Home Distiller

Hey guys, first off I live in the relaxed land of New Zealand with most of my day spent rocking round uni.

I've done quite a bit of reading on your forum the last few days and I've learn't so much from it. Brilliant thing you have going here! I was actually one of those muppets who thought bringing the temperature of a wash to 80 degrees would give 100% abv straight and easy before hand. Now I see how complex and kind of awesome the equilibriums all are.

Anyway my goal for the summer distilling project would ultimately be a VM reflux still. That would be perfect for mixing neutrals with nice non-alcoholic drinks and throwing it in the flat keg. However after doing a little research into the price of copper piping and connectors, it's adding up to a decent investment for a student!!

My question/challenge for you guy's is, how can I build a VM still as cheap as possible? I was thinking of using a WELL CLEANED vacuum cleaner tube for the column, but that idea might just be a bit too daft.

Cheer's for the help team, have a good one

Greetings, Cornchips, and welcome to the HD forums...

With regard to your question about vacuum cleaner tube, are you sure this tube is stainless steel and, if so, is it of an alloy type that won't rust...??? If you aren't sure then I'd find a better source of stainless steel or go with copper, which I believe is hard to find and pricey in NZ...

Good luck...

kia ora mate, which city are you in?

As for "as cheap as possible", you'll be wanting to hit up some scrappies. copper or stainless, will depend a bit on your resources (can you weld, have a welder... etc). Your vac tube might be a bit on the narrow side as well as being made of dubious materials.

Cheers
Kiwi