Home Distiller

OK, here we go, I found this pot in the attic of my wife's house when I moved in with her 20 years ago, I would like to turn this into a functioning pot still, I made a worm and feeder line into it out of 1/4"(then took it all apart when I read 1/4" to small).
also was told that the screw on cap is BRASS, also was told to do a lead test which I did, All solder on outside is lead based!!!,
I could not pick up any traces of lead on the inside of the pot.(also tested the pipes in my basement and found lead solder).
Look at my pot, picture and give me some direction. I think I can live with the lead on the outside , the joints /seams are all rolled and then soldered from the outside, and my wife family used this pot in the past(all dead now). I would like some design pointers. the brass cap has a 3/8" hole in the center top, I was planning on soldering a 1/2" adapter on the top and go from there, But where to go? give me some Idea's

NO abuse please, I have read the home page 3 times as ordered!, read most posts also, the brass comp. fitting on top has been removed due to 1/4" dia. .

NO abuse please

Aw what's the fun in that.

If it is lead based you need to insure that no lead will come in contact with anything you still. So soldering all the joints over with lead free solder from the inside is a good idea. Pay close attention the handle rivets it it has them.

Yes 1/4" is to small. Brass can be pickled if need be. I would use at least 1/2" coming off the still and for the worm.

Got it. I will re-solder from the inside, handles are not rivited, they are surface soldered, I had also planned on drilling that 3/8" hole out to as close to 1/2" as I can without losing the nipple.

Nice Piece!!! I think it is an antique and should be displayed as so. I personally would not trust running it even if I did solder over the lead or remove it from the stILL. It is a piece of history and I would just build another copper still that would be more safe. Good luck!

That would make a beautiful boiler! Good luck in solving the lead problem.

BG

I don't want to be a buzzkill, but what are you going to do about the pipes in your basement?

What size is that brass cap? If small enough see if you can find a threaded copper fitting that you can screw directly on to the boiler in place of the brass cap. Then make you a short still head straigt up about 24" then 90 out into 1" then reduce down to 1/2 tubing for your worm or condenser. Hope that all makes sense. I also second the idea to resolder everything on the inside with Lead Free...Should make a nice little unit. What capacity is it?

It looks to me like you would have to take it apart to re solder the inside. Lot of work, good luck. It is a cool looking pot though.

I dont know how hard it is to take a pot apart, But if I can get the bottom off, Then I can Easily adress the interior.
If ref to liberty's post..... what size should the 24" upright be? diameter? I have a brass nipple coming off the top of the lid, I checked everywhere and cannot match the tread, so I was gonna drill it out as large as possible without losing the nipple, I need that to solder a copper fitting to, the max hole I can get drilled is gonna be about a half inch. just to give you an Idea.

Basement pipes? dont know. I'll check into it deeper.


: liberty, just re thought your suggestion, I understand now, it's about 4" diameter.

No need to take it apart at all. Your easiest option is just to get a sheet of thin copper. Line it just like you would a cake tin. Do the sides first so they overlap the base, and solder the lining to the inside of the pot. Then cut a bit for the base and solder that to your side lining. It only needs to be thin sheet and line the lid too. Done carefully you will never see it from the outside.

Good call, Myles. Sure is a cool looking piece. If you give up on it, scooter, send it my way and I'll try to step up.

How about this, this thing has a totally flat bottom on it, How about if I cut a large eneough area out of the bottom, then I will have easy acess to the complete inside of this pot to re-solder the whole thing.? That seems much easier to fix, (for someone thats never worked with metal)

Hey Scooter,

Taking the bottom off would be my suggestion. I wouldn't cut it though. Just use a torch and a pair of pliers and start heating it up and unfolding the crimp. It should eventually come apart. A 4" still head would be a little big for a pot that size but would make for a more efficient run. I would get a small sheet of copper and roll a tube that would slide right down inside of the opening. Think old school pot still. Basiclly you'd be making a small scale cap. Then come off the head with a piece of 1" and reduce down to fit your worm or condenser. This will probably be the best route for what you got, and I would toss that brass cap. Otherwise you could just stick with what you've got and attach your 1/2 tubing directly to the brass cap that you have... Just trying to think of some cool ideas.

Thank You very much, I will try to get the bottom off and clean the lead solder up, I like the Idea of rolling copper for a stack, This is gonna take me a while as I stopped dead in my tracks when I found this site. Hopefully by spring I can get this pot functional.

So I get some copper, roll it, clamp and solder the shape I want. cap it, do I just solder a 1" adaptor to the side of that stack? and run to worm from there or, will I need better support for that 1" adaptor, heading to the worm?

wow. I have almost the exact same boiler!
it was used by my mothers great uncle to make shine on his farm back in the day.

Only difference with mine is no "seam" midway up, and the handles on mine are not solid, they swing. Like you I had a very hard time matching threads but came up with something. Let me know if you didn't get around to this.

does anyone know what these were originally used for???

bonacker wrote:wow. I have almost the exact same boiler!
it was used by my mothers great uncle to make shine on his farm back in the day.

Only difference with mine is no "seam" midway up, and the handles on mine are not solid, they swing. Like you I had a very hard time matching threads but came up with something. Let me know if you didn't get around to this.

does anyone know what these were originally used for???

laundry tub for the wood stove. they are oval so you can pull 2 plates and the connector from your woodstove top and get flame directly on the copper bottom for faster heatup.