Pot/kettle still on gas stove?

[iamthewalrus00]

If I use a tea kettle still on top of a gas stove(open flame),how big is the chance of it catching on fire?Is it something I should even consider?I'm very frugal so I don't feel like spending $20 on an electric hot plate,but if I did,are there any other things you can do on these that you wouldn't be able to do on a gas stove(Don't want to spend much money on something that has only one purpose)? Also, how does methanol harm you after you distill it,yet it doesn't before distillation?

[rtalbigr]

A LOT of people distill using gas. Your main issue has to be how you set up your system. You don't want your collection container near your heat source. You need to always be attentive when your distilling. Have safety procedures set up just in case, lots of water.

Methanol is poison, period. Before, after, it don't matter.

Big R

[rad14701]

Greetings, iamthewalrus00...

It isn't the gas stove that is as much the problem as the small volume held within the tea pot... I consider an 8 liter boiler to be the bare minimum and many here would consider 20 - 25 liters as their minimum... If you just want to see if you can extract higher proof alcohol spirits from a lower proof alcohol wash don't bother because it's been proven to work plenty of times already... If you want to make potable spirits then you need a large enough boiler to make a distillation run worthwhile...

Plenty of great information here for the reading so have at it...

Good luck and stay safe...

[blanikdog]

Distillation concentrates the methanol. You really do need to do a lot of reading. I suggest you begin at the topics shown in red below.

[iamthewalrus00]

Greetings, iamthewalrus00...

It isn't the gas stove that is as much the problem as the small volume held within the tea pot... I consider an 8 liter boiler to be the bare minimum and many here would consider 20 - 25 liters as their minimum... If you just want to see if you can extract higher proof alcohol spirits from a lower proof alcohol wash don't bother because it's been proven to work plenty of times already... If you want to make potable spirits then you need a large enough boiler to make a distillation run worthwhile...

Plenty of great information here for the reading so have at it...

Good luck and stay safe...

Why does the volume of what your distilling matter?Even if its big its still going to put off fumes,and i'm doing this to drink,not to use as fuel,so I don't need very much outcome.Also,when you distill something,how much does it purify the alcohol?As in,double the abv,triple the abv etc.
Also,thanks to everyone for answering so quick.

[Dnderhead]

first what you take off will be about 1/10 of what you put in, next what you keep is about 1/2 of that.so out of 1 gal (4l) you will end up with about 7 oz (175ml)or about 2x that when diluted.it is also very hard to make cuts on such a small amount.