Ok, So hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and have just joined up. I'm a long time home beer maker, 40 years i guess and one of my sons asked me a few months ago could i build a still for him. I knew absolutely nothing about making alcohol and my son only knew only a little more, only what he had researched. So he had seen on You tube, pressure cooker and a few small stills working. I set about finding a 6 Litre Pressure cooker and made a copper Still similar to a guy named Allan Manning on You tube. After the first run and a lot of researching about the craft, we soon realised the pressure cooker was fairly useless as the capacity was too small to make cuts but was OK to get a feel of the craft. After the first run , I bought a 19 litre Stock Pot from Big W, about AU$20 dollars, I couldn't see any way I could get the glass lid(with Stainless rim) to seal without using a flour and water mix, which seemed slow and messy. (you cant make a hole in the lid anyway, its toughened glass, it will explode).
The seal out of the old pressure cooker, although way too small, gave me an idea, as it was a U shape, it could fit around the rim of the 19 Litre Stock Pot, the V internal shape could sit on the rim. I bought a 30cm pressure cooker seal on Ebay about $3.00 and now I needed something very flat to sit on top as a lid, thus eliminating the need for a flour/water paste. Glass sounded like a good idea but getting thick float glass cut seemed impossible to get cut and probably expensive so i went to Bunnings Hardware and found a pack of three high gloss floor tiles 600mm square for $20.00. Invert the high gloss tile to face the seal (tile upside down), and now i have the perfect seal. I drilled two holes, 8mm diameter, made two hooks out of stainless threaded rod, these lock under the handles of the Stock pot, just a very light finger tighten to stop the still and the tile (lid) from falling or being bumped off.
It all worked perfectly although with a little heat the silicone pressure cooker seal got a bit soft so i purchased a slightly smaller Pressure cooker seal on ebay, a 28cm size, total success this time.
So yes, you would have to split a 25 litre wash with this 20 litre Stock Pot setup but with the biggest Pressure cooker seal being 32cm, you can buy a 35 Litre Stock pot on Ebay, 35cm diameter and 35 cm high. This 32cm seal would fit perfectly on the 35cm diameter Pot (35 litre capacity). and you could run a 2" column if you wish. You may need a modified brass sink drain to attach the still column, an adapter of sorts, to the High gloss tile and have the capability to drill a couple of holes for the 6 mm hooks to hold the tile to the Stock Pot and you can buy diamond hole saws, whatever size you need for under $10 dollars on Ebay for the centre column hole. This system allows you to use the Stock Pot to boil your mash and then use it as part of your Still when you need it. If you are worried about brass in your system. you can make a copper electroplating setup to plate any brass with copper for only a few dollars. You Tube should have some inexpensive ideas for that. I hope this helps and maybe give you other ideas to get your distilling into action. Pics Attached.. Michael