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Build your own still? Feedback Please


Novice...learning

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As I have stated in a couple of other forums on this site, I'm very new to the distilling business and I'm trying to figure out many things. Has anyone built their own still for their distillery? I know many people who have built smaller stills for home use, but could I learn to build my own still for commercial use? I would like to know from not only the cost benefit, but the fact I could use it as a marketing piece and potential showcase for my distillery. Like I said, I'm new and I don't even know if this is possible or something practical. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

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Lots of people build stills. They are really quite simple. Now you are going to have to decide what type you want, pot still, reflux? If it's a reflux, what type do you want, lm, cm, vm, ccvm? Then do you want bubble plates, perforated plates, packed column or a combination. I would head over to homedistiller.org and do a lot of reading.

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The first thing you need to ask yourself is what manufacturing skills you have. You haven't told us.

If you work for a sheet metal fabricator and you have a DIY workshop under your house where you tinker every weekend then I would say "yes"

If your only work has been behind a desk and you haven't found the need to own as much as a soldering iron and tin snips then I would suggest "don't waste your time". Put your desk skills to work planning and getting other people to do the hands on work.

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Thank you for your responses. I would really like to have a hand in the construction of my still. I appreciate your feedback and encourage much more, as this helps me learn as I go. I am a combination of desk worker and a DIY, who had a small workshop at home at one point. I still have friends with workshops or if needed I have access to larger workshops and more equipment. Are there any classes out there, that anyone is aware of; that could teach me and/or walk me through the process of making my own still? I don't want something that comes in a kit. I would prefer something that would be an original, a centerpiece...a focal point in my distillery. Please let me know if these types of classes exist, where, and of course length and cost. Thanks again, I'm learning so much from the different forums and the honest feedback from the members.

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Maybe it's just me, and maybe it's just coming from my perspective as a non-DIY guy (at least as far as metalwork/welding/fabrication goes), but I personally feel that a professionally built still is going to be much more of a centerpiece than most and definitely more than anything that I could put together. I do want my distillery equipment to be a focal point in my distillery and I'm glad it's going to look the part since I didn't do it! :D

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Careful, one distiller recently died and the other horribly burned from a poorly made, poorly designed still. I am a master welder and could have made one, but chose a professionally designed and built equipment.

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  • 3 months later...

I don't think you should take the liability and risk something catastrophic from happening.  Plus, do you really want to place that kind of gamble on your livelihood?  If something goes wrong with the still (other than explosion) there is no one to call to fix the problems, there is no warranty for defective parts etc.  Yes, it would make for a great story but I don't think having a showpiece for your distillery and a story are worth the risk.  I would buy a still from a reputable manufacturer is the way to go, there is a reason they are so expensive.   

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5 hours ago, CBDCo said:

.........  If something goes wrong with the still (other than explosion) there is no one to call to fix the problems, there is no warranty for defective parts etc. ..................

I would say you are not a DIY when you say that. When something goes wrong with a DIY project the person to call for warranty is yourself. The money you saved on DIY "pays" for your warranty.

Also with a commercially built still you could be out of action for months waiting for someone else to fix it.

eg. last week my still developed a crack in the base. 2 hours later it was fixed, didn't miss a run. There would not be a commercial still builder who could offer you that service.

 

BUT I AM NOT SUGGESTING ANYONE BUILD THEIR OWN STILL UNLESS THEY HAVE EXTENSIVE METAL FABRICATION SKILLS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY UNDERSTAND ALL THE SAFETY ISSUES

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Hi Novice learning

Whether you should build your own still or not comes down to this. If a person has the knowledge and the skills they can build their own still.  If they do not have the knowledge and skills they should not attempt it.  If it is all about saving money, I have some high quality low cost stills that work really well.  They are show room pieces as well.   Contact me if you like. 417-778-6100  paul@distillery-equipment.com http://distillery-equipment.com

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I built my own still and it worked out pretty well.

I would say that if you feel like you need to take a class to have someone else teach you how to build your own still, then you probably dont have the knowledge and/or skills needed to pull it off.  If you feel confident you can pull it off with the knowledge and skills you have then you *probably* can.  If you realize you dont have the knowledge but still want to do it I would suggest you take a month and read every thread that has been posted here:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=18&sid=6ea5175a3c86538597a4b340c21d3e3d

Once your done reading all that then build yourself a small still and see if you enjoy the process and decide then if you want to proceed with a production size still.

 

 

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