Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Grinders are a crude yet affective way of doing many jobs and INJURIES. If you are going to clamp a grinder in a vice, please use the handle thread to bolt a piece of steel plate or flat bar to the grinder firmly then clamp the plate in the vice tightly, plastic grinder cases tend to rattle loose in a vice due to the structural limits of plastic. If you are going to use a 1mm cut-off wheel for your slits may I recommend Pferd brand, they seem to cut with a minimum of load hence friction hence heat yadda yadda. Also be aware of which side of the wheel you are approaching with your workpiece, one side will draw you in the opposite side will push you out but spit grit at you. This post is meant a a general warning and is not directed at anyone in particular Please take no offence, :-D I only post it here as the topic has come up.
Cheers Kicka

Geez,

After reading this lot reckon I'll stick to a Dremel...can at least work at a distance bugga how long it takes... I'm kinda found of both my thumbs.

bt1

err *fond

is the word I believe.

dyslexic
bt1

With common sense & risk assessment prior to just ripping into it the grinder in a vice is no more dangerous than running a still on gas, if you're prone to injury via stupidity then I'd recommend locking yourself in a padded room and paying someone with some brains to do the job for you.

If you push anything into a grinder with force you're asking for trouble, a gentle approach allow the grinder to cut without load will see you right, just ask Linno as he cut the slots in his own bubble caps under my supervision without drama and it only took 15 minutes to do the slots in four 50mm caps.

It's only as dangerous as you allow it to be.

Well said all.
Respect the tool your using and you'll be fine. If your doing a monotonous boring job, take a break from it every now and again just to clear your mind. And if you don't know how to use a tool or it's your first time do some research or ask someone to show you the risks. As I always say it's better to ask a stupid question than make a stupid mistake!

Right I'd better get this thead back on track before we all go safety mad, so some photos might help. Probably a bit early but I've started on my plates so may as well show you where I'm up to.

Oh yer and before you all ask, I have changed my mind and gone with copper not ss.

MacStill wrote:With common sense & risk assessment prior to just ripping into it the grinder in a vice is no more dangerous than running a still on gas, if you're prone to injury via stupidity then I'd recommend locking yourself in a padded room and paying someone with some brains to do the job for you.

If you push anything into a grinder with force you're asking for trouble, a gentle approach allow the grinder to cut without load will see you right, just ask Linno as he cut the slots in his own bubble caps under my supervision without drama and it only took 15 minutes to do the slots in four 50mm caps.

It's only as dangerous as you allow it to be.

:text-+1:
Just pointing out a few basic fundamentals for those with not much experience in grinder use.
I appreciated being made aware of the dangers of gas fired boilers since joining this forum :text-thankyoublue:

I found that unscrewing the handle, putting a long bolt in, clamp the bolt in the vice, and use the guard on the grinder to rest the cap on while grinding works a treat, took me about 2 min to do each 2" bubble cap.

djfrestyla wrote:I found that unscrewing the handle, putting a long bolt in, clamp the bolt in the vice, and use the guard on the grinder to rest the cap on while grinding works a treat, took me about 2 min to do each 2" bubble cap.

That's exactly the way I did mine, I still have all my 6 fingers on each hand too 8-}

Some very nice work there Woodduck you will be running this badboy before you know it, keep the nice pics comming :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Looking really good, the R.C is coming up a treat.

Thanks guys
I hope to get some caps done tonight and mabye get a plate or two done. Then I'll feel like I'm making progress.

Nice progress there Woody.

Did you do the easy flange with the original beat out a flange and solder on a ring method or the Easy Peasy Flange where you just solder the ring on but no flange bashing ?

That first one I beat out the edge but a lot of work trying to get it all square. I have done some more reading and think I may go away from the bevel and just solder the ring. Although I am a bit worried with all that glass hanging off them.

Ok guys, it hasn't been the most productive weekend with all the kids sport and the wife going on about some wedding anniversary or something (I paid enough for the wedding do we have to spend more every year :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: ) but I did get a bit done. I've finished what I think will be the worst/slowest/tedious part of this build and thats the bubble caps. I have managed to keep all my fingers which is good (must have been all that safety talk earlier thanks boys we do need to keep up with safety Sam) so I have 30 1" bubble caps that came out ok but now I'm not sure if I should use bigger caps for my 3/4" downcommers 1"just seems a bit small might go to 1-1/4" (32mm) but that won't be too hard to change if I dicided to.
Hopefully tonight I will have the plates cleaned up and risers soldered in and maybe a few caps on aswell.
Well enough crapping on, heres some photos.

WTF dude, all I can say is your a machine. :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: And the attention to detail is awesome :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Damn Ducky ...you are the the bubble cap master. :music-deathmetal: eveyone a perfect copy....and shiny :handgestures-thumbupleft: .I love sunday nights . :D

Noise work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

caps look fantastic mate, this is shaping up nicely that's for sure....

As far as I can remember Harry was the first to build glass columns like this a few years back, I'm sure he'd be impressed to see these builds if he's watching :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You guys building rigs on this site are a real credit to Aussies, and pretty much kicking the rest of the worlds arses for creativity...... :music-deathmetal:

Thanks guys,
If it wasn't for the people on this forum especially you mac sharing their knowledge and skills, builds like this just wouldn't happen. I know I would never have the smarts to work most of this shit out. This forum has given a heap of blokes all over the place something to do with themselves on the weekend not just drink piss but make the rigs that make the piss, can't get much better than that.

Once again thanks