Home Distiller

Excellent! .016 copper sheet. Great heads up for the next guy working with DWV.

Time to start soldering!!! Fingers Crossed!!

Good luck man, if you have issues or need to isolate a small area to re solder.
A small piece of damp rag to either place down the vapor tubes not being resoldered helps. Can also drape it around other pieces.
Make sure you support your tubes from the underside as well, as the copper heats up at different rates I've hade tubes that were press fitted tight drop out.
Looking real good

Excellent Advice!! I appreciate it!! I've been thinking about different ways to isolate areas. I also think I'm going to stand it straight up to solder the vapor tubes in order to ensure that are even at the tapered end and don't slide on me.

Sporacle wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 4:20 pm Good luck man, if you have issues or need to isolate a small area to re solder.
A small piece of damp rag to either place down the vapor tubes not being resoldered helps. Can also drape it around other pieces.
Make sure you support your tubes from the underside as well, as the copper heats up at different rates I've hade tubes that were press fitted tight drop out.
Looking real good

I found upright for the tubes and I do them in one go, just may need to re flux between tubes

Sporacle wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 4:20 pm Make sure you support your tubes from the underside as well, as the copper heats up at different rates I've hade tubes that were press fitted tight drop out.

Had the baffle plates been solder in place before placing them in the tube, the end don't move during soldering..

Mars

StillerBoy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 5:40 pm

Sporacle wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 4:20 pm Make sure you support your tubes from the underside as well, as the copper heats up at different rates I've hade tubes that were press fitted tight drop out.

Had the baffle plates been solder in place before placing them in the tube, the end don't move during soldering..


Mars

Wasn't sure wether he had soldered all his tubes to his baffles, just trying to offer a bit of help and at the end of the day supporting the tubes does no harm and if someone else is reading this post when they build it might help them.

Nothing has been soldered yet..still have to cut the baffles into sections... Was just checking fit and seeing if I liked that angle for the taper

Ughhh.. finally got some time to do some more work on the shotgun. Cut the final baffle, ground them all to fit, and soldered up the vapor stack. I was a little concerned about the tight spacing and getting solder all the way around but it worked out and appears pretty solid (and not too ugly!!).

Tomorrow the plan is to solder the hose fittings, solder the vapor stack inside the water jacket, and if time permits solder the shim and ferrule. That will be the tricky part, I believe.

Really excited how this is turning out...fingers crossed it passes pressure testing.

Stay tuned!!

Looks great! Keep the updates coming!

Hey Guys!! Finally a Small but Important Update!
I got the vapor stack soldered inside the water jacket. I initially tried putting frozen pieces of a rag in the holes to keep their solder from melting, but it ended up not being necessary. So I had my son hold the torch and I spun the whole unit it got hot enough. I watched the solder from the vapor tubes closely and as soon as it started to turn from dull to bright I would back solder the cap joint and control the temp by adjust the distance of the water jacket to the flame so the tubes wouldn't get to hot. I also soldered pretty heavy because those joints won't be visible and more importantly, I wanted to be certain that I don't have any leaks. I ran out of solder so I still have to do the SS Ferrule and the hose connections, but I don't anticipate any issues. I'm getting really excited to see this thing finished and all shined up!!

Till next time!!

Nice work PJ.

Great-looking (and fun) project! Nice heat-management teamwork with your son, too.

Twisted Brick wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 7:44 pm Great-looking (and fun) project! Nice heat-management teamwork with your son, too.

I Appreciate it TB!! Your build was the biggest inspiration for me in my build.

PJ

She is Finished!!!! Super Pleased with how it turned out! Thank you to all of you who offered support and advice. Now to get on with the rest of the still build!! Stay Tuned!!!

Awesome job bud, it's always good to see a bit of flair go into the design

Lovely work you've done on this shotgun PJ, it's got a really professional finish to it I'm sure you are super pleased.

I've got a length of 2.5" copper hanging around from my CCVM column build and, since I read this build thread of yours I've been looking at it with side eyes and seeing a 2.5" shotgun on my pot still for stripping...
I don't NEED one, but then again I do have most of what is need already here.
Damn.

Good outcome PunkJunkie

Getting close spaced tubes is a challenge and you seem to have nailed it .

I always enjoy watching a building from copper. Thanks for sharing.

Thank You All So Much For The Kind Compliments!!

PuckJunkie76 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 12:12 pm Thank You All So Much For The Kind Compliments!!

Very nice work. Let us know how she drives. Have fun and stay safe

It's been awhile since you finished your condenser. Have you made and finished the rest of your still? I was just wondering if you did and ask that you share your work with us here in your build thread. Looking forward to seeing your results man.

Wildcats wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 2:53 am It's been awhile since you finished your condenser. Have you made and finished the rest of your still? I was just wondering if you did and ask that you share your work with us here in your build thread. Looking forward to seeing your results man.

Hey!! No, unfortunately, I've been too busy..but I'm buying some more copper hopefully this week to do the column and arm.

I just went through your build post and come to find out we have the same idea. I'm using the same T Fitting you have and the sight glass at the base and everything.. looks like we're building the exact same setups!!

That's great!! I know I'm very happy with my build. I'm sure you will be happy with your build as well. Looking forward to seeing you get it done. No pressure lol. Good luck man.

PuckJunkie76 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 9:25 pm Really excited how this is turning out...fingers crossed it passes pressure testing.

Awesome build PJ, some serious eye candy you made there

At what pressure do you typically test something like this?

Looks pretty sexy