copper v stainless

[stubbydrainer]

Hi folks
I notice the stills on here are made of copper and soldered, Why copper/solder ? is stainless/tig suitable ? what's the best ? copper or stainless ? why ?
Is there particular uses for either or both, if so what are they and why ?
thx in advance

Cheers

[R-sole]

Copper converts some nasties in the distillate via chemical reaction. It is important to have some copper in the vapour path somewhere, but your column can be tigged staino with copper packing and perform just as well.

[Sam.]

Copper is better to use for condensers as it has a better heat transfer, but if you build it big enough it wont matter either way.

I believe copper is a more traditional material for stills but unless you are planning on making whisky and putting it in massive barrels for 30+ years who cares?

[MacStill]

Copper pipe is pretty easy to work with and you can get by with fairly basic tools for soldering it together, all you really need is a hacksaw, a file and a gas torch to build a rig from copper.

SS is a bit cheaper but you will need a welder of some sort to put it together, and IMHO it's a bit more difficult to work with.

[stubbydrainer]

thanks guys
It was the cost of copper :-o that sorta scared me away initially and I suppose the lack of experience working with the "boutique" metal as well was also a factor
but after sitting, talking and watching SBB today while he put approx 40 ltrs thru his "pelican" pot ( we also reinvented the wheel :teasing-neener: )
and the bit of advice from here I can see I was sorta on the wrong path in a way. :oops:

Cheers

[Frank]

I am wondering the same things re which is better and cheers to all the info thus far..... all good advice, as usual (thank you ;) ).
Now,,,anyone got (further) ideas regarding comparative strength/robustness of still, ease of cleaning, potential for future modification/adapting and quality/quantity of spirit when on the 'learning curve' :oops: ??

[maheel]

i like the bling of stainless and if i could tig and had skills and had the equipment like a engineering lathe / milling shop i would be making some interesting things :)
the many stainless tri-clamp fittings make modular stills very interesting...

i also reckon it is stronger and possibly easier to clean and more "pure" by that i mean the product stays pure and does not react as with copper that both being good and bad.

for pure neutral rigs on a large scale i thought SS might be better but NFI really (thinking commercial fractionating columns)

but for building and modding for the home handy man makes copper the easy choice and as we know turns out a pretty good product

[SBB]

Frank as a newcomer to still making Id really recommend sticking to copper. Its pretty forgiving stuff to work with compered to stainless. Its also easy to file and cut....it can be worked with a minimum of basic tools. Im usually pretty hopeless at building things from metal but am really enjoying building stills from copper.
As Punkins already mentioned it also converts some of the nasties in alc.
I think If any other product worked better for stills the big distilleries would be using it.......from what Ive seen most use copper.

Edit...Maheel its pretty hard to beat the bling factor of some really highly polished copper
Why go for chrome when ya can have gold. :lol:

[Sam.]

anyone got (further) ideas regarding comparative strength/robustness of still,

Don't know about stainless but copper will bend if you drop it :angry-banghead: