Home Distiller

hi guys and girls ive come into a bit of winnings from the bookies and can get all the copper the fittings ect,im going ahead with my 3" boka build after my last cheap ass attempt at cutting corners ordering direct from china and not recieving the things i paid for im going the jtmplumbing route.

my next cheap ass attempt is would using a brazing rod with a homemade 2 or 3 battery sequence battery and jumper cables work to braze copper using copper braing rods or copper wire?
no one around is willing to tig up my barrel for me and those who are are wanting £150 + to cut the neccesary holes for cleaning and elements then tig welding.

im going to try using a steel step drill bit to port out the holes or maybe a hole saw bit.

markieb wrote:my next cheap ass attempt is would using a brazing rod with a homemade 2 or 3 battery sequence battery and jumper cables work to braze copper using copper braing rods or copper wire?no one around is willing to tig up my barrel for me and those who are are wanting £150 + to cut the neccesary holes for cleaning and elements then tig welding.

I can relate to cheap ass attempts
Battery power might work, but you still need a tig torch and argon

ooooooh lol so cant just connect up the jumper cables to the batteries and run the copper along the joint like they do on the youtube vids when they do a think its mig or arc weld .... sorry not very practacle with tools but awsome at reading and research thanks to this forum lol

I'd suggest taking your cheap ass to the hardware store and purchasing a propane torch kit, lead free solder, and get some decent flux suitable for stainless steel... Harris Stay-Clean (liquid or paste) is a good choice for flux... Soldering is strong enough for our needs... Trying to be overly cheap just ends up with you tossing good money after bad... Do it right or not at all... Just sayin...

rad14701 wrote:I'd suggest taking your cheap ass to the hardware store and purchasing a propane torch kit, lead free solder, and get some decent flux suitable for stainless steel... Harris Stay-Clean (liquid or paste) is a good choice for flux... Soldering is strong enough for our needs... Trying to be overly cheap just ends up with you tossing good money after bad... Do it right or not at all... Just sayin...

i brought a roll of green lead free solder and have some lead free solder flux but wasnt sure if it would do the job due to lack of temps on the solder roll so thought trying to do a cheap but maybe more effective homemade weld on it might have a better more permanant fix.
i dont want to be running the boka to find out the copper tubing slides down into the run most here go to a min of 221c for lead free solder in uk

Solder is easy and simple. I'd suggest not going with the propane and try MAP gas, it's a little hotter. As for Tig welding copper... All I'll say is its tricky. I've been a welder for 16 years and recently at work I've started welding copper nickle alloy and at home I've experimented with copper.

awsome stuff so seems soldering is the way forwards then il go order up a blow torch and map gas now on fleabay

Noticed you didn't say anything about SS, only copper
lead free solder, flux and a cheap torch will do what you need.
You also said
"i dont want to be running the boka to find out the copper tubing slides down into the run most here go to a min of 221c for lead free solder in uk"
The still can only get hot enough to melt solder if it boils dry

If you are not very handy with tools, why try to make a boka? Why not start with a pot stil at first?
It is a lot of fun too, I can assure you. I can not weld or solder myself, but I can drill holes, cut pipe, buy parts and screw things together.

I think one has to understand ones own limitations and live acoording to them.
And ask friends for help.

Kareltje wrote:If you are not very handy with tools, why try to make a boka? Why not start with a pot stil at first?
It is a lot of fun too, I can assure you. I can not weld or solder myself, but I can drill holes, cut pipe, buy parts and screw things together.

I think one has to understand ones own limitations and live acoording to them.
And ask friends for help.

unfortunately im not much of a whiskey drinker and want to produce really good neutrals for gins and vodka.i will venture into whiskey making but at the moment just want to produce for what i like to drink most more for a hobby then a production for others.a boka does seem a bit technical but managable just the welding and port side of things i need to get my head around watched about 15 videos so far and doesnt seem to bad to do soldering.

Markieb- soldering is simple ,soldering pretty is a bit more tecnical but not much. Function over form every time.
Jbt

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =1&t=41579

for neutral you don't need copper, and this is almost as simple as an erector set

Here is an idea, why not go onto a welding forum and ask them?

xyz123 wrote:Here is an idea, why not go onto a welding forum and ask them?

Sage advice xyz. A novel idea would be for you to follow the same in all your posts.

Oops. Sorry. Usually I only call out folks who are like minded do-gooder hypocrites from Germany on these types of things.

Hank Reardon wrote:

xyz123 wrote:Here is an idea, why not go onto a welding forum and ask them?

Sage advice xyz. A novel idea would be for you to follow the same in all your posts.

Oops. Sorry. Usually I only call out folks who are like minded do-gooder hypocrites from Germany on these types of things.

Yes once again I apologize for any offense, after a re-read sober I did come across perhaps a little more blunt that I anticipated.

markieb wrote:

Kareltje wrote:If you are not very handy with tools, why try to make a boka? Why not start with a pot stil at first?
It is a lot of fun too, I can assure you. I can not weld or solder myself, but I can drill holes, cut pipe, buy parts and screw things together.

I think one has to understand ones own limitations and live acoording to them.
And ask friends for help.

unfortunately im not much of a whiskey drinker and want to produce really good neutrals for gins and vodka.i will venture into whiskey making but at the moment just want to produce for what i like to drink most more for a hobby then a production for others.a boka does seem a bit technical but managable just the welding and port side of things i need to get my head around watched about 15 videos so far and doesnt seem to bad to do soldering.

Walk before you run. Making a good neutral is probably harder than making a good flavoured drink. You really need to get your cuts down, and IMO it's easier to do with whiskey . . . others may disagree though.

As for welding copper, like aircarbonarc said, it's tricky. You need to make sure it is CLEAN, you need to use a de-oxidized copper filler, and it requires A LOT of heat. If you are talking of building a welder out of batteries, you probably know little about welding, and should avoid this. Welding isn't just "heat it up and melt it together". Soldering on the other hand is pretty much just that. Do what others said. Solder.

moosemilk wrote:

markieb wrote:

Kareltje wrote:If you are not very handy with tools, why try to make a boka? Why not start with a pot stil at first?
It is a lot of fun too, I can assure you. I can not weld or solder myself, but I can drill holes, cut pipe, buy parts and screw things together.

I think one has to understand ones own limitations and live acoording to them.
And ask friends for help.

unfortunately im not much of a whiskey drinker and want to produce really good neutrals for gins and vodka.i will venture into whiskey making but at the moment just want to produce for what i like to drink most more for a hobby then a production for others.a boka does seem a bit technical but managable just the welding and port side of things i need to get my head around watched about 15 videos so far and doesnt seem to bad to do soldering.

Walk before you run. Making a good neutral is probably harder than making a good flavoured drink. You really need to get your cuts down, and IMO it's easier to do with whiskey . . . others may disagree though.

As for welding copper, like aircarbonarc said, it's tricky. You need to make sure it is CLEAN, you need to use a de-oxidized copper filler, and it requires A LOT of heat. If you are talking of building a welder out of batteries, you probably know little about welding, and should avoid this. Welding isn't just "heat it up and melt it together". Soldering on the other hand is pretty much just that. Do what others said. Solder.

I sure agree with you. I do not think I have made a single bad batch of whiskey. On the flip side, I do not think I have yet to make a good neutral. Fortunately this site is here to help.

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In all honesty, perhaps you may want to wait until your monetary situation improves before getting into this hobby. It's not cheap to do, nor will you get good results if you try going the cheap route.