New VM Still Head

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New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Wed Feb 20, 2019 8:04 pm

Here are some pictures of the build of my VM still head with the dual cone valve. The bottom picture shows the VM head components. By selecting different inside cones the valve may be tailored for individual applications. The last picture shows that we have two cones available .../ these are easy to change.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby woodduck » Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:45 pm

Bloody hell! That's impressive mate. Well done :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby scythe » Thu Feb 21, 2019 3:47 am

Nice work.
I like the way your brain is twisted.

You can probably simplify it by not having the female cone and just using an orifice instead.
Its only vapour, an orifice should actually give you more control i think, because then the taper governs the flow through the opening (needle valve).
Where 2 mating cones will act like a gate valve, because you are changing the distance between them.

And then you can change the bronze to stainless.

And increase the size of the nob to help with the finer control, its easier to go smaller turns on a bigger handle (lathe cross slide Vs compound slide).

Congrats on the brian child.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Thu Feb 21, 2019 9:09 am

Thank you for the comments. Much appreciated.
Just a couple of points:

1. About control.
The screw thread for the valve control is an M8 coarse thread (1.25mm pitch) so for each turn the inside cone moves 1.25 mm. If one looks at top picture you will notice a "clock face" with 5 marks. Each mark represents a movement of 0.25mm (4 marks = 1.0mm). AS one can see this valve gives very fine control. The brass knob has a reference mark (not visible in the picture) engraved in it. Depending on the inside cone the total movement may be 20mm (in 0.25mm steps !!)
The valve area can go from 2xArea of the 1" exit tube to the area of the exit tube.

2. About the Outside cone.

Two matching cones ensure that the valve area tapers down in a "perfectly" linear way. My research, by looking at designs on various web forums, showed that this matching of apertures is "quite a problem".

This discussion is very, very good :- https://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7180
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby hillzabilly » Thu Feb 21, 2019 11:21 am

Fine effort mate,getting ya reflux to go down the center may be a challenge,and a sight glass would be the only thing I would add opposite the thermo to watch goings on,wich may be easier when ya scale up to the 4inch model. cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Last edited by hillzabilly on Thu Feb 21, 2019 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Thu Feb 21, 2019 12:35 pm

HiYa Hillzabilly,

How does the tune go?

Ta Dummmmm !
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby hillzabilly » Thu Feb 21, 2019 6:23 pm

Yeeehah,I do like the copper staino mix regardless of how it complicates a build.cheers hillzabilly ;-)
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:28 pm

HiYa again Hillzabilly,

Never really thought about complexity. I just wanted to make the whole "box and dice" modular. Just completed the simple stuff before I get stuck into the boiler. The boiler will be made out of a piece of large diameter 316 stainless tube - 18l capacity to try things out and it was a piece of that tube that was "kicking around".

Jerry.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby RC Al » Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:35 pm

Just buy a keg mate, save that bit of ss for future use, keg will get you up and running way quicker and with less headaches, your 2" stuff will clamp straight on :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:55 pm

Greetings RC,

I made a start by using some simple fittings ... I'll post a pic in the morning.

Jerry.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:19 am

jerrybuilt wrote:Greetings RC,

I made a start by using some simple fittings ... I'll post a pic in the morning.

Jerry.


Just had a look ... not worth posting !! ... Apologies.
At this stage a keg is a little too large. I have a few fittings that will work very well.

Jerry.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby scythe » Fri Feb 22, 2019 7:23 am

Cut the keg in half and weld a bit of sheet to the bottom to act as the new base, then you can make it as small as you want while still keeping the 2" mount.
Then it would just need some feet and a drain.

Less work than making a boiler from scratch.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:06 pm

HiYa Scythe,

We will see how it goes. Many bits to be made!

Jerry.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby hillzabilly » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:42 pm

I made a boiler for testing and small runs from a 5gal keg,you do not see them very often with a large 4inch opening on top .Jerry maaaaate ifn ya gonna be getting into stilling with your skills a 50lt boiler will be a sound investment ,keep elements low and you can do small runs ,adding a little extra water for security is no problem and does not slow things down,the weight and stability is what you need with tall reflux stills,then when you upgrade to 4inch for faster production as most do, it will handle that too,as allways I will respect your choice.cheers hillzabilly ;-)
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby jerrybuilt » Sun Feb 24, 2019 7:44 am

:text-thankyoublue:

Thank you indeed Hillzabilly. My welding skills are very modest so welding thin wall SS is best left to my neighbor who is a master welder - I am the designer / machinist !! I will look into using kegs but my volume requirements are modest so I will be looking at a smallish boiler. What I am looking to achieve is consistent high purity. I'll post my progress in a separate thread.

Jerry/.
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Re: New VM Still Head

Postby hillzabilly » Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:33 pm

I like you have ideas and love to design and build ,all my TIG welding I also get a pro ta do plus he is 5mins away with a very healthy SS scrap and stock rack,Your design looks a bit like the LM 4inch Southern Cross still head I built and run .With ya boiler consider cost of doing a 25lt or 50lt is about the same,height can be an issue too ,with 1.5mt packed colomn and still head you should be able to measure up your area and work out how tall your boiler can be ,then go from there.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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