Interesting Still Plans
Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 10:16 am
I saw some video clips of a Russian man on youtube and thought they were kind of interesting, from a novice standpoint anyway. On his site he offered plans and instructional DVDs so I bought one out of curiosity. I'm not associated with him in any way, but I thought I'd mention him here so if anyone is interested they can check him out too.
http://www.ferromit.com/25Lstill.html
The ordered DVD arrived to the east coast of USA from NZ seven days after placing order, so he ships fast if nothing else. The still(s) he offers instruction for appear to be a modified commercial plans down scaled for home use. In fact his background is in large scale vodka production, so this makes sense. I'm building a different type of still, but I thought his ideas were very interesting. The DVD also has over 1000 pictures so there is little that isn't documented visually. Via pictures and video he takes you through a stripping run and a spirit run, leaving nothing out. I feel that seeing the overall process helped me get a better understanding more quickly than would have otherwise been the case. And since I'm kind of an engineering geek, I always like looking at other peoples toys.
His still is all SS, and he even fabricates the boiler.
His approach to the actual distilling is very scientific. Maybe too scientific, as he does his cuts by time and volume based on pre run calcs. His still incorporates several features that will give some folks here nightmares too, such as PVC valves and plastic in the product stream, and silicone gaskets in parts of the boiler. But overall I thought it was worth the money just to see his technique and pictures of all the different pieces of gear that went into making his still. Watching him machine a few parts from scratch also makes me happy to be in the US where I can get pretty much anything "off the shelf" if I know where to look.
Hope this helps someone.
http://www.ferromit.com/25Lstill.html
The ordered DVD arrived to the east coast of USA from NZ seven days after placing order, so he ships fast if nothing else. The still(s) he offers instruction for appear to be a modified commercial plans down scaled for home use. In fact his background is in large scale vodka production, so this makes sense. I'm building a different type of still, but I thought his ideas were very interesting. The DVD also has over 1000 pictures so there is little that isn't documented visually. Via pictures and video he takes you through a stripping run and a spirit run, leaving nothing out. I feel that seeing the overall process helped me get a better understanding more quickly than would have otherwise been the case. And since I'm kind of an engineering geek, I always like looking at other peoples toys.
His still is all SS, and he even fabricates the boiler. His approach to the actual distilling is very scientific. Maybe too scientific, as he does his cuts by time and volume based on pre run calcs. His still incorporates several features that will give some folks here nightmares too, such as PVC valves and plastic in the product stream, and silicone gaskets in parts of the boiler. But overall I thought it was worth the money just to see his technique and pictures of all the different pieces of gear that went into making his still. Watching him machine a few parts from scratch also makes me happy to be in the US where I can get pretty much anything "off the shelf" if I know where to look.
Hope this helps someone.