Fourlix

I looked at other Silicon Bronze wire from other companies. They all list lead as 0.02% as a max.

And there are no pipes or insulation between walls. I am thinking that with the bottom back on I can heat it with a propane water boiler I have. I will put a manway in the copper top, which I plan on taking up a couple of feet.

It is a round 100 gallon tank, double wall, but the bottom has been cut out so there is easy access to the underneath side. And yes, I want to make it into a still. As far as MIG goes, I have seen lots of SS wine tanks MIG welded, and it's what I have. I think this will make a very nice still. I plan on using the lid to make a new bottom for it, and adding a copper top. I see that there is a 0.02% lead content in the Harris Silicon Bronze wire...I am thinking there must be other brands, but that is a very tiny amount anyway. If you are TIG brazing with the same alloy, why not MIG? I expect to grind these welds smooth to avoid crevices that could harbor bacteria,,,,but it's a still, and none of the wine tanks I have seen had ground welds. Brazing is never going to get that pretty anyway, but it is a solid connection and there are no pits or bubbles.

Why not? Silicon bronze is okay for food grade applications.

Hey Mr. Dehner Distillery.....WTF is your problem? This was an experiment, not a finished result, and a first attempt. This is NOT about TIG, it is about MIG brazing. It is not about stacked dimes. This is something new and different. It works. Making it pretty comes next, with practice and more experimenting. There are plenty of threads on here about TIG welding. If you can't appreciate this for what it is then just go away.

Oh, and I think I will back off on the voltage a little, I think I was running a little hot, pretty flat weld. I expect the Argon to change things up. Who knows? Maybe I will end up liking the CO2 better? We'll see.

I did it. I used my Miller 200 with a spoolgun and Silicon Bronze wire using a brush on paste flux intended for oxy acetylene use. The flux made the braze flow nicely. Without it the braze would just pile up. The set up that worked was 24 volts on the Miller and #4 on the gun. The SS was a scrap of 304 SS 14 gauge, and the copper was 16 gauge. I have a SS milk tank that I am going to build a copper top for. Copper to copper and ss to ss also works just fine. I used a zig zag motion and moved pretty fast. This is just my first attempt, but I was excited to share. I didn't have any Argon and just used CO2, I expect this to get a lot better with Argon and practice. I can tell you that it is easier than welding stainless.

Out here water boilers are dirt cheap, and steam boilers are very expensive. I am talking Craigslist, homeowners that put in radiant floor heating and then changed their minds. I just bought a used water boiler, 150,000 BTU, rated for 250 degrees, for $175. I could have bought, and might eventually anyway, a 350,000 BTU boiler for $300. These boilers cost thousands new. I am building a 100 gallon still, and have a 300 gallon milk tank that I HOPE it will heat for a mash tun. Next question is whether it will heat a larger 250 gallon still? I am doing this on the cheap, steam is not even an option.

SO, I bought a 150K BTU water boiler, already jetted for propane, for $175. With new circulation pump. Rated for 250 degrees F. I plan on putting it right next to the 100 gallon SS still, in a firewall type box vented to the outside with outside combustion air. I will build the top out of 16 ga/48oz copper which I found in Tucson at Industrial Metal Supply. Very cool place. Like a welder in a candy store....I am sure this will work. BUT, I have plans for a 250 gallon stripper still, and I have my doubts if it will work for that. I may have to find a bigger boiler....These water boilers are easy to find cheap, but not the steam boilers.....

Great information, Thank you very much.

PeteB, If you don't mind please, what is your waste fuel consumption and your liquor production, over say, an average month? I don't have access to natural gas, and propane is about 3 times more expensive. I am very concerned with fuel costs. Your idea would be both economically and environmentally beneficial. Typical fuel costs for small distilleries here in New Mexico seem to be running from $350 to $750 a month on natural gas for steam boilers from 400k btus to 1,500k btus. I pay $22 for 5 gallons of quality canola oil for my deep fryers. That's just over $4 a gallon, not much more than diesel. I could change my fryers more often,,,,increase food quality, and stockpile used oil during months when the distillery isn't doing much, like dead of winter or heat of summer. I found waste oil steam boilers on Alibaba. This is a very interesting idea, thank you.

These boilers are natural gas and propane....but,,,waste oil eh? I happen to have a restaurant, with deep fryers....even so, this is not a lot of fuel, only about 10 to 15 gallons a week. I could make a deal with some more restaurants as fuel needs increased...bottle of whiskey for 50 gallons of used fryer oil sounds about right....thanks for the idea.

I have also heard of a low-tech steam injection using a beer keg.....but it involves using direct flame under the keg.

How about a hot water boiler? They are really cheap on craigslist. Steam boilers just don't come up, too specialized I guess. There were a lot of houses built around here with hot water radiant floor heating, and many owners don't like them, so $3,000 boilers are selling for $250.

I just scored this really cool SS double wall tank, probably a steam heated dairy tank. The bottom was rusted out mild steel which has been cut away. I plan on using the top to make a new bottom and putting two 5,000 watt electric heating elements in it with a small remote reservoir for maintaining a no pressure water level. I have found large copper pots in Mexico. 34", which I plan on using as a top, along with 2 18" copper bowls to make a bubble. A manway, filler, sprayball? site glass all seem appropriate. It is about 100 gallons according to my calculations, and I think a lot better than working with a 55 gallon SS drum. For scale, the pooch is my Newfoundland, Gunnar. I have a MIG spool gun set up, which I plan on using with silicon bronze to put it all together, except for the bottom, which I will SS MIG. DO you think two 5,000 watt elements is enough heat? Thanks, guys.

I just took the Downslope Distillery class. It was excellent! And certainly worth the modest price. No sales pitches, which I have heard happens with some of the other classes back east. Anyway, onward and upward.

thank you!

Quick question. For rum or whiskey, would a pot still with just two bubble plates need a dephlagmeter? And, is there a nickname for a dephlagmeter that is easier to say? thank you

I'd love to see more construction pictures, and the tools you use. Is that a shot bag I see in the picture of the swan neck? Your English wheel? Do you use an air powered planishing hammer? Such nice work!

Thank you guys. I think I now understand why cuts are as much art as they are science. And why cheap booze is cheap booze. Ouch!

So am I concluding that properly distilled liquor is more healthful than beer or wine?

So why is there no need, or practice, of removing these nasties from beer or wine? I don't know how that could be done anyway. Distillation offers the opportunity to separate these volatiles, is it just because you do it because you can do it?

Newbie here, trying to understand this topic. Beer & wine are fermented, and the entire liquid is ultimately consumed, excepting maybe some barrel loss from wine. Are malted barley and grapes not producing in fermentation the "low boilers" and nasties that distillers are losing sleep over? Are sugar, molasses and whole grains responsible for these undesirables? Is liquor distilled from malted barley, like beer, without the methanol, acetone and headaches? Is the high temperature of distillation creating these unwanted compounds? And finally, do big commercial distilleries really just throw away these cuts? I can't imagine corporations throwing anything away. I have had booze in the Caribbean, "Rum Agricole" to be precise, that smells like paint solvent, with an instant hangover headache and liver ache. In Mexico I had some Kahlua that one drink made me sick for two days. So I know it's out there, I just don't understand.

Thank you. I booked it for March 20-21. I will let you know how it goes!

I am looking at the Downslope Distilling two day course,,,,anybody else besides souschefdude? Bang for the buck it looks okay.