Jimmidaboot

Hello ADI! Just dropping in to show off the latest still built here at Craftsman Copper in Olympia, WA. This one is thus: 225 gallon direct fire boiler with hand forged onion head, all stainless hardware and gauges, 135 gallon preheater with manway and sight gauge, and a 235 gallon capacity condenser with hood and 1" x 60' all copper worm. All ball valves are lead free. Constructed using primarily TIG welding process, and of course some lead free solder where it was needed. I'm pretty proud of this one and look forward to hearing how it performs for my client.

If anyone is interested in a still, feel free to contact me through here, or via email: james@craftsmancopper.com - also, if any operational micro-distilleries want to set up their tasting room with copper lighting, that's my main line of work!

Oh, and I can also custom make you still heads based on your designs and dimensions. Just contact me if you're interested!

Thanks for checking this out.

Cheers,

Jimmi

Update: my client has pulled through and this particular still will NOT be available for purchase. Thank you for looking at my frustrated post, however! LOL!

Thanks!

I have been in the process of building a 225 gallon all copper, made in USA, Charentais still. The preheater is 135+ gallons (even though the drawing says 185, the design was modified), and the condenser barrel is 225 gallons as well. The onion type still head is all copper and hand formed. All seams are TIG welded, and the bottoms of all the vessels are welded then filled with lead free solder as an extra sealing agent. The drain is a 2" pipe with a lead free brass ball valve. All the lyne arm components will be copper and stainless tri-clamps with the preheater return featuring the same 2" lead free ball valve. The worm inside the condenser will be 1" all copper tubing. The still has been under construction for two months now, and was contracted to be finished by mid September.

I'm not completely sure as to what will happen, but the intended client has run into some financing issues, leaving me holding the bag with all of my personal and business bills stacking up. I'm testing the waters to see if there might be any interest on here in purchasing this unit from me. I really don't want to pull the rug from under my client, but the reality is that I need to keep my house and keep the bill collectors off my ass. If there is anyone on here interested, please send me a private message and we can discuss the possibilities.

Here are some pics of the project so far:

Initial design layout:

Onion head during fabrication:

Onion head and cape during fabrication:

Onion head and cape welded to the boiler:

Preheater domed bottom welded in and domed top fitted:

Flanged edge of the condenser barrel:

Welded in bottom of the condenser:

No planishing hammer. Everything is hand hammered to shape. English wheel to smooth out the hand forging. Rarely take pics of forming in process, since it's usually just me and my apprentice in the shop, and we've generally got our hands full!

This still is finished and shipped. I'll try to remember to post some pics of it completed, or perhaps my client will when he has it set up in its home.

Yeah. 16g copper. Gauges are not standard between different metals.

Copper sheet thickness.

Correct! Sorry, got it confused with 32oz. Thanks for that!

We're in the home stretch here. The still head is done. The CIP ports are all in. The boiler base and cape are all joined. The 16" manway is installed. The lyne arm attachment flange is connected to the goose neck and the lyne arm has its flanges installed. Moving on to the condenser and then the final clean up this week. Should be done in no time at all! And remember, if you're in the market for a customized, hand made in the USA, all copper, TIG welded still, you can give me a call or send me an email or an IM on here! Thanks ADI! And now to the photos...

Yes, all hand formed. Regulated with an English wheel when possible. And of course a TIG welder. The metal is measured in ounces and I use 48oz, which translates to about 19g or .049". It's a bit hard to manipulate, but it makes for a solid still.

Been busily working on this beauty. Can't wait to show it off to all of you when it's done. Here are some more in progress pics! Enjoy!!

Here's the cape all welded up

Here's the bottom of the onion head and the stainless flange….

This is the space that will be filled when I flare the collar to meet the bottom of the still head:

Lost more fitting work to attach the goose neck to the top of the still head...

I know it has been a while since I posted up, but I've been really busy with building copper lighting. So, here is the newest build happening in my little shop. It's going to be a direct fired 215 gallon still, all copper construction. I will let the pics of the gooseneck construction do the talking! Enjoy, my friends! And as always, if you want to talk about a project, send me a note on here! Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Now it's on to the onion head and the rest to follow!

Sorry for being a little late to the party, but I thought I'd share some pics of our newest build here at Craftsman Copper. Mike Haney from Hillbilly Stills contracted me to build a 100 gallon still for him, so here it is…oh and Mike, it would be great if you could post up some pics of it when you're done. (He is adding stainless components on his end, and I never took a "finished" picture) But I digress, here are the pics:

Just a thought but if the condenser was even or slightly below the swan neck, you could go right into the condenser with minimal restriction.

Good thought, but I build to customer specs, and this is how they wanted it. I'm not a designer, just a craftsman.

WIll you be at the ADI Conference? If so? I would like to meet up with you and discuss lead time and pricing.

Hey man! Not going to make, it's just too spendy for my wallet, and I'm pretty busy with work. You can call met at (360) 486-4962 or email me at james@craftsmancopper.com to discuss any work you might want from me.

Hey Jimmi,

Just noticed we're located pretty much right next to each other. We're starting up in Lacey. We also have friends at fish brewing. Such a small small world!

It is! Especially in the micro distilling world. I'd like to swing by and see what you have going on sometime, if you don't mind!

HAHA!! Just saw this. Nope…that table ain't gonna do!

I did think about that. They can run it either way. I will mention it to them. Thanks for confirming my assumption.

Jimmi, have you ever done any hydroforming? When I saw the pix of the flat plate for the arm, that's what it reminded me of.

I'm impressed at your skills! I'm sure you just beat it by hand, but does copper do well on an English wheel? That's the way I always did my fenders...looking forward to seeing the copper tank on your sportie!

Hey Natrat,

I've never done hydroforming, but I find the process intriguing. Copper does great on an English wheel, but you need to be careful of your tension in order to avoid undue scarring of the metal.

for the size of still that condenser will be plenty and then some.

That's what I figured. I'd rather err on the side of overdoing it than under doing it! I'm pretty proud of this one. Each unit that we build just gets better. Our techniques improve and along with that, our efficiency. I'm really hoping that someday I can be doing the copper lamps, chandeliers, and miscellaneous projects as more of a hobby, and make the still production my bread and butter. Distillers are a heck of a lot more fun to do business with than upscale lighting buyers and interior designers!

Cheers, my friends! And thank you for your support and encouragement. This is a great place you've created here. I couldn't have done this without the info and advice I've gotten from this forum and its members.

Jimmi

Almost done....

Doing more work on it the last couple days. Making a Gatling Gun type condenser and welding up the boiler sides:

It's the stock frame from my chopper with a girder fork on it. It may someday become a real chopper, we'll see. I just picked up another Sportster…..

As far as the goose neck, have a look at the first picture up top here. I just kinda guessed at it. Made an oversized version out of cardboard, then cut it out of 48oz copper. Then I proceeded to wail upon it with no mercy until it took the shape I wanted. Then did the other half and trimmed them to fit together. I make it sound easy, but it isn't. My motto in the shop is that I can build anything….even if I have to try 10 times to get it right. Luckily, with 20 years of copper bending experience, I usually get it right the first time….but not always!

Nope. I kinda think it's a bit steep too. The client's design was at about 20 degrees, this is about 30. Hand formed goose neck is an imperfect science! I might cut things back a bit and re-weld it at a lesser angle. I need to order a few more 4" stainless connections anyways. Burning one ain't too big of a deal.

Copper everything is good!! Looking great, man!!