Home Distiller

After many hours of reading on this brilliant site I've started building my first set up. I opted for a modular do everything type set up. Currently making my shotgun PC. When I was filing out the holes in the plates that hold the copper tubes in place inside the shell, it struck me that if I made the top plate, 'dished', and filed the copper pipes down for a flush fit no pooling of distillate would occur. Being slightly dished all the liquid would run down the pipes having nowhere to collect in a pool even if the shotgun was at an angle, not vertical . So that's what I did. it is very easy to achieve. I hammered the drilled out and cut to size copper disk, LIGHTLY, starting in the centre and radiating out to the sides in a tight spiral with the ball end of a ballpein hammer with the copper on a hard flat surface. Angle the disc slightly as it acquires a dished shape. It took two minutes to do this, copper being so malleable. I used the same technique to make brass bowls at school in metalwork 50yrs ago. Please don't do this on your wife's new hardwood bread board as it can often cause offence

I love the way builders identify and apply their creativity/skills to solve problems wherever they may pop up in the distilling process. Sharing these triumphs is what makes HD the killer place it is to learn from others.

I almost went down the path you've taken of forming a concave endplate, but instead ended up creating an individual impression, or concave entrance to each vapor tube. It does the same thing, but was designed primarily to facilitate a no-fail construction experience for a solder job that can be a nightmare.

Even though I run my shotgun at an angle, post-distillation inspection reveals the tiniest bit of pooling that isn't a factor. Yours should work equally as well or better.

But it is vapor when it touches that first point of your condenser, in the tubes is where the magic happens.

OVZ

OK, clever. But when you “think about it”, the incoming fluid is vapor, not liquid. As such, there is probably little possibility of puddling, at least until you wash it out after the run. But just the same, you got it soldered. That’s the tricky part.
ss

Amen..

Thanks for your kind words all, SS I didn't have any problems soldering my shotgun, I thought I would tho!, I made sure the pipes were a tight fit in the end plates and soldered them in place no probs. When I soldered the shotgun pipes into the shell I shoved a bit of wet rag into the ends of the pipes which worked a treat, nothing came loose. When I put the ferrules on tomorrow I'll put a bit of water inside the shell to make sure nothing gets too hot where I don't need it too. I have to say that I've spent a lifetime soldering stuff, [ just retired from making stained glass windows 35yrs +] before that I was a fabricator/welder for several years. Sharing what I've learnt and passing on skills is what I'm all about nowadays

merman wrote: Sharing what I've learnt and passing on skills is what I'm all about nowadays

That is what this forum is about

OVZ

Nice work mate, a few here have done it, ive considered it after seeing evidence of pooling marks but thought it not bad enough . Its your still so you do it how you wish