Home Distiller

any tip or idea to mark/guide the cuts for the plate.
anyone got template or got a trick to make one.
i tried to make a "guide" with a pvc pipe but i cant get it right.

any tips or idea are welcome.

thank you

vodkas easy. make a potstill.

naw seriosly,if you cut the plate angles at about 45deg you will be fine. just make sure they overlap about a 1/4in and it will work. it aint rocket science. as long as you are close it will work. the overlap is were its at.

I have templates on pdf file if you send me an email I will send you a copy.

Al

come to think of it the yahoo group has them templates.

Ricky i know its not rocket science, but im tring to get it right on the first time.
im kind of a perfectionist, and doing cut just by eyes doesnt suit me.
the models i made with the pvc pipe and cardboard look like they would work, but id like it better if stuff/cut where strait "people could live in a house with a crooked/leaking roof but i dont want too, measure twice cut once".

goodluck with your hobby!

Never made a bokabob, but I think most people use two hacksaw blades (side-by-side) to get the right thickness of cut.

I got youre pm Pikluk, but you did not include youre e-mail address I dont know of any other way of sending them. Al

Ricky im sorry if you got offended, didnt mean to.
what im looking for is a way to do those cut right, i only got 6' of pipe no place
for error, if i had more geometric instruction id do it myself.
was just looking for a sure way to do it.
if i lose 1/2 a % because i didnt place my plates the right way that would drive me mad...

Pikluk wrote: what im looking for is a way to do those cut right, i only got 6' of pipe no place for error, if i had more geometric instruction id do it myself.
was just looking for a sure way to do it.
if i lose 1/2 a % because i didnt place my plates the right way that would drive me mad...

I am positive that the angle you place your plates will not make any difference to the %abv of your product. They are primarily a distillate collection device. All of the distillation has already occurred, apart from that portion you decide to return back down the column.
If the plates are closer than ideal you may have some flooding problems but you would have to be driving it really hard and if anything that would cause an increase in abv% because the vapour gets pushed back down the column.
As long as you leave a gap of around 1/2 inch between plates there will be no problem. The angle of the plates is not critical. The main thing is that they overlap to some degree so that what drips off the top plate will be collected by the bottom one. If some happens to miss - up goes your percentage again (more reflux)
Go for it, you have nothing to lose.
Cheers

The angle and gap are not my worry its the depth and level.
you say 1/4 over lap, ok how you know your 1/8 pass middle.
and for level unless you have a guide you need marking and to mark
a cylinder object you need a template or special tool or ... any old timer tips...

Get some plastic insulation tape and practice wrapping it around your column until you get an angle that you are prepared to live with, then follow the line of the tape with your hacksaw. Determine where the halfway point of the column is and cut 1/4" past that point. Solder the plate in (after making 2 small cuts for the overflow lip) Cut off and file any part of the plate hanging outside the column. Bend down the overflow lip. Job done.
Cheers

pdf template for the plates
http://www.mediafire.com/?61di0xcx3z1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

thank you sailor al

Nice templates. Those will make things alot easier for the build.

Advice:
I used 2 copper end caps for the plates. If I had to do it again, I would have used a bigger plate, because the end caps were the same length as the pipe and I had a hard time soldering them in without them slipping out. If the plates were longer, they would have protruded out more, making it easier to solder around them.

Also, don't use an electric saw to make the cuts... it makes soldering the plates around a (wide) gap so much more difficult.

It looks like those templates will do it for sure. I don't know if this will help, but when I cut the slot for my angle plate, I found the operation to be quite tricky. So tricky that it screwed up on me.

When I did mine, I just scribed the line by hand, and cut it with a hack saw. When I was finished, I could see that the cut was not straight. I ended up having to widen it, even more than the two blade widths. When I fit my plate in, it went in ok, but there was a large gap at one end. To fill it, I left the plate in place, and wrapped a piece of bare copper wire between the plate and the tube, where the gap was. When I soldered the whole deal up, it sealed perfectly. Then I just ground the plate/wire/solder joint flush with the tube, and to look at it, you can't tell there was ever anything wrong with the size of the cut.

If I were to do it again, I think I would try and use a band saw for the initial cut. This would probably give you a nice straight cut, then you could widen it to fit your plate after. But then you also have those templates, so you'll probably be ok.