a large drink.

[MooseMan]

Yeah it's a bastard to drill and cut.

But you now have a great solid lid fitting, good start!

[Yummyrum]

Thats a good outcome Bristilian .

If you ever need to drill stainless again , a trick I use is to make a mote around the area out of Blu tack or plastercine . Get a garden hose to dribble water into it .
The thing that makes drilling SS so hard is the drills immediately heat up and loose their edge meaning you have to push harder so they smoke and get hotter making things even worse .

By keeping the drill bit cool , they cut SS like butter .

IMG_3853.jpeg

[Bristolian]

That's a damn neat trick

[Bristolian]

I'm really stoopid. I can't count.

So, I went to solder the spiral of 3mm copper wire around my liebig vapour tube.

I played nice & careful, got the water flow points both in & out marked so I wouldn't foul them:

Lined up the joints - First marked with scribe, then thought - duh, marker pen is easier to see. Quite tricky with 3 pieces turning at once.

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Plan Ahead - Make Sure It Fits..

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Ahhhhhhh, crap. 1mm over in total. WTF..

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Check

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Check

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Uhh.. hang on. Oh, you complete tw*t.


15mm inner going into 1mm thick 22mm outer DOES NOT EQUAL 6mm total clearance.... D'OH!!

Two choices:

(1) Wait until my chonk of polished steel arrives and heat/bash 0.5mm off the existing (not a bad idea if I can keep it regular - more surface area for solder

(2) Find a supplier of 2.5mm wire...

[MooseMan]

Just to get this clear mate, you're doing this on your Liebig yes?

When you say vapour tube, you mean coolant jacket?
The wire will be inside the water jacket and the vapour will go down the inner.

[Bristolian]

Just to get this clear mate, you're doing this on your Liebig yes?

When you say vapour tube, you mean coolant jacket?
The wire will be inside the water jacket and the vapour will go down the inner.

Yup, the liebig.

Soldering a spiral around the outside of the inner vapour tube, so the water travels around the tube, not straight up.

Like the Davies, but without the Cold Finger bit

[Bristolian]

The Slow Boat order arrived!

A thing of beauty! (moulded from pure evil )

WhatsApp Image 2026-02-23 at 15.16.14.jpeg

[MooseMan]

That's it, nice and easy and solid as it needs to be.

Now you have a base to add and remove whatever you decide.

If you wanted at this point, you could literally add 2 elbows and a Liebig, and call it done.

[Bristolian]

'Turbulator' lining. Bit squiffy, should have marked the turns in advance.

It was 'soft' wire, but I cut off about a third more than I needed, straightened & annealed it, spot-soldered and end just beyond where I wanted the coil to start - bad move, not enough hands, see below - then wrapped the coil in the spiral I was after, and the remainder wrapped close & tight at the end to hold the required coil as tight as I could get it.

Tip: start soldering from the centre > outward. Much easier to have tight coils snug in a vice - more free hands

Also, just occurred to me, coil first on a slightly smaller pipe, then 'screw on' to your actual pipe - much tighter, neater fit.

I then spot-soldered a couple of coil points at a time in the vice, turned it around and did the other side, then moved up the pipe until the end, snipping off the spare when done.

Also, the solder follows the spiral pretty well if you drown it in flux. I reckon I sealed about 80% or more of the wire to the tube.

Not a perfect fit yet, so gently sanding it

WhatsApp Image 2026-02-23 at 18.21.24.jpeg

[Bristolian]

That's it, nice and easy and solid as it needs to be.

Now you have a base to add and remove whatever you decide.

If you wanted at this point, you could literally add 2 elbows and a Liebig, and call it done.

It's my 'options' fitting

Easy to whack a gin basket on their to keep her ladyship happy!

[Bristolian]

About an hour of sanding, testing & drinking cold beer later..

Fits in nice and squeaky. Dry assembly again for the remainder - all ready to rock, but I can leave that for tomorrow.

Here's the extremely teetering dry fit. Once it's all soldered, I'll be putting in a slightly higher riser & adding two struts of flattened old pipe to support the liebig, so the end will sit a further 10-15cm higher than shown

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[MooseMan]

Cracking looking still head that!

[Bristolian]

Cracking looking still head that!

All thanks to you guys for the encouragement to get over those mental hurdles

Just ordered some proper stainless washers for the bulkhead, will wrap in PTFE.

Wife's home tomorrow, but still got the rest of the week off to fiddle & faff. Should have the steam/vinegar & sacrificial done by the weekend.

[higgins]

I would consider making that still head in 3 pieces, adding triclamp ferrules between:
1st from still up to the joint between the first two 45s
2nd from there to the reducer fitting before the liebig
3rd from the reducer to the end of the liebig.

This will make it easier to clean and store.