The KYChemist Pot Still Build... "Boiler #1"

[The KYChemist]

Well, as stated in my intro post, myself and my partner are planning a pot still build. We realise there are probably more efficient set-ups, but we want to keep it "Ol' School". We have decided to base ours off of greasydog26's build. It'll probably turn out to be almost an exact copy, with a few tweaks to make it our own. Step #1 was deciding on a volume. I decided we needed approx 7 gallons. I figured this would be a good number based on the Sweet Feed recipe. Most are getting 3.5gal out of a 5 bucket ferment. With a 3 bucket ferment, that should work out to about two 5.25gal runs... Approximately.

With that out of the way, next came step 2. Figuring out the dimensions of the still, to be transferred to poster board. With some rudimentary measuring, on the computer screen, I first figured out the angles of his still walls. Top was approx 32deg, and lower about 16deg. With these angles, I started plugging in numbers on three different conversion websites. One for calculating triangle side-lengths, and degrees, one for figuring the volume of a cone, and one for determining how to draw a cone on a flat surface. After 30 minutes, or so, I had my dimensions and felt like this . High school math class flashbacks! Also, to get the volume we wanted, had to change the lower sidewalls to a 12deg angle

Next came the fun part. Step 3. Drawing it out on poster board is fun, but not soo much if you dont have a compass that can draw a circle with a radius of 34", which is what I needed. My first attempt was ugly, sloppy, and highly inaccurate. Ill let you, the reader, figure out why from this following picture.



The following day at work, I decided to come up with a better mousetrap... Neccesity being the mother of invention, and all. Started with some spare 316 3/8 tubing we had laying around. I believe the overall length was 24". Maybe a little longer.


Next, I put one end, from each length, in the vise and clamped down, about 4" from the end. Then, it was on, to scavenge some nuts, bolts, and washers...


Now, a pencil will nicely inside the tubing, but to keep it from sliding all the way in, back to the vise we went. Squeeze the tubing in the vise, about five inches from the end, just enough to keep the pencil from diving all the way in.


Next step, was to have my partner in crime, "The Mechanic", make the point on the other leg of the compass. Don't know exactly what he did to acheive this, so I cant comment there.


The following is a few pics of the poster board layed out on the floor, and the scale model of our boiler. It has a base of 10", a belly of 14", and a neck of 5". I will keep this thread updated, as we are close to placing our order for the copper sheeting.