FLUTE TALK

[Kentucky shinner]

Great results PD, and great record keeping.. Thank you for posting this.. You have done some really nice work...
congrats.. you should be grinnin big time..
KS

[Rum Bum]

Thanks for posting more pics, that's a great lookin' flute brizzy, the glass is so clear. I wish someone knew where to get 3" brass ones.

A+ craftsmanship

RB

[exon]

+1 more !

Excellent write up and what a nice looking unit!
Tnx!
exon

[Samohon]

Thanks for the test-run log prdbrissy... an the stills a bute also...

Another flute hits the ranks on HD... Good luck te ya....

[prdbrissy]

Thanks for the praise Guy's
This is the result of a team effort. The design came from the efforts of you all on this thread. I just flavored it to my taste and did the metal work.
I hope my efforts have contributed to this hobby and the next person that builds a Flute.
Regards

[radiatorboy]

i'm thinking of builting a flute it will be a 10 plate but able to be pull apart into a 6 and 4. i plan on doing it has soon has i get payed from a friend that i done a rebuilt on her motor. i was thinking has any wraped there flute to insulate it?

[olddog]

i'm thinking of builting a flute it will be a 10 plate but able to be pull apart into a 6 and 4.

Here is one I prepared earlier, same configuration.

OD

[radiatorboy]

hey i saw that one and plan on one the same. why the big spacing between the boiler and the first plate

[olddog]

hey i saw that one and plan on one the same. why the big spacing between the boiler and the first plate

Two reasons, firstly I have seen a report from a commercial distiller stating that a cleaner flavor profile is obtained from plates at the top of the column rather than the bottom, true or false I can't say.
Secondly, the column has to be that height to have enough space for the graham condenser and parrot assembly.



OD

[Kentucky shinner]

Can the Flute Builders start a thread on making cuts with a flute.
Thanks for all the great reading

I think you will find the flute does a really good job of compressing your cuts. use your taste and smell. When you learn to controll the water to the dephlagamater it will almost make the tails cut for you. For the heads I rub a little on my gums.. when the burn starts to go away I know im getting close to the hearts.
Maybe this will help a little.,
KS

[RayDean]

Secondly, the column has to be that height to have enough space for the graham condenser and parrot assembly.

OD

OD, think therewould be any problem hydraulically with moving the graham or shotgun condenser higher than the top of the column by a few inches to give more room for the parrot/tabletop?

[Austin Nichols]

I dunno maybe it's just me, but I like the idea of having room for the vapor to move before it hits the first plate in the column, so I use about 900mm column for a five plate setup even tho the plates are high in the column and only 100mm apart.

Then there's the bling/wow factor to take into consideration

[olddog]

To my way of thinking, each plate is a point of reflux and re-distillation, the plates are spaced 100mm apart. It then seems logical that the top plate should be 100mm below the dephlegmater, which itself is a point of reflux.


OD

[rad14701]

To my way of thinking, each plate is a point of reflux and re-distillation, the plates are spaced 100mm apart. It then seems logical that the top plate should be 100mm below the dephlegmater, which itself is a point of reflux.


OD

I'd be inclined to agree with that line of thinking... Keep the spacing equal throughout... However, I don't see any benefit in having an equal amount of space below the bottom plate as every bit of vapor below it will be at boiler head space vapor strength... The amount of additional rising vapor passing the falling condensate, which will be mostly water, will have little ability to release any residual ethanol so it would server mainly as aesthetic appeal... The same goes for any additional spacing above the top plate, beyond plate to plate spacing...

[likkerluvver]

To my way of thinking, each plate is a point of reflux and re-distillation, the plates are spaced 100mm apart. It then seems logical that the top plate should be 100mm below the dephlegmater, which itself is a point of reflux.

..... However, I don't see any benefit in having an equal amount of space below the bottom plate as every bit of vapor below it will be at boiler head space vapor strength... The amount of additional rising vapor passing the falling condensate, which will be mostly water, will have little ability to release any residual ethanol so it would server mainly as aesthetic appeal.....

Might there be some advantage in having a large space below the bottom plate when stillin' rums and other washes which are prone to puking

[LWTCS]

Might there be some advantage in having a large space below the bottom plate when stillin' rums and other washes which are prone to puking

I don't think it would hurt. Expansion chamber or the like. In my case I have the in-line thumper.

Has any one tried to get their bubbler to puke yet for the sake of observation?

[Barney Fife]

Has any one tried to get their bubbler to puke yet for the sake of observation?

Yup. Twice! Once on a regular rum wash, and again last night on an all-feints(heads and tails and questionable hearts) run. Not positive it was a true "puking" as I've seen with the short pot still column/lyne arm, or if it was a completely flooded column(damn thing must hold well over a gallon, if not 2!), but she was pushin' out liquid in a big, BIG hurry! Luckily I was there each time to catch it all and shut 'er down. I need me one of these little windows in my column so's to see what really happened...

[radiatorboy]

well i think i will leave a bigger space between the boiler and the first plate then between the other plates. i plan on doing rums and if theres a chance it might help the overall falvor then why not. So i take it no one insulate there flute, i was thinking it would help with making neutral in 10 plate mode.

[kerinin]

So i take it no one insulate there flute, i was thinking it would help with making neutral in 10 plate mode.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that insulation would really help a flute due to the volume of condensate on each tray. Because there's a much larger quantity of liquid in a flute column than in a typical packed column, more heat transfer is needed to cause changes in temperature. There's also a lower surface-to-volume ratio in the column, which means that less heat is being transferred per unit of liquid. Temperature fluctuations (breezes or doors opening and closing) might mess with a skinny packed column, but shouldn't have any impact in a flute full of condensate.

On the other hand, running it without insulation does mean you're loosing heat to the atmosphere, so if you were really concerned about your energy costs it might make sense to insulate the column.

[Centimeter]

Argh, I leave for a bit thinking all is well with my pot still and VM column. No more money and time being spent on building stils, just plain making and enjoying. Then I think, hey let me see what's up with the forum. Bam! Flutes. Thanks to you Old Dog et al, I will soon be out thousands of dollars and hours... Jerk...

Seriously though, I'm stunned. This whole thing caught me off guard. I literally spent an entire day reading this whole thread cover to cover (I should've been doing other stuff!). Amazing work everyone who's developed this. You guys are true artisans and have really brought this forum to the next level.

[blind drunk]

Do flute operators do the little jar cuts like the regular folks do, or is it a single run with just big cuts

[Austin Nichols]

Do flute operators do the little jar cuts like the regular folks do, or is it a single run with just big cuts

I use small jars until I know heads are taken, then switch to bigger bottles for the rest of the run, the tails cut is obvious so I just switch out to big jug and strip the rest.

[olddog]

Argh, I leave for a bit thinking all is well with my pot still and VM column. No more money and time being spent on building stils, just plain making and enjoying. Then I think, hey let me see what's up with the forum. Bam! Flutes. Thanks to you Old Dog et al, I will soon be out thousands of dollars and hours... Jerk..

Yes Centimeter, I am the guilty one who started all of this.
But before you start burning copper, I am about to release a new Super Flute design, It will still use a 4"column and sight glasses, but the internals are completely different, and has a few more whistles and bells.
A prototype has been built, and with just two plates it achieves 90+ABV with flavor and potstill speed with a single distillation. I am currently building a four plate version which should be the bees knees.
I have been working with Samohon, who is creating a full set of working plans and renders, and it will be released on the forum shortly.


OD

[condensificator]

...b.t.w...i finally got a bit of time to work on my bubbler this week. stoked. the gears are turning again. got 7 out of 10 sections brazed, polished and ready for plates. have 100% of the parts and supplies to finish, and just got a ton of work done which will leave me time to get it all finished. i'll be in the club soon.

[prdbrissy]

Do flute operators do the little jar cuts like the regular folks do, or is it a single run with just big cuts

My fute is only new so i collect the start and end of the run in 100ml lots till I figure out what's going on in there. I go to just cutting when I know how to drive it.
Regards

[LWTCS]

The cuts just happen with different volumes BD. If your running the same recipe couple times and are real familiar....you can easily get a feel for when the changes occur and can even size your jars accordingly.

Multiple thermos would prolly give you a real good heads up before the transition even made it to the discharge

[Samohon]

...well let's have it OD!!! why hold back on us now?

All will be revealed mate, OD and I know the level of expertise there is on HD with flute design. We also know that the membership will pull it apart inside out at a level of critique, and that's what we're after. We just want to be sure that we have covered every angle with this internal plate methodology. This design has come at the right time for me, having just acquired 1.5M of 4", so glad I held off. OD and I have brainstormed this for 2 weeks now, polishing where things should go to make way for new methods added.. We are about ready to launch the design in a few days, we will give you proven plans of this design along with alternate solutions should the membership want to customise further...

I know your itching condensificator, but IMO, OD has a design here that tops the flute, so hang on to any stock you may have a little longer...

We will probably launch a new thread and link from here...
I'll also put the design into a pdf file as this can be viewed at Hi-Res with no loss to the bandwidth of the site..

Hint: It's a lot cheaper on the materials bill and existing flute's could be modified to accommodate this...

'sorry my cel''''s cracking up pproaching this tunnnneeeellll....'

[exon]

The Ten Plate is magnificent, OD!

I can't wait to see the Super Flute you are working on with Samohon...

Best
exon

[W.S.C.beachman]

OK OK OK....this is killin me!!!!
I got 3ft x2" of copper pipe. I was going to make a Bok, but now I am sooooo sold on this flute. Old Dog when you release can you let me know what to change for a smaller diam. flute. I run a tiny 6 gall(4 realistically) still. The Bok was going to be for my vodkas and gins. What I really wanted the flute for doing rums and whiskeys. I would like to get 120proof(aging strength) in one shot. Right now my column is about 14"x2" so technically I could make two setups.

[Samohon]

OK guy's, just hang on a bit more... I have been given the honour by OD to launch the new design and am working on it flat out...
Got a few days off work to have an umbilical hernia tuck (surgery) on Saturday... I'm recovering well from my minor surgery and working on the design to get it finished this week sometime... I know your all eager to start brainstorming this. We are also designing a valve system that can be made quite easily with a $10 tap and die set, will help bring the cost of the still down... Also adding a flute cleaning system that can be turned on after the run has finished to flush out your still to the boiler with the turn of a handle... We want to try and give you a complete set of plans and images that have been approved by Olddog as I am only the apprentice and the flute master sleeps when I'm awake...

Later we will add some other bells and whistles to make this design as compact and easy to run as possible. I'm eager to get mine built also but the plans and illustrations are very important to the successful outcome this build will bring. The conceptual design was put into practice last year when OD built the magic flute and proved that a perf plate could work in a scaled down version of a commercial still. Yes there were teething problems, but the feasibility, IMO, was already proven. Some loved the simplistic design so much that they went on to build many many flutes for people who wanted to be a part of this new innovation in home distillation. Others were sceptic, perforated plate versus bubble-caps versus valve-caps, etc; only to be converted later, whilst others remained adamant about the arguments over the differing theories connected to each plate design. Opinions and preferences are what make us unique, some members want neutral, some whiskey/rums. This design has already been proven by OD and those of you who have followed its development will know that OD's Stumpy still with 2 plates installed produced a distillate on par with the larger flutes...

The Stumpy technology that OD used has been harnessed into this design and is proven beyond doubt...

Wont be too much longer, bear with us...