New to the hobby. Can anyone look at my still plans?

[Jman]

I am new to distilling and after some reading I decided i wanted to make a simple pot still to get into the hobby. Here are the plans I have drawn up would anyone mind looking at them and telling me if they would be suitable for an actual build? Thanks!

[junkyard dawg]

naw, thats not anything I would waste my time with.

What are you really trying to accomplish? There are plans for real stills to be found here. That tea kettle nonsense is just a waste of time and energy. Rubber stoppers? If you are serious then do some studying here and then rethink those plans... We will be happy to help if you are going to be realistic.

[Hack]

You're definately going to wish you had a bigger boiler and the rubber stopper is bad business. If you just want something smallish to play with try finding a cheap stainless stock pot in the 20 - 25qt range. Read all the stickies in the novice section at least. Then read the parent site. Try finding some books. Take at least a month to study up before you build anything.

Good idea running the idea by us here though. I'm sure if you don't mind a little heat once in awhile you'll get some quality help.

Edit- a thermometer isn't much use on a pot still.

[rad14701]

Welcome to the forums, Jman... I have to agree with the other replies... It just doesn't make sense to spend good money on 20 feet of 1/2 inch copper to use a a condenser for a tea kettle...

Take your time and read, read, read... Your design is nothing new... Wander over to the parent site and have a read through or three... Then hit the stickies here in the forums... The more time you spend learning, the less time you waste, both yours and ours, being frustrated by premature choices...

Good luck...

[Godstilla]

Before I found this site, that is what I started with. It was fun, but surely wasn't enough. Get a few books and build or buy a bigger, and better one.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Yeah, gotta agree with the other fellas posts above, because I know from experience. I built something similar when I first started and before I found this site (with a silicone stopper I think), just as a "proof of concept" that I could do it. Guess I also wanted to start small before putting more time and money in it. It works, but it's pretty useless for anything other than showing it can be done, which has been done 1000 times over on this board. If I had to do it again I would have started with something larger, at least a large, stainless pressure cooker or the larger stainless stock pot mentioned above. Still pretty easy to build, low cost but again you'll want something bigger as soon as you do your first run. Like the fellas said, plenty of fairly simple plans on here.

But yeah it'll work, still got the tea kettle and worm to prove it. Ha. Welcome to the boards Jman.

[Jman]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the feedback! So if I were to replace the tea kettle with a pressure cooker or a SS pot- what would be the best/simplest way to seal those pots and attach the copper tubing? Would flower paste really seal it effectively? If i used that for the top what type of contraption could I use to connect the copper tubing and ensure a tight seal?

[theholymackerel]

Yes, flour paste will seal most anythin'.

As to the coil to lid connection, try brass pressure fittin's. They are made for the copper line and fit perfectly.

[Jman]

Ok sounds good, thanks. One more quick question. I'm now thinking of building something similar to this plan on the main site- however it says to use a thermometer through a rubber grommet... I thought rubber was a no-no? Should I substitute that for a cork?

[Dnderhead]

Just leave it out,, not necessary on a pot.

[Hack]

Ok sounds good, thanks. One more quick question. I'm now thinking of building something similar to this plan on the main site- however it says to use a thermometer through a rubber grommet... I thought rubber was a no-no? Should I substitute that for a cork?

A cork would be a decent substitute, but like dnderhead said I'd leave out the thermometer.

Yes, rubber is a no-no. Not everything on the parent site is 100% correct, but there's still plenty of valuable info there.

For ideas, here's a picture of my doubler before I reworked it.(I still use the stick though.) If you eliminate the inlet tube on the left you've got a still similar in size to what you are planning. The cedar stick wedged through the handles is plenty enough to keep the lid in place. To seal it I use flour paste. I mix 2 cups flour to 3/4 cup of water. (This will make much more than you need for just the pot.) I roll the flour dough into a rope and stick it to the lid so that it forms a gasket between the lid and the pot, put the lid on, and shove the stick through the handles. The brass fitting is a compression to male pipe thread adapter. It serves as reinfocement for the soldered connection. I cut the compression part of it off and drilled it out so the copper tubing would pass through. No brass comes into the vapor path, so I don't have to worry about pickling the brass.

[Jman]

Yeah, I think i might try to do something like your doubler for my boiler. Another newbie question- why no thermometer on a pot? How will I be able to ensure I keep the temperature below 100 C to ensure water doesn't start boiling off?

[Dnderhead]

Taste, smell, and hydrometer, the temp will very with the amount of alcohol in the wash. unlike a column . with a column the wash is heated
alcohol /water mix goes up the column the water is condensed and is returned back to the boiler, only alcohol reaches the top therefor more
Constance temps. with a pot still ,water/ alcohol , comes off together, as alcohol is depleted more water than alcohol comes off therefor the temperature
will rise over the entire run. if you measured the vapor in both pots it mite be the same curve .just at the top of column it whould not be.

[junkyard dawg]

jman, you seem to be misunderstanding a key point. You don't control the temp. You turn on the heat and the temp is determined by whats in the boiler. It will boil at different temps according to how much water and alcohol are in there.

Azeotropes man!

You don't need a thermometer because it just really doesn't matter that much. Put in enough heat so you get distillate flowing out at a steady pace. How fast of slow depends on what you are trying to do. Watching a thermometer and trying to keep it at a certain temp by adjusting the heat is wrong. I suggest rereading about the theory.

[Jman]

I see, that makes sense. I will have to read through the theory a bit more, I just assumed that since I saw the thermometer in that one pot still plan that it was important to monitor the temperature to get the best yield. I knew that the boiling temperature of ethanol changed according to the concentration of it, I just wasn't sure if there was such a thing as "too much" heat.

I'm going to look for a large stainless steel stock pot in a little bit to start working on the boiler. I've never really worked much with plumbing or anything so correct me if im wrong about this: but about joining the copper tubing to the lid- Can anyone tell me if the attached plan will work. Is the only thing I need to grab at the hardware store (to ensure an airtight connection seal) just a 1/2 inch compression fitting and a flaring tool for the copper pipe? Then, all I do is just connect one side of the compression fitting inside of the pot to the other side outside of the pot and then screw the copper pipe into it?

I appreciate all the feedback/help/advice.

Thanks

[rad14701]

Jman, aside from reading a lot, you're gonna find yourself spending a lot of time in hardware stores just browsing around and picking through parts... It gets addictive... Every time you walk through a store you'll be eying anything stainless, copper, or otherwise a potential still component... Your mind will be totally altered...

[Hack]

Soldering copper to stainless can be a real pain.

I'm a huge fan of simple and here's an even simpler idea. Drill a hole in your stock pot lid that matches your copper tubing. Just barely slip the tubing through, around a 1/2" or so, and seal with flour paste. This will also have the added benefit of not having an unwieldy mass of copper tubing attached to the lid when you need to clean it, store it, or even when trying to seal the lid on the pot for a run.

That will get you started and do the job. You might find you are very happy with it. However, I'm betting that if you really get into this hobby eventually you'll want a bigger still, in which case haveing kept your initial rig simple and cheap you will have more to invest in the next round of building.

[Jman]

Jman, aside from reading a lot, you're gonna find yourself spending a lot of time in hardware stores just browsing around and picking through parts... It gets addictive... Every time you walk through a store you'll be eying anything stainless, copper, or otherwise a potential still component... Your mind will be totally altered...

Haha, I look foward to it.

I'm a huge fan of simple and here's an even simpler idea. Drill a hole in your stock pot lid that matches your copper tubing. Just barely slip the tubing through, around a 1/2" or so, and seal with flour paste. This will also have the added benefit of not having an unwieldy mass of copper tubing attached to the lid when you need to clean it, store it, or even when trying to seal the lid on the pot for a run.

So you are saying a compression fitting wouldn't be easy to work with?

[Hack]

Most compression fittings are brass, and if you have brass that will be in contact with your distillate it will need to be pickled to prevent lead leaching into your hooch. Also from your picture I'm not sure how the fitting seals to the lid. If you get a good seal to the lid and pickle your brass, the compression fitting will be easy.

Drilling a hole and sealing with flour paste is just easier.

[Jman]

Most compression fittings are brass, and if you have brass that will be in contact with your distillate it will need to be pickled to prevent lead leaching into your hooch. Also from your picture I'm not sure how the fitting seals to the lid. If you get a good seal to the lid and pickle your brass, the compression fitting will be easy.

Drilling a hole and sealing with flour paste is just easier.

Ok gotcha... I'll do that then. Someone just mentioned a compression fitting earlier in this thread when I asked how to seal it... just curious what do most people typically use to connect and seal up their stills?

[trthskr4]

You can use brass but it must be treated first. you can use copper MIP and FIP fittings, on the fitting going through the boiler lid solder on a MIP copper fitting and just buy a female fitting to screw onto the other side after poking it through and then flour paste seal it.

[Tatt2d]

Jman, aside from reading a lot, you're gonna find yourself spending a lot of time in hardware stores just browsing around and picking through parts... It gets addictive... Every time you walk through a store you'll be eying anything stainless, copper, or otherwise a potential still component... Your mind will be totally altered...

You have no idea how true this is !
I've only been in this hobby for about 3 months and the kids hate going to Lowes with me now... Quick one item pick-up turns into a browes by the plumbing section followed by "Would this work as a bigger fermenter..." and then you start taking the back roads home knowing where the scrap yards are and ....

Also - cant stress as much as the others that you should read the main site, and this forum, a few times to get an idea of what and how your going to do what you want to do.
You'll chang your mind a few times before you start -

Good luck - your asking the right questions so far - just read a little more. Advice from another noob.

[Adverse Effects]

i have one thing to say about that still plan

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