Agrajag

[Zak Griffin]

I've talked the talk, now I'm walking the walk. In 2014, my humble 3" pot still is going under the knife, to be reborn as a beautiful little bubbler... Inspired by the likes of dogbreath vodka's Steampunk builds, Smbjk's 'primitive' 3", and of course Mac's beautiful stills, I'm ready to take the leap and start bubbling :)

Plans are;

4 Bubble cap plates; thinking either a single 2" cap, or 2 x 1" caps on the 3" plate... 3/4" downcomers.

3" x 100mm RC, with 1/2" or 3/4" internals

2" sightglasses

300mm packed section for neutrals

I've already got the 600mm long 2" shotgun PC

And I'll probably do a 4" sightglass fill port and a drain on my boiler while I'm at it...

Any criticisms, suggestions, comments or ideas are more than welcome...

10 points to whoever knows where the name 'Agrajag' comes from :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[ott]

The question is will you kill it it knowingly or unknowingly? Sounds like a good plan mate

[blond.chap]

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, gimme the points.

It's the being that Arthur keeps accidentally killing every time he gets reincarnated, my favorite is as the bunch of petunias. Freaky co-incidence man, I was listening the the radio series with that episode literally one hour ago.

Also, nice work with the plan, you'll love building and running a bubbler.

[Frothwizard]

:text-+1: :happy-partydance: :text-+1: :happy-partydance: :text-+1: :happy-partydance:

I wish I had your skillz Zak! Good luck champ!

[dogbreath vodka]

Zak I'm going to go out on a limb here and say "Why not a 4 inch?"
Cost differences are not that great and you will be getting 2ltrs/hour
3" sight glasses easier to see through and all. ;-)

Just my 2 cents worth.

If not ....
:handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
All the best with your build and look forward to the photos and progress reports. :D

DBV

[Zak Griffin]

DBV, there is a very real chance that I will end up with a 4" or even a 6" bubbler, but I have all of the equipment and copper here to build a 3" one. It's not going to cost me much to turn my existing pot into a bubbler, and I really really like working with copper. For me this hobby is as much about developing my skills as a metalworker as it is about making premium spirits. I believe you are in the same boat?

I am always on the lookout for a lump of 4 or 6 inch pipe, and when I find it I will build a 'real' bubbler. For now, I will practice on this one :teasing-tease:

[Zak Griffin]

Cheers JayD... Posts like that make me happy that I've chosen to have a crack at a 3" bubbler first... If I can pull good single runs in the same time as it takes for a spirit run with the pot, I can't go wrong!

[dogbreath vodka]

DBV. For me this hobby is as much about developing my skills as a metalworker as it is about making premium spirits. I believe you are in the same boat?

This is true.
I build cause I like to improve my skills as well as produce good spirits.
New and different techniques add to what I can do and make it all more interesting. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

As said before "I look forward to seeing your build"
:handgestures-thumbupleft:

:D
DBV

[SBB]

it started off at 85%abv and maintained it up to the last couple of jars then it went to 80%bv then 79%abv into tails of about 400mls

Just wondering why diameter would affect ABV, is it because of plate surface area, Every thing Ive ever been told and read and my own experience says diameter only affects output speed. Have I been mislead??

[Smbjk]

Could not agree more with the above posts my 3" is frekin awesome. Zac go for gold mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: you will be happy either way but owning a bubbler is the best decision I have ever made................except for the wife :D

Good luck and cant wait to see your progress. I ran my pot twice before I built my bubbler

[Zak Griffin]

Oh no, not again...

Yesterday I came across an old solar hot water system at the dump... At first, the 3/4" and 1/2" pipes hanging off of it caught my eye, but closer inspection revealed that the tank was also made of copper... ~150mm copper...

So, once again, my plans have changed. Now I'm going to build a 4 plate 6" bubble cap column... A couple of Q's for the guys running these bigger stills;

Will my 2" shotgun be enough for the PC? 600mm long 2", with 7 x 3/8" inside... I'll make a 3" PC if I need to...

RC; 150mm high, 4 or 5 x 1" inside?

Bubble caps... How many/how big? I can get 2" pipe easily enough, I was thinking 2 x 2" caps? Or a heap of 1" caps? Dunno...

It should end up looking something like DBV's Steampunk 2, with any luck... I'm not going to be buying 6" elbows haha

I'll get a pic up soon :D

[dogbreath vodka]

Arrr the copper gods have gifted you a great present.... use it well. :teasing-tease: :D

3" PC 600mm long for me.

DBV

[Smbjk]

Arrr the copper gods have gifted you a great present.... use it well. :teasing-tease: :D

3" PC 600mm long for me.

DBV

:text-+1: must say where the bloody hell is this dump you keep visiting :mrgreen: my dump they charge the earth and you are not allowed to touch anything :handgestures-thumbdown: quite often see copper pipe :crying-blue:

[Zak Griffin]

I live in a town of less than 2000 people... You're 'not supposed' to take stuff from the dump, but the guys there couldn't care less...

I've got a 3" ferrule on my keg... If I make a 6"-3" reducer, will that be OK or should I get a bigger ferrule?

[dogbreath vodka]

I've got a 3" ferrule on my keg... If I make a 6"-3" reducer, will that be OK or should I get a bigger ferrule?

Can't see why that wouldn't work. Try it and if it is a problem then change it.
Vapour just gathers speed through the 3".
Unless you are worried about the weight .... :think:

If you are going to a 6" rig... look at the ribbing I got for using a 50lt keg.
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4639&start=40

A 50ltr is just too small. Leave the keg with the 3" and start thinking of something more along the lines of 100+ltr
Cause you are going to use it. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Oh and you will start to ramp up the size of your fermenters as well. :twisted:

DBV

[Zak Griffin]

Not really worried about the weight, I'll brace the top of the keg, and support the still from the roof of the shed as well...

Always got my eye out for a bigger boiler... If I find something ~100L, I'll turn my 50L keg into a feints container haha :handgestures-thumbupleft:

For now though, smashing through a 50L keg of wash in a couple of hours sounds pretty good to me!

[Smbjk]

Not really worried about the weight, I'll brace the top of the keg, and support the still from the roof of the shed as well...

Always got my eye out for a bigger boiler... If I find something ~100L, I'll turn my 50L keg into a feints container haha :handgestures-thumbupleft:

For now though, smashing through a 50L keg of wash in a couple of hours sounds pretty good to me!

Well hurry up and start posting a build thread with pics :teasing-neener: :teasing-tease: :D looking forward to the build :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Zak Griffin]

Don't Panic :D

I'll be running my pot for a while longer now, because I have to cut it up to make the 6"... So I'll get everything I can do on the bubbler done without cutting up the pot, and buy all of the clamps etc I need first... Which means I need a bit more coin, 6" stuff isn't cheap!

I'll get pics up ASAP.

[Smbjk]

Don't Panic :D

I'll be running my pot for a while longer now, because I have to cut it up to make the 6"... So I'll get everything I can do on the bubbler done without cutting up the pot, and buy all of the clamps etc I need first... Which means I need a bit more coin, 6" stuff isn't cheap!

I'll get pics up ASAP.

:D :D :laughing-rolling:

[Zak Griffin]

Got a bit of a start on this today... cut 9x 150mm long 3/4" pipes, 150mm of 6" pipe and one of the plates for the RC... slowly slowly catchy monkey :D

Will get some pics up this evening.