Home Distiller

Hello folks, building an essence still. Well, I am re-purposing a concentric still and need to attach it to a typical stainless salad bowl. This may be beating a dead horse, but I have had success doing it this way a few times.

Few things.
Some tips when soldering stainless steel to copper.

This is a huge departure from what you know about soldering copper to copper. Stainless steel requires a large amount of cleaning. So you will need to sand and/or use a stainless steel brush, stainless steel wool to get ALL corrosion off the metal. You should never touch the stainless steel soldering area once cleaned. The oils from your fingers will prevent the solder from binding. You will also need to make certain that all sanding debris is brushed off the steel. If you used permanent marker to mark anything on the steel, it must be sanded off before you solder.

This flux is different. I use: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HWE9A2/ref=biss_dp_t_asn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
LA-CO M-A Liquid Stainless Steel Flux Liquid, 4 oz -- It is not a paste. It is a liquid acid based substance. You will use a clean brush to apply on both the stainless steel and the copper. Do not use any paste flux when joining copper to stainless.

Apply the flux where you want the solder to go. This is not a capillary situation. If prepared properly, the solder will pool and make a strong bond to the stainless. I will show you photos of my stainless soldering and you will see that plenty of solder is used as it pools on the surface and binds to the copper.

Never put the torch flame on the stainless. Heat the copper and let the heat transfer to the stainless steel. Stainless steel scorches at high heat, so keep that flame away. In actuality, the stainless is so thin that it heats up rather fast--even conducted from the copper. In fact, you can use a 100w soldering iron to push fuse solder on the surface of the stainless steel. Although not needed for this application, you can also use a soldering iron to solder two pieces of stainless together.

This a pictorial -- with sub-notes on each photo.

More Photos

More Photos

Last set of photos

very nice work! thank you for this.

Great post! Wish I had this info a month ago. I used a much more complicated and costly method to attach my riser adapter to a ss bowl. This is about the simplest method I've seen. Great job.

S-C

Nice clean job. Good work

Very clean way to attach a column and can be used with any size cap

Nice work, so much better than what I used.

Thanks for the comments folks.

Very clean way to attach a column and can be used with any size cap

Yeah, should be no problem at all. In fact, if you were worried... you could always use several 1/8"-1/4" stainless nuts and bolts and secure it around the parameter inside the cap -- once you have soldered it on.

Excellent tutorial!! I did SS to copper soldering on my 1st column (1.5"), for my pot still. I just never did trust it, nor was it quite as pretty so I went to a mechanical attachment. Next time I'll be using your method for sure.

Very cool

would this work for SS to SS as well?

Heya Blue,

I have used similar methods, but I do not apply heat directly to the stainless. I use a soldering tip like a lot of folks do. Heat conducts quickly through stainless, probably because it is generally much thinner than most copper used. I have sandwiched two stainless pieces just like the photo and pressed the crazy hot soldering tip down on the top piece. The heat travels through the stainless-->solder-->stainless faster than one would think. The results are similar.

For other types of joints, I use the same flux/solder/soldering tip and push the solder where I want it to go with the soldering tip...works well for larger joins...like seams etc..

Very good tutorial.That pretty much sums it up. Thanks for your time and effort.

Awesome! Thanks for this information.

I did almost the same thing however I pre drilled small I think 1/16 holes in the stanless first then flip your picture so the copper fitting is on bottom heat the copper from underneath let the solder flow up and pool into the holes giving you a strong joint. Then drill your final holes for vapor path.

I know this is in here somewhere, I just cant find it. What is the correct type of solder to use. I have some 95/5 but Harris reccomends 94/6 silver. Can someone shed some light on this. Also is there a heat requirment for how much the solder can take when up and running the still? Thanks All

davsmth41 wrote:I know this is in here somewhere, I just cant find it. What is the correct type of solder to use. I have some 95/5 but Harris reccomends 94/6 silver. Can someone shed some light on this. Also is there a heat requirment for how much the solder can take when up and running the still? Thanks All

I am not an expert on soldering stainless but there is not much difference between the two that you listed. I believe the key is in the flux. It has to etch the stainless good enough to hold. Most seem to use Harris Stay Brite.

As far as how much heat the solder can take, no worries there. Your still will never get that hot. The liquid in the still keeps it cool. Just like you can't sweat a copper plumbing pipe if any water is trickling through.

Thanks for the reply. Looking at the solder I have , it is 95% tin and 5% anatomy. I think I'll take it back and spend the extra for the tin and silver mix.

Yes, I had solder that was high in antamony also that I chose not to use. You will find the MSDS on line for most all popular brands, as I am sure you did, if you know the true manufacturer. Many brands are really made by someone else and just sold with a different label name on it.

Thanks HD

I just tried this technic and must say I'm very impressed how strong the bond is. I used Worthington high activity liquid stainless steel flux, item #334436

I’m just putting together an apartment pot still /w thumper and I didn’t like the ideas of drilling and placing a connector in it. I knew there must be a better way. (I have Tim the tool man syndrome. I need it bigger, better, faster, safer.) I just picked up my pots this week.
One thing about innovation sometimes it’s the big things and sometimes it’s the little things. Thanx You got it. Pat on the back for you. Good IDEA.
Thats what you call thinking out of the box.

Great post, Pyewacket! Don't know how I missed it. Very well done! Thanks much!

This is what i have been looking for. Great idea.

Thanks for the tutorial, how strong is the connection? My concern is not making a mechanical connection of some kind before the soldering, can the the solder joint withstand some abuse?

Glad some of you found this helpful. I didn't think this tutorial made it over when the boards went through changes. I just happened to stumble into "still related hardware" and saw it again.

To answer your question stilltheone: I have made many many of these...for various different distillation projects, and I have never had it fail. I have dropped a salad bowl with a 3foot column attached-- resulting in the bowl denting but with no issue with the cap join. I have used channel locks and banged the living hell out of the salad bowl while clamping onto the fitting--the salad bowl looked like a crumpled up piece of paper before I was able to pry off the fitting.

I hesitate to post this link because I got a reasonable amount of shit for posting it in the first place -- I sorta regret posting it. But here it is: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... t#p7143212

Please Please Please do not do the above...but if it helps you out in your quest for knowledge -- take it for what it is worth.


Just wanted to add -- If you felt compelled, you could always add a few stainless steel nuts/bolts inside the cap and through the salad bowls -- I just don't believe it necessary for most applications

I have done several solder joints using this method an I can assure you that the joints are very strong. I plan to us this method on my next build

I found it helpful enough that I point other folks to it who want to know how to do it. It's a great tutorial.

very good write up, should either be stickied or added somewhere for people to find easily .