Here's some free advice from an ex-metalwork teacher that will make your life easier: Don't use hard solder (silver solder or brazing) because you do not need the strength (usually needed only for pressure work). Instead use silver loaded soft solder (potable water grade a silver/tin alloy) and that way your copper pipe will not need pickling to get it clean. In fact it should stay relatively bright with only maybe a dip in vinegar to clean it up after. The soldering process is so much easier and safer with nothing more than a soft flame needed. You will need less expertise and if it goes wrong it is easier to take apart. There are any number of acid and non acid (water based) fluxes available at your local plumbing shop. Give it a good boil in water and a soak in vinegar after. Years teaching metalwork and jewellery making followed by a bit of condenser construction of my own as I retired to follow the "art".
Amen, and if you get lazy just cover in flux and worm, repeat, good to go. grew up sweating copper of every type. AND if you have a supper hard flux dirty/job get out the cheater Sauce from the electronic store! did circuit board too.
Great vid Jesse, at the 4min mark you mention size differential i think and someone correct me if wrong but my dads a plumber and he said they use I.D. internal diameter, the tree is a fitter/engineering tool so the numbers will be O.D. overall diameter or external. if that makes sense. for anyone ever trying to use plumbers PVC pipe or fittings with electrical/comms conduit this is the same deal. electricians use O.D not I.D. , i believe it is because of pressure in the pipes, plumbers use the PN system which is thickness/pressure rather than diameter (makes sense after someone tells you) i found out the hard way. cheers
great work! your leak was unfortunate but have you tried using Flux and lead free solder instead of brazing rod? brazing takes a tremendous amount of heat and the solder will flow around joints better. happy distilling!
I suspect that the pipe size issue was that you intended to use a half-inch OD, outside diameter tubing, but you purchased half inch inch ID, inside diameter pipe. Love the video. I watched it while researching for my build.
A tip.. Obviously, it's easy to make a disc on a lathe, but if one has got none a drill will do. Simply rough cut after the template and then make the holes for the tubes ..EXCEPT that in the center. Drill a hole in the center, so a bolt can go through, secure it on the opposite side with a nut. Now fasten the whole thing in the drill (a drill press is even better). You can now use the drill as a lathe and file/sand until you end up with a perfect disc at the desired diameter. You can even use a flap disc on an angle grinder, to make the process really fast. When you've done all discs, you can use that step drill to widen the center hole. Also, solder or braze it upside down, not lying on the side. The filler rod will be easier to manage, without struggling with gravity too. However, you fought a brave battle and got the job done..congrats..! That shotgun condenser can handle 4 KW worth of heat easily.
BigEdsGuns made a comment I didn't understand - "You want your output water to be very hot." I went the easy way on my setup. Chinese lab glass is very cheap right now. I found everything on eBay and Amazon. I got a Vigreux Column Distillation Condenser for $14 and a whole set of everything else for $48 - all beautiful lab glassware". I made my first run this week. I for sure won't have the throughput you will though - I'm an order of magnitude down from your 4 KW capacity.
Good morning Jesse from the Deep South New Orleans Louisiana USA. I enjoyed watching you build the shotgun condenser however I would have like to see you complete the entire job with caps on both ends and how it really works. Do you think you can possibly show the video by doing the entire thing all at one time that would really be nice thanks Big D
I was going to say to also that when I made a couple of copper tube heat exchangers for my foreman's boat when i was an apprentice I soldered all the core first using a steel jig that the plates with the holes in got clamped to and all the pipes went through to a stop behind at the correct depth. Just heat up the steel and then solder the pipes in and then put inside the large pipe and solder whole lot in position. You can use spacers to change the depth of where the hole plates are on the pipes and just have the steel hole plate counter sunk cap screwed to the rest of the jig and that can be changed too. Means you can sit the plates totally square to the pipes and anywhere on their length too, more than happy to give you a drawing if any of that is unclear. Private message me somehow and i'll get it to you with a drawing of how you can clamp two pieces of tool steel plate (like gauge plate) and hole saw them out and drill as pair to clamp the copper between them. Once their hardened you can file and lightly sand them round and the same diameter each time. Just make sets up for different sizes. Like i said you're really good as is, these are just ideas for you that I used in the past.
Best Video yet Jesse, i've been toying with the idea of a shotgun condenser and this just solidified that i can definitely do it. Loving the channel and keep those videos comming
Love the channel!! You may have already answered this and I do apologize, but where can I find those paper templates you used? Cheers!! Thanks for the great content!
Jesse seriously I have to say this is one of my favorite videos you've done. It is reality and it shows the shit "crafters" have to deal with all the time. I need four hands to do this. Oh hell, I don't have the right tool! Oops, I forgot to do that. Damn, THAT doesn't fit! Jeez, it's leaking! #reality Well done my friend.
nice condenser. you did great. great idea on the late addition for your connections. just be carefull on the flex on that connection when you run it. there will be some weight on that joint, but it should be fine. polish that up and it will look fine. lol, i would have burned off the template too.
You compromised on the end result and your initial design to save a few hours in construction time? It would have been worth the wait to get the proper drill bit the following day so that you can braze on the fittings you wanted. I dont understand what the rush is all about. The materials are quite expensive. With respect to equipment building, I tend to use the motto " take your time, build it the way you want it so that you have a piece of equipment for long term" (more of a sentence than a motto). Overall, a good construction and brazing job that produced a functional piece of equipment. First time viewer of your RUclips channel - great stuff.
Cheers for the feedback. Yeah I hear you. But remember at this stage I was already about 16 months deep on this & I just wanted it done. Should I have waited . . . . yes . . . was I capable of it . . . . no haha.
@@StillIt No need to defend the decision to use different fittings. I am the master of short cuts, stuff ups and last minute changes and compromises.....At least your condenser could do its job in the end and didnt leak. A friend of mine had access to a computerised sheet metal hole stamping machine which could whip out a copper disk with holes in it in no time - and with great accuracy. He built most of the still equipment at work and did the brazing and tig welding himself. There are some fantastic tools and machines that can be hired or even purchased second hand that can make certain jobs a lot more easy to carry out. In the end the most important thing in my still is the control of temperature and cooling rate in the coil/condenser. Overall though, the fermentation technique and ingredients/techniques used is the key for me as well as the wood/barrel aging process. Drinking and sharing the stuff is the easy bit..... (In Australia stills are not legal without a alcohol manufacturing permit. The excise payable to the Government is just over $80 per litre of pure ethanol. The only components that can be legally concentrated in stills without a permit are aromatics and essential oils using tiny pot stills. Distilling ethanol in pots with a volume greater than 5L is considered commercial scale and attracts large fines. Many people in Australia try and keep their stills under this volume which makes distilling a lot more difficult, time consuming and expensive.) Anyway, cheers.
watching this reminds me of a mega condencer Pop corn Sutton had made . it had about 15 3/8ths tubes set up like you just made but the sleve was 6 inch .. and it was about 28 inches long and was mounted to a stand .. when the Temp is 173 to 180 .. thats hot shuyt .. and you need the volume of water to cool the vapor and having a 5 hole may work Id be scared to br wasting likker .
sorry to have to mention this again, but as some others gave you the tips and I don't see you following them, again the steel is harder than the copper, apply the heat to the steel the copper will be plenty hot enough long before the steel, as with most all metals also apply the heat to the thickest piece first, exp. 2 pieces of copper 1-1cm thick and the other 4cm thick heat the 4cm to point of adhere and the 1cm will be adhered, hope this helps, you are not getting a good weld to the steel the way you are doing it, what the way you are doing it, is only filling the gap between the copper and steel, this is why one of the others mention to heat the steel on the inside, touch the rod to the steel to see if it is hot enough to adhere to the steel, lie I said if you get the steel hot enough for rod to adhere then it will flow to the copper like water. BTW I love seeing what you are doing and can't wait to see the final work in progress, these are some of the best videos on youtube as quality, and none of that off the wall music that the others use because they are not assure of their ability to speak, GREAT JOB
Thanks a bunch man. Yeah I think I should really have gone a little slower with the process. Taken more time to internalise the tips I was getting. But anyway, I guess I got some kind of a result. Its all up and running. Im sure it will need repair at some time though haha. But I guess when that happens I will be more prepared to handle the situation 😉
Hey Jessy. First of all thanks for all the kickass videos you've shared. I'm about to build still like yours(hopefully :) My only worry is building a shotgun condenser. I can get hold of pretty cheap pre-made stainless steel shotgun condenser. My question is will that effect cooling efficiency or perhaps product taste? Thank a bunch for all the help :)
You forgot Baffles. Water flows the path of least resistance. Water can channel right up the side of the two nearest pipes and out. With baffles it change direction and increase efficiency dramatically. My advice would be to put on a valve on the water output to decrease flow. It will hold the cooling water longer inside the shotgun. You want your output water to be very hot. Remember shotgun condensers are most efficient when vertical. Conversely liebigs like to be angled for maximum efficiency. You should also grind down the tops of the 5 vapor tubes. There will be some pooling of alcohol which will build up on top and drip down. It's called Smearing and will taint your cuts. Example: Some heads may end up in hearts, and hearts may end up in tails. It self blends them. Just grind (dremel) down the tops of the 5 vapor input tubes. Great video Jesse!
Thanks man! I decided to not bother with the baffles. I was worried enough just about getting this togeather haha. And I guessed 500mm x 5 15mm should be enough for most things regardless. IH brought up the proud 15mm too. Will look at grinding it down to help on smearing. One end is only just proud, so will use that at the top. Hmmm, hadnt thought of controlling water on the out instead of the in. Output water being hot will only be a sign of efficiency though. Like using the least amount of water right. There is no reason to actually have it be hot other than that?
If you notice a lot of air bubbles on the output (clear tubing), you can slow it down. The water will flood and should push out any trapped airspace in the shotgun. Unless some gets airbound by a large distance from the output hole to the top vapor entrace of the shotgun. Air compresses, water does not.
hello, forgive me for my bad english ... I have a question: I built a distiller with a column, and I tried to find the materials locally (south Italy), I used a stainless steel column with a diameter of 8 cm (just over 3 inches) while it appears that several use the 2 inch measurement. I do not complain about the operation but in your experience what is the real difference? I read in some forums different opinions .... I would like to know your opinion. the maximum amount of washing is 20 liters, has a "vapor management" configuration but I can also use it in "pot still" mode. Thank you so much
Hi Demi, your English is awesome don't stress it. If you are using packing in the column and active reflux then more width is a good thing! Width gives speed, height gives higher abv
Ok, I had read something about speed ... in the forum we recommend the largha column for the great distillers while mine is for small lots and this has led me to confusion. I use my distiller as both crowded reflux and in pot still mode without packaging and with little reflux. I have another question that torments me: when preparing the fruit in fermentation is it useful to heat the fruit to increase the availability of sugars? tasting the cooked fruit is sweeter .. the sugar is still the same, but I think that with heating it is more available. thank you for your patience and your fantastic videos.
@@Demymaker Thank you for your comments, and @Still It thank you for the video and your reply, it's spot on. I don't want to hijack your thread but seeing as there are relatively few comments, this shouldn't bog things down much. In my experience (extremely limited) and my opinion (unformed, 3rd-hand), the question of cooking fruit before fermenting is a good one, and has multiple answers. To start with, your end goal. Are you making brandies/schnapps/eau de vie or are you intending to make high spirits? My guess from your description of your system (both crowded reflux and in pot still mode without packaging and with little reflux) you are wanting to do both. If you were only wanting to do high spirits, the fruit esters aren't going to make that big a difference. However, when you apply heat you release the pectins into solution, and some strains of yeast will ferment pectins into methanol, which is poisonous. Methanol is a lot of what you throw away or use for cleaning, from the foreshots. So: heating the fruit can decrease the characteristic fruity esthers but also create more methanol in the foreshots/heads. But heating can also make sugars more soluble and fermentable as you stated. These are why when we make cider, wine, and most brandies we use cold pressing techniques to get the juice out. On the other hand, you can make fruit brandies by heating up the fruit, to juice it before fermentation. You just might lose some of the true fruit esthers that you want in your braindies. Sometimes you have a bunch of people helping you crush and juice apples, for instance. Then when you ferment that juice you have cider or can make brandy. Sometimes you have 0 people helping you so you have to use heat and time to turn extra apples into applesauce, then filter it, and ferment it. I've got about 200 liters of that kind fermenting right now, with the intent to use some of the stripping/pot still run to make brandy, and using the rest to do a high spirit run. Hope this helps a little.
@@chironchangnoi Thank you for your answer, I really appreciate it. From the fruit I want to get the maximum taste and smell possible (I think many want this). In general I chop the fruit with the peel, then the ferment (without added sugar) and finally we distill all the pulp, a first time with the pot still (to raise the level of alcohol, otherwise I get little product) then the new distillation with column without packaging. I'm always looking for improvements, so if you have any advice to give me I willingly accept them. Thanks a lot.
Thanks, man. Seems to work well. I'm in the process of deciding how to make a smoking chamber for it. Right now I am thinking a cheap second-hand oven. It's super simple. There are a whole lot of tutorials around on youtube/blogs/etc. Have a look for "venturi valve cold smoker" or "cold smoke generator". Mine looks a bit different I guess. But exactly the same thing. Just different materials. Perhaps when I have it all finished I will do a grain smoking and smoker build vid :)
Great video mate, i was just wondering if you could supply the measurements i mean how far into the tube do you solder the plate, i mean you have to leave room for the ferrule. Thx
Can you please hook me up with the template for the copper plates? I am new to distilling and currently on my first build, I've watched all your videos and they've been very helpful. Keep up the good work, cheers!
Hey mate hoping this gets to you and sorry if you said it somewhere else - but why both the 2% and 15% silver brazing rods? I am looking to build a replica of your still and was wondering if you could help me better understand the joining process. Also, since you first published this video have you found other methods (such as the solder) to work better or would you stick with the method shown here? Thanks in advance!
Using 2 different grades of solder is often to have 2 different solder melting temps. You can do the first soldering with the high melt then when doing the next solder you are working slightly colder and not risking issues with the first solder joints.
Hey budd thanks for the vids Im researching my first build but I have a question, looking at that design it seems that there is alot of space for liquid to pool at the top of the condenser before passing down the tube and this may cause smearing of the foreshots and heads has that been an issue for you or am I just being a bit pedantic with my design?
Still It Dam your on the ball with reply,s !! thanks m8 will do been smoking my own bacon for a year or so making mead and pickling everything i can , will be getting my gun ticket soon so the smoker will be more use and the animals will have less buckshot in them lol
Man marlborough sux!! Cant even get copoer tube at a bloody plumbing shop!! Recycling centers get good copper tube and squashes it!!! Cant even make a still to get started!! Cant get firtings unless its ali express abd horrendous prices. Basicky new zealand your effed!
Your frustration is stemming likely from directly heating the flux. Never if at all possible ever directly put a flame on your flux as it'll basically not allow the solder to spread and make a bond. To avoid this it's wise to get your parts evenly heated as much as possible, and only then apply flux and then your silver solder. Helps beat to work small areas at a time.
Did you have any problems connecting the copper to the ss ferrules? I got mine so it looked good, but as soon as I put any weight on the joint it comes apart.
Yup you sure can. I decided to go with braze as it was easier to find the tools and solder for me. Brass can be questionable due to the inclusion of lead.
Hey mate, Any chance you can share the templates you had/have for the shotgun condenser? Would be way easier than trying to outline it with a permanent marker :) Your videos are awesome! keep up the good work!
Hey mate, love the vids where did you get the ferrules from and what size are they? everything 2” i can find is sized to butt on to the end of the pipe and the bigger and smaller sizes are too big or small to go inside or outside.
Yeah I had the same problem. I had to expand the pipe a little to fit the 50mm ferrules (I got from Ali Express). I did that buy forcing them in haha. Not ideal, but I couldn't bring my self to buy the right tool for the job.
I guess it was just because of the unknown factor. But really I think its one of those things that you just keep working at, hit a problem, keep going. I was finding it hard to find suitable flux for copper to stainless soft solder here. I ended up finding all the bits for brazing first. So I just went with it. I will try soft solder for something in the future for sure. Will be interesting to compare the two I think.
Electric KEG, 4" Ferrule on top..reduced to 2" column (tri-clamp) then 90deg+90deg still 2" reduced on its way down (still trying to find the copper sizes that are affordable (i live in north of canada, we dont have must choices on parts)), vertical liebig condenser down to the collection jar. This project has been taking a lot of time to build due to parts/money (got the green light from my Minister of Finance (wifey) for an order thru BrewHardware.com) and will start to assemble my column so I can truly figure out the condenser setup! Keep up the good videos, just found out about you today, I just subbed!
Tri-clamped column so I can add a reflux condenser up in the column in between that and my 180 deg bend that goes back down. Going for an all in one system, beer making + "essential oils" and "fuel"
AWESOME! Nice work man. That sounds like a pretty legit set up! Send some pics through would be keen to see it! Can find me on FB or insta if you want to send through on the D low :) Ah thanks man! Pretty cool finding people at the same stage as me!
how much does it weigh empty and full of water? I am making my still out of a turkey fryer and just wondering about support so it doesn't tip over in mid run
The end closest to the vapour should be flush at the very least, common internet theory suggests that if it isn't you can get pooling which will encourage smearing.
Just for the condenser? Perhaps $8 in copper. $8 for ferrules. $10 gas. $10 braze. I had to buy a few tools too, but I can't really add that to the build cost. So perhaps $30-$40 NZD. So $22-$30 USD. At a guess. Once everything is up and running and all the kinks are worked out I will do a summary video with costs etc.
I am going to sound like a real noob here. I have been distilling for about 15years but always the same way, sugar wash with yeast from HB shop, a boiler and super reflux condenser. What is the point behind a shotgun condenser? When is this used and reflux used? Only been following channel for a few weeks and I have only even done a spirit run and only collected main part of a run, stopping when it dipped any further below 75%. So a lot of what you are talking about is new to me, so forgive my ignorance.
overkill.....I have a single 1 12mm pipe inside 1 18mm about 1m long.... more than enough condenser. I use a sharkbite to join to the column... cheap and simple. Also an 250mm sleeve that slips over the column with rubber reducers on either end and water fittings for reflux for gin and vodka. Easy to install or remove.
Not so worried about taking it apart as everything is modular. But fair point. Was easier for me to get the materials here for brazing. And also stronger (although more brittle).
I know when I was designing mine I took it apart and made changes many time. In fact I have some new ideas right now. I also want to make a real traditional moonshine still that makes use of a thumper keg. IF you haven't already you should watch the Popcorn "Marvin" Sutton video on youtube. "The last damn likker run I'l ever do"
The setup I have now will give me 95/% abv on the first run. Good for vodka. I remove the packing and turn off the reflux for whiskey or brandy. I filter the vodka through a 5ft column of activated carbon to further purify and smooth it out. Whisky I make charcoal like they do at the Jack Daniels distillery and use that. I use whatever hard wood I can get since I don't have access to the sugar maple they used.. I visited the Jack Daniels distillery several years ago. It's funny because Lynchberg TN is in dry county and You can't buy any liquor there. Cheers
take your tube turn it on end leave over .25 " of your tubes sticking out flux it warm it up to heat and flux it with flux bring it almost to the top of the tubes flip it over and do the same no leaks first drill and do you in and out coolant lines ..
Did you figure out how to build a shot Gun that works .. if so . put 3 , 30 gallon stainless steel pots together .then make a manifold for the 3 Arms . one for Corn one for Rye and One for Barley .. now Im going to tell you make you can get two Runs . just add water and sugar use 2 gallon of malt corn ,rye, barley now on the sugar the 2nd run use brown sugar .. them first two runs are strippers the 3rd run .. fuse it with condenced Apple Juice and one medium can of .. in your arm you will take 2 glass gallon jugs and make them both Doublers . and send it right to your condencer .. I have hit years go 170 to 180 good Apple pie likkkr with out going threw the other BS temper back to 120 stick a apple wedge and cinnamon stick for look 25 to 30bucks a quart ..
+brittenv1000 I was finding it easier. To find the brazing flux. And I had a few people teaching me that knew brazing. Soldering would have worked too. I want to teach myself that too!
+brittenv1000 nah I think I jumped right into using it after that. I need to make a overview video for the still now I think. Almost like a review type thing for those thinking of going CCVM.
Here's some free advice from an ex-metalwork teacher that will make your life easier: Don't use hard solder (silver solder or brazing) because you do not need the strength (usually needed only for pressure work). Instead use silver loaded soft solder (potable water grade a silver/tin alloy) and that way your copper pipe will not need pickling to get it clean. In fact it should stay relatively bright with only maybe a dip in vinegar to clean it up after.
The soldering process is so much easier and safer with nothing more than a soft flame needed. You will need less expertise and if it goes wrong it is easier to take apart. There are any number of acid and non acid (water based) fluxes available at your local plumbing shop. Give it a good boil in water and a soak in vinegar after.
Years teaching metalwork and jewellery making followed by a bit of condenser construction of my own as I retired to follow the "art".
Thanks a loooooot man!!!
Amen, and if you get lazy just cover in flux and worm, repeat, good to go.
grew up sweating copper of every type.
AND if you have a supper hard flux dirty/job get out the cheater Sauce from the electronic store! did circuit board too.
Great vid Jesse, at the 4min mark you mention size differential i think and someone correct me if wrong but my dads a plumber and he said they use I.D. internal diameter, the tree is a fitter/engineering tool so the numbers will be O.D. overall diameter or external. if that makes sense. for anyone ever trying to use plumbers PVC pipe or fittings with electrical/comms conduit this is the same deal. electricians use O.D not I.D. , i believe it is because of pressure in the pipes, plumbers use the PN system which is thickness/pressure rather than diameter (makes sense after someone tells you) i found out the hard way. cheers
great work! your leak was unfortunate but have you tried using Flux and lead free solder instead of brazing rod? brazing takes a tremendous amount of heat and the solder will flow around joints better. happy distilling!
If you go the solder route, talk to a jeweler about silver solder. Or take an oldsilver dime and file off shavings to act ss solder.
Great learning experience! Proper tools are 50% of the job! 👍
I suspect that the pipe size issue was that you intended to use a half-inch OD, outside diameter tubing, but you purchased half inch inch ID, inside diameter pipe.
Love the video.
I watched it while researching for my build.
I'd like to see more info on the cold smoker
A tip.. Obviously, it's easy to make a disc on a lathe, but if one has got none a drill will do. Simply rough cut after the template and then make the holes for the tubes ..EXCEPT that in the center. Drill a hole in the center, so a bolt can go through, secure it on the opposite side with a nut. Now fasten the whole thing in the drill (a drill press is even better). You can now use the drill as a lathe and file/sand until you end up with a perfect disc at the desired diameter. You can even use a flap disc on an angle grinder, to make the process really fast.
When you've done all discs, you can use that step drill to widen the center hole. Also, solder or braze it upside down, not lying on the side. The filler rod will be easier to manage, without struggling with gravity too.
However, you fought a brave battle and got the job done..congrats..! That shotgun condenser can handle 4 KW worth of heat easily.
+Kalle Klæp dude. I dig that. Thanks for the tips man :)
4 KW??? That's a monster still you're building. And why do you want the cooling water out to be hot?
The power is nice for warm up. I don't use nearly all of that when running it. Not sure what you mean about the water out being hot?
BigEdsGuns
made a comment I didn't understand - "You want your output water to be very hot."
I went the easy way on my setup. Chinese lab glass is very cheap right now. I found everything on eBay and Amazon. I got a Vigreux Column Distillation Condenser for $14 and a whole set of everything else for $48 - all beautiful lab glassware". I made my first run this week. I for sure won't have the throughput you will though - I'm an order of magnitude down from your 4 KW capacity.
That's for a 50l boiler too man. I'm not sure what size you are running. Huh that's cool man!
35 years in heating trade in northern Canada, and that's the second time I've heard the term aviation snips.
Always been
Sheers and
Tin snips.
Not one word about who created the "shotgun" condenser or any credit to that inventor...Marvin "popcorn" Sutton, America's last real moonshiner.
A “shotgun” condenser is just a Liebig condenser which was invented over 250 years ago
Good morning Jesse from the Deep South New Orleans Louisiana USA. I enjoyed watching you build the shotgun condenser however I would have like to see you complete the entire job with caps on both ends and how it really works. Do you think you can possibly show the video by doing the entire thing all at one time that would really be nice thanks Big D
Subscribed straight away bro, you're a natural teacher and your very good at your craft.
+Shaun Mccaughan ah shucks man. Cheers!
No problem, I've been a fitter and Turner most of adult life and you're metal craft is spot on.
I was going to say to also that when I made a couple of copper tube heat exchangers for my foreman's boat when i was an apprentice I soldered all the core first using a steel jig that the plates with the holes in got clamped to and all the pipes went through to a stop behind at the correct depth. Just heat up the steel and then solder the pipes in and then put inside the large pipe and solder whole lot in position. You can use spacers to change the depth of where the hole plates are on the pipes and just have the steel hole plate counter sunk cap screwed to the rest of the jig and that can be changed too. Means you can sit the plates totally square to the pipes and anywhere on their length too, more than happy to give you a drawing if any of that is unclear. Private message me somehow and i'll get it to you with a drawing of how you can clamp two pieces of tool steel plate (like gauge plate) and hole saw them out and drill as pair to clamp the copper between them. Once their hardened you can file and lightly sand them round and the same diameter each time. Just make sets up for different sizes. Like i said you're really good as is, these are just ideas for you that I used in the past.
No flux no sanding nothing 😂 love it
Best Video yet Jesse, i've been toying with the idea of a shotgun condenser and this just solidified that i can definitely do it. Loving the channel and keep those videos comming
+ListyLab thanks :). If I can get one together I'm sure you can. Keep us posted, let us know when it's done :)
Love the channel!! You may have already answered this and I do apologize, but where can I find those paper templates you used? Cheers!! Thanks for the great content!
Jesse seriously I have to say this is one of my favorite videos you've done.
It is reality and it shows the shit "crafters" have to deal with all the time.
I need four hands to do this.
Oh hell, I don't have the right tool!
Oops, I forgot to do that.
Damn, THAT doesn't fit!
Jeez, it's leaking!
#reality
Well done my friend.
Bahaha yeah four hands would have been rather . .. . Well. . . . Handy for that!
nice condenser. you did great. great idea on the late addition for your connections. just be carefull on the flex on that connection when you run it. there will be some weight on that joint, but it should be fine. polish that up and it will look fine. lol, i would have burned off the template too.
Lazy men unite! haha
Yeah, I had wondered about that also, guess I will keep an eye on it.
Just ok dude we get it your the best lol
Very good considering you made it from scratch using hand tools. Thanks for the vid
You compromised on the end result and your initial design to save a few hours in construction time?
It would have been worth the wait to get the proper drill bit the following day so that you can braze on the fittings you wanted.
I dont understand what the rush is all about. The materials are quite expensive.
With respect to equipment building, I tend to use the motto " take your time, build it the way you want it so that you have a piece of equipment for long term" (more of a sentence than a motto).
Overall, a good construction and brazing job that produced a functional piece of equipment.
First time viewer of your RUclips channel - great stuff.
Cheers for the feedback.
Yeah I hear you. But remember at this stage I was already about 16 months deep on this & I just wanted it done. Should I have waited . . . . yes . . . was I capable of it . . . . no haha.
@@StillIt No need to defend the decision to use different fittings.
I am the master of short cuts, stuff ups and last minute changes and compromises.....At least your condenser could do its job in the end and didnt leak.
A friend of mine had access to a computerised sheet metal hole stamping machine which could whip out a copper disk with holes in it in no time - and with great accuracy. He built most of the still equipment at work and did the brazing and tig welding himself.
There are some fantastic tools and machines that can be hired or even purchased second hand that can make certain jobs a lot more easy to carry out.
In the end the most important thing in my still is the control of temperature and cooling rate in the coil/condenser. Overall though, the fermentation technique and ingredients/techniques used is the key for me as well as the wood/barrel aging process. Drinking and sharing the stuff is the easy bit.....
(In Australia stills are not legal without a alcohol manufacturing permit. The excise payable to the Government is just over $80 per litre of pure ethanol. The only components that can be legally concentrated in stills without a permit are aromatics and essential oils using tiny pot stills. Distilling ethanol in pots with a volume greater than 5L is considered commercial scale and attracts large fines. Many people in Australia try and keep their stills under this volume which makes distilling a lot more difficult, time consuming and expensive.)
Anyway, cheers.
watching this reminds me of a mega condencer Pop corn Sutton had made . it had about 15 3/8ths tubes set up like you just made but the sleve was 6 inch .. and it was about 28 inches long and was mounted to a stand .. when the Temp is 173 to 180 .. thats hot shuyt .. and you need the volume of water to cool the vapor and having a 5 hole may work Id be scared to br wasting likker .
I used silver solder. I wouldn't use brass on a condenser. That's just my preference.
sorry to have to mention this again, but as some others gave you the tips and I don't see you following them, again the steel is harder than the copper, apply the heat to the steel the copper will be plenty hot enough long before the steel, as with most all metals also apply the heat to the thickest piece first, exp. 2 pieces of copper 1-1cm thick and the other 4cm thick heat the 4cm to point of adhere and the 1cm will be adhered, hope this helps, you are not getting a good weld to the steel the way you are doing it, what the way you are doing it, is only filling the gap between the copper and steel, this is why one of the others mention to heat the steel on the inside, touch the rod to the steel to see if it is hot enough to adhere to the steel, lie I said if you get the steel hot enough for rod to adhere then it will flow to the copper like water. BTW I love seeing what you are doing and can't wait to see the final work in progress, these are some of the best videos on youtube as quality, and none of that off the wall music that the others use because they are not assure of their ability to speak, GREAT JOB
Thanks a bunch man.
Yeah I think I should really have gone a little slower with the process. Taken more time to internalise the tips I was getting.
But anyway, I guess I got some kind of a result. Its all up and running. Im sure it will need repair at some time though haha. But I guess when that happens I will be more prepared to handle the situation 😉
does anyone know where to get the templates from?
How you know the right size of condenser you need for certain size of boiler? so it won’t be to big or to small
only two cents i have is would have the inlet and outlet on opposing sides for better uniform water flow.
I didn't realise you had been around so long
Great condenser
Hey Jessy. First of all thanks for all the kickass videos you've shared.
I'm about to build still like yours(hopefully :)
My only worry is building a shotgun condenser. I can get hold of pretty cheap pre-made stainless steel shotgun condenser. My question is will that effect cooling efficiency or perhaps product taste?
Thank a bunch for all the help :)
No not at all , especially if you have other parts in the vapor path that are copper .
You forgot Baffles. Water flows the path of least resistance.
Water can channel right up the side of the two nearest pipes and out. With baffles it change direction and increase efficiency dramatically.
My advice would be to put on a valve on the water output to decrease flow. It will hold the cooling water longer inside the shotgun. You want your output water to be very hot.
Remember shotgun condensers are most efficient when vertical. Conversely liebigs like to be angled for maximum efficiency.
You should also grind down the tops of the 5 vapor tubes. There will be some pooling of alcohol which will build up on top and drip down. It's called Smearing and will taint your cuts. Example: Some heads may end up in hearts, and hearts may end up in tails. It self blends them. Just grind (dremel) down the tops of the 5 vapor input tubes.
Great video Jesse!
Thanks man!
I decided to not bother with the baffles. I was worried enough just about getting this togeather haha. And I guessed 500mm x 5 15mm should be enough for most things regardless.
IH brought up the proud 15mm too. Will look at grinding it down to help on smearing. One end is only just proud, so will use that at the top.
Hmmm, hadnt thought of controlling water on the out instead of the in. Output water being hot will only be a sign of efficiency though. Like using the least amount of water right. There is no reason to actually have it be hot other than that?
If you notice a lot of air bubbles on the output (clear tubing), you can slow it down. The water will flood and should push out any trapped airspace in the shotgun. Unless some gets airbound by a large distance from the output hole to the top vapor entrace of the shotgun.
Air compresses, water does not.
hello, forgive me for my bad english ... I have a question: I built a distiller with a column, and I tried to find the materials locally (south Italy), I used a stainless steel column with a diameter of 8 cm (just over 3 inches) while it appears that several use the 2 inch measurement. I do not complain about the operation but in your experience what is the real difference? I read in some forums different opinions .... I would like to know your opinion. the maximum amount of washing is 20 liters, has a "vapor management" configuration but I can also use it in "pot still" mode. Thank you so much
Hi Demi, your English is awesome don't stress it.
If you are using packing in the column and active reflux then more width is a good thing! Width gives speed, height gives higher abv
Ok, I had read something about speed ... in the forum we recommend the largha column for the great distillers while mine is for small lots and this has led me to confusion. I use my distiller as both crowded reflux and in pot still mode without packaging and with little reflux. I have another question that torments me: when preparing the fruit in fermentation is it useful to heat the fruit to increase the availability of sugars? tasting the cooked fruit is sweeter .. the sugar is still the same, but I think that with heating it is more available. thank you for your patience and your fantastic videos.
@@Demymaker Thank you for your comments, and @Still It thank you for the video and your reply, it's spot on. I don't want to hijack your thread but seeing as there are relatively few comments, this shouldn't bog things down much. In my experience (extremely limited) and my opinion (unformed, 3rd-hand), the question of cooking fruit before fermenting is a good one, and has multiple answers. To start with, your end goal. Are you making brandies/schnapps/eau de vie or are you intending to make high spirits? My guess from your description of your system (both crowded reflux and in pot still mode without packaging and with little reflux) you are wanting to do both. If you were only wanting to do high spirits, the fruit esters aren't going to make that big a difference. However, when you apply heat you release the pectins into solution, and some strains of yeast will ferment pectins into methanol, which is poisonous. Methanol is a lot of what you throw away or use for cleaning, from the foreshots. So: heating the fruit can decrease the characteristic fruity esthers but also create more methanol in the foreshots/heads. But heating can also make sugars more soluble and fermentable as you stated. These are why when we make cider, wine, and most brandies we use cold pressing techniques to get the juice out. On the other hand, you can make fruit brandies by heating up the fruit, to juice it before fermentation. You just might lose some of the true fruit esthers that you want in your braindies. Sometimes you have a bunch of people helping you crush and juice apples, for instance. Then when you ferment that juice you have cider or can make brandy. Sometimes you have 0 people helping you so you have to use heat and time to turn extra apples into applesauce, then filter it, and ferment it. I've got about 200 liters of that kind fermenting right now, with the intent to use some of the stripping/pot still run to make brandy, and using the rest to do a high spirit run. Hope this helps a little.
@@chironchangnoi Thank you for your answer, I really appreciate it. From the fruit I want to get the maximum taste and smell possible (I think many want this). In general I chop the fruit with the peel, then the ferment (without added sugar) and finally we distill all the pulp, a first time with the pot still (to raise the level of alcohol, otherwise I get little product) then the new distillation with column without packaging. I'm always looking for improvements, so if you have any advice to give me I willingly accept them. Thanks a lot.
Dude that's awesome!!!!!
+Bearded & Bored cheers man!.....chilli!!
How do you clean up the nasty brazing stuff ?
I'd love to know how you built that smoker! Looks awesome :-)
Thanks, man. Seems to work well. I'm in the process of deciding how to make a smoking chamber for it. Right now I am thinking a cheap second-hand oven.
It's super simple. There are a whole lot of tutorials around on youtube/blogs/etc. Have a look for "venturi valve cold smoker" or "cold smoke generator". Mine looks a bit different I guess. But exactly the same thing. Just different materials.
Perhaps when I have it all finished I will do a grain smoking and smoker build vid :)
Hi I'm new to distilling and was wondering can I make the condenser with mild steel
Why braze when you can solder? I use 1.5mm silver solder, looks skinny, works great.
Great video mate, i was just wondering if you could supply the measurements i mean how far into the tube do you solder the plate, i mean you have to leave room for the ferrule. Thx
Laddy you finially up and Running ?
Can you please hook me up with the template for the copper plates? I am new to distilling and currently on my first build, I've watched all your videos and they've been very helpful. Keep up the good work, cheers!
+Brian Vail yeah mate. Flick me a message!
+Brian Vail of corse. Flick me a message on FB or on the back end here 😁
I think i want to make a condenser so i can brew coffee. Might move to ‘shine later ;)
What happened brother? You look flushed, that spark is missing!❤️👍
Hey mate hoping this gets to you and sorry if you said it somewhere else - but why both the 2% and 15% silver brazing rods? I am looking to build a replica of your still and was wondering if you could help me better understand the joining process. Also, since you first published this video have you found other methods (such as the solder) to work better or would you stick with the method shown here? Thanks in advance!
Using 2 different grades of solder is often to have 2 different solder melting temps. You can do the first soldering with the high melt then when doing the next solder you are working slightly colder and not risking issues with the first solder joints.
Nice one mate
You did good pal.
glad to know shotgun con's aren't just coil wound
to cut the disc out for the tubes may be a hole saw cutter that size. just a suggestion.
That's a sweet idea actually mate!
Hey budd thanks for the vids Im researching my first build but I have a question, looking at that design it seems that there is alot of space for liquid to pool at the top of the condenser before passing down the tube and this may cause smearing of the foreshots and heads has that been an issue for you or am I just being a bit pedantic with my design?
Hey There - new subscriber question, what thickness / gauge of copper for the baffle plates? Love your stuff, thanks for sharing!
oo tell me you made a video on that smoker you made ???? or if not , you got a link to one you used to make it ?
Sorry mate nope haha. But there is plenty out there. Chuck "cold smoke generator" or " Venturi cold smoker" into the search bar 😀
Still It Dam your on the ball with reply,s !! thanks m8 will do been smoking my own bacon for a year or so making mead and pickling everything i can , will be getting my gun ticket soon so the smoker will be more use and the animals will have less buckshot in them lol
Man marlborough sux!! Cant even get copoer tube at a bloody plumbing shop!!
Recycling centers get good copper tube and squashes it!!!
Cant even make a still to get started!! Cant get firtings unless its ali express abd horrendous prices. Basicky new zealand your effed!
Your frustration is stemming likely from directly heating the flux. Never if at all possible ever directly put a flame on your flux as it'll basically not allow the solder to spread and make a bond.
To avoid this it's wise to get your parts evenly heated as much as possible, and only then apply flux and then your silver solder. Helps beat to work small areas at a time.
Another way of testing is to use low air pressure / bike pump and dip each end in water to spot the leaks
Thanx to watching this vid I gave it a go myself and very happy with it
Did you have any problems connecting the copper to the ss ferrules? I got mine so it looked good, but as soon as I put any weight on the joint it comes apart.
The first few times I tried was a bit sketch. I was not getting it hot enough. But I got there in the end. The joys of learning haha
Right on, I figured it was probably not enough heat. I'll try using some hotter gas.
Can you use lead free solder on the copper to copper joints, also I have seen brass ferules that again would soft solder on to the copper pipes ?.
Yup you sure can. I decided to go with braze as it was easier to find the tools and solder for me. Brass can be questionable due to the inclusion of lead.
hey jesse can one use an aluminium coil for a condenser
Where can I get my hands on the templates?
Yo don't need one. Just get a drawing compass or use the pipes itself to make the circles with a pen.
Hey mate,
Any chance you can share the templates you had/have for the shotgun condenser? Would be way easier than trying to outline it with a permanent marker :)
Your videos are awesome! keep up the good work!
Flick me a email jesse@chasethecraft.com :)
Hey mate, love the vids
where did you get the ferrules from and what size are they?
everything 2” i can find is sized to butt on to the end of the pipe and the bigger and smaller sizes are too big or small to go inside or outside.
Yeah I had the same problem. I had to expand the pipe a little to fit the 50mm ferrules (I got from Ali Express). I did that buy forcing them in haha. Not ideal, but I couldn't bring my self to buy the right tool for the job.
@@StillIt Might wanna mention that issue as its the problem in facing also..
for what reason/s did you choose to go with/build the shotgun condenser, over other types?
I wanna see " Lets Make a Fractional Still, more to the Point a Calibrated Still 👍🏻🇦🇺
How long did you make your shot gun condenser from fitting to fitting?
Actually never measured it fitting to fitting. Just the actual "active" part of it.
@@StillIt why did you put the plates in so far? making it harder to braze? couldn't you do it flush with the ends of the pipe?
Where’s the next vid?
Yeah I’m just now watching this video 3 years too late. Got a question though. Why not just use a 2” end plug instead of cutting that piece of plate?
Nice! Looks nerve wracking. I bet it feels good to get it out of the way. So, sorry if you've answered already but, why brazing over just soldering?
I guess it was just because of the unknown factor. But really I think its one of those things that you just keep working at, hit a problem, keep going.
I was finding it hard to find suitable flux for copper to stainless soft solder here. I ended up finding all the bits for brazing first. So I just went with it.
I will try soft solder for something in the future for sure. Will be interesting to compare the two I think.
I'm at the same point! Condenser and control!
Awesome man!
What sort of still are you building?
Electric KEG, 4" Ferrule on top..reduced to 2" column (tri-clamp) then 90deg+90deg still 2" reduced on its way down (still trying to find the copper sizes that are affordable (i live in north of canada, we dont have must choices on parts)), vertical liebig condenser down to the collection jar. This project has been taking a lot of time to build due to parts/money (got the green light from my Minister of Finance (wifey) for an order thru BrewHardware.com) and will start to assemble my column so I can truly figure out the condenser setup!
Keep up the good videos, just found out about you today, I just subbed!
Tri-clamped column so I can add a reflux condenser up in the column in between that and my 180 deg bend that goes back down. Going for an all in one system, beer making + "essential oils" and "fuel"
AWESOME!
Nice work man. That sounds like a pretty legit set up!
Send some pics through would be keen to see it! Can find me on FB or insta if you want to send through on the D low :)
Ah thanks man! Pretty cool finding people at the same stage as me!
Will do once I'm done, I'll shoot you some pics. Til then, take care my friend!
Wow
how much does it weigh empty and full of water? I am making my still out of a turkey fryer and just wondering about support so it doesn't tip over in mid run
Hows it Chuck.
Sorry for the slow reply mate. I actually have not weighed it. So total guesstimate, I would say perhaps 4kg empty and 8kg full?
lol.... love the Kiwi gretting " How's it " loved my visit to Auckland!!! thanks pal!!!
also, grats on 500
Thanks, dude! Did feel good to hit a "milestone".
Cheers man :)
Can you share the hole templates so we can use them?
Flick me a message on FB or email stillit.chasethecraft@gmail.com. I need to get something set up to host stuff huh!
Still It I sent you a email a few days ago btw.
I replied earlier this morning mate. Get it?
Still It yes I did! Thank you so much!
The nasty cuts you were talking about when cutting out the discs are called meat hooks.
They definitely hook meat!
do you have a video on how to build the cold smoker thing ???
I do not 😑. Well not yet . . . .
Ill keep my eyes peeled for it !!! thanks for the quick response as always !!!!!
I also would like that. Two votes!
Absolutely! Would love to know/ see video on how you made that cold smoker.
I enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the great work my friend!
Are the 15mm tubes on both ends proud or is one end flush?
One is almost but not quite flush. You thinking of the flow of gas?
The end closest to the vapour should be flush at the very least, common internet theory suggests that if it isn't you can get pooling which will encourage smearing.
Closest to vapour = Lyne Arm.....
Ah right! Will check that out!
How much did all the pieces cost together?
Just for the condenser?
Perhaps $8 in copper. $8 for ferrules. $10 gas. $10 braze. I had to buy a few tools too, but I can't really add that to the build cost. So perhaps $30-$40 NZD. So $22-$30 USD. At a guess.
Once everything is up and running and all the kinks are worked out I will do a summary video with costs etc.
Cool cool, thanks man!
Earlier I was looking up pronunciation guides to try and decide if you were from New Zealand or Australia. I guessed wrong.
Sorry, lol
hahahah!
I shall try not to be offended ;)
hello,
what diameter of inner tube to use, I will build dephlegmator of 4 "
Really depends on how many inners you want to fit in there. Flick me a email at jesse@chasethecraft.com I have some templates :)
I am going to sound like a real noob here. I have been distilling for about 15years but always the same way, sugar wash with yeast from HB shop, a boiler and super reflux condenser. What is the point behind a shotgun condenser? When is this used and reflux used? Only been following channel for a few weeks and I have only even done a spirit run and only collected main part of a run, stopping when it dipped any further below 75%. So a lot of what you are talking about is new to me, so forgive my ignorance.
overkill.....I have a single 1 12mm pipe inside 1 18mm about 1m long.... more than enough condenser. I use a sharkbite to join to the column... cheap and simple. Also an 250mm sleeve that slips over the column with rubber reducers on either end and water fittings for reflux for gin and vodka. Easy to install or remove.
hey brother I have also shot you e-mail on paper templates. love your work!
Can you share the templates with all of us please. cheers
Shotgun condenser sounds like a microphone.
You're a sincere & informative nice guy. Given. But WTF not edit out the fuckups ?
Hows it mate. The speaking fuck ups? Or the building fuck ups?
Not exactly sure why you are braising copper when it soldiers so easily Plus it makes it easy to take apart if you want to change something
Not so worried about taking it apart as everything is modular. But fair point.
Was easier for me to get the materials here for brazing. And also stronger (although more brittle).
I know when I was designing mine I took it apart and made changes many time. In fact I have some new ideas right now. I also want to make a real traditional moonshine still that makes use of a thumper keg. IF you haven't already you should watch the Popcorn "Marvin" Sutton video on youtube. "The last damn likker run I'l ever do"
The setup I have now will give me 95/% abv on the first run. Good for vodka. I remove the packing and turn off the reflux for whiskey or brandy. I filter the vodka through a 5ft column of activated carbon to further purify and smooth it out. Whisky I make charcoal like they do at the Jack Daniels distillery and use that. I use whatever hard wood I can get since I don't have access to the sugar maple they used.. I visited the Jack Daniels distillery several years ago. It's funny because Lynchberg TN is in dry county and You can't buy any liquor there. Cheers
You over killed the surface area lol
take your tube turn it on end leave over .25 " of your tubes sticking out flux it warm it up to heat and flux it with flux bring it almost to the top of the tubes flip it over and do the same no leaks first drill and do you in and out coolant lines ..
Switch subtitle on please
+Deaf Lion subtitles should be go. If you were hoping for translations that's a whole lotta work sorry :(
Did you figure out how to build a shot Gun that works .. if so . put 3 , 30 gallon stainless steel pots together .then make a manifold for the 3 Arms . one for Corn one for Rye and One for Barley .. now Im going to tell you make you can get two Runs . just add water and sugar use 2 gallon of malt corn ,rye, barley
now on the sugar the 2nd run use brown sugar .. them first two runs are strippers the 3rd run .. fuse it with condenced Apple Juice and one medium can of .. in your arm you will take 2 glass gallon jugs and make them both Doublers . and send it right to your condencer .. I have hit years go 170 to 180 good Apple pie likkkr
with out going threw the other BS temper back to 120 stick a apple wedge and cinnamon stick for look 25 to 30bucks a quart ..
why don't you use solder bro?
+brittenv1000 I was finding it easier. To find the brazing flux. And I had a few people teaching me that knew brazing.
Soldering would have worked too. I want to teach myself that too!
Still It I guess brazing is a hell of alot stronger? Is there a second vid of the shotgun installed?
+brittenv1000 nah I think I jumped right into using it after that. I need to make a overview video for the still now I think. Almost like a review type thing for those thinking of going CCVM.
+brittenv1000 oh also yes. But I think perhaps slightly more brittle too.