Being able to see your mistakes is super helpful. You've give me confidence that I could actually make a still rather than pussy-ing out a buying one. Thanks man!
Well I am glad your doing this I have a big hole in my still where you can drain out. And been trying to get it fixed but I am gonna keep watching your videos so I hope I can get to where I can fix the one I got so I can make some nice drink for my and my family
Love how you embraces a new skill with its ups and downs. Way back when I worked as a refrigeration engineer (a trade who uses a lot of copper pipes FYI) I always used expensive 45-55% silver brazing rods with flux meant for stainless when brazing copper-stainless. The cost of those rods were minimal compared to trying to fix a leaking 2" connection due to crappy brazing, and the brazing was always beautiful to look at after a quick rinse and a quick polish with a scotch brite. I'm new to your channel and it's really inspiring to watch your work -- cheers!
ahh man it should work good for u. Hell I have built a old fashioned style still but with a beer keg and all I have left to do is braze or solder that damn stainless flange to the copper lol something so lil being so damn aggravating I have went threw so many kinds of solder and nothing seems to work. thanks for awnsering me u r doing great
Do you happen to follow the NHL? Loving everything you've been posting so far buddy; really helping a novice out here. Hoping to improve the still I have in the near future after watching some of your videos.
I thought brazing was done with brass rods. (thats all I have ever used. Grant it never to brazed copper to stainless though.) But as quick google search shows there are different types of brazing rods. Who knew? I am assuming by the color of yours you used nickel?
+Richard Baldwin I have seen people talking about cutting and bending rings as well. Have you done it that way? I'm assuming either work much better with soft solder though?
I am a little out of my league here but, whilst you have been able to wick the silver solder up the tube to form a seal, you don't seem to have made a "wet" with the stainless itself (i.e. the braze hasn't flowed onto the ss and formed a bond). I could be being tricked by the video, but the following video, although an ad for a particular type of silver solder, shows what I would have thought you would have been hoping to achieve: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-suvkKuEURww.html The issue here is if a bond hasn't been made with the ss then eventually the seal will open up when the column is moved around.
That's just the link causing that. Best to check regularly, you don't know what gems you might find. ;-) Can't help with the space unfortunately, I do mine in the laundry - bit of a pain though.
What materials did you use,,,,,i believe it was a cheapo gun from ebay, what gas, and solder/braze as i'm having serious problems getting mine to heat up enough and i'm a 20 year gas welder i don't have the oxy acet i used to have, courtesy of our ISIS neighbours.....
One of the biggest things people don't pay enough heed to is the prep. Clean the areas to be brazed and clean them some more. Sand the areas 2-3 times. Get the metals incredibly polished. You want real bright and shiny. Do the ends of the pipe, the sides (both inside and out), everything. Then put some rubber gloves on and wipe everything down real good with a solvent like acetone. Don't touch anything cleaned with your bare skin. You don't want the oil from your skin on metal. Then focus your torch on the stainless. You don't even need to put your torch on the copper if done properly. The issue is never that you didn't perform the torch work correctly. Its that it wasn't cleaned properly. Then heat that stainless. The copper should end up almost cherry red. The devil is in the details.
I think your base would be better if you did not use a heat sucking surface to rest on. Solder or brazing runs TO your heat, counter intuitive but that's how both work. Put your heat where you need your molten fluid to go, don't worry about looks till you get the hang of it, comes naturally. A job done, is a Job Well Done! I did industrial cleaning for FDA food and Pharm on process systems. Clean with TSP post work, passivate with citric. both better at hi temps (70/80C). If good flux is hard to find, electronic store has great flux for circuit boards and such, clean well not food grade. Thanks again, ran my still tonight but just not enough temp with my double boiler set up, still Chasing the craft. Gotta learn my hydrometer better. Thanks SOOO much for putting it all out there for all!
Well, you did fine for someone who ain't familiar with brazing or soldering (same method, less heat). What you can do to make it easier, is to solder the things together with silver solder. Normal plumbers solder can do, but the one with a higher silver contend will be the correct way to do it. As it ain't a construction that has any significant stress to deal with, the aforementioned plumber's solder will do. The higher silver contents the more heat is to be applied. There is no such thing than to use too much flux and generally stainless requires a bit more than copper to copper joints. I'll keep watching this project of yours and wish you good luck with it.
That was really cool! I didn't realize the brazing rod would wick up the joint like that. Really neat to see it happen. Awesome that you've got so much done! Do you have any mash going for your first run? If not, you'd better get one going because it looks like you'll need it soon;-)>
I realize that welding torches are rather expensive but they are better suited for brazing than what is commonly referred to here as a plumbers torch. The reason for that is the ability to direct the heat to a fairly specific area. Carry on, your channel is informative.
unfortunately, the silver solder did not wick up between the stainless and the copper. A nice bead was formed around the outside of the copper though. if you were to test the connection using a plastic mallet, the fitting would probably knock off easily. if you have ever copper soldered before the action should be the same. But no solder wicked up between the metals.
That's a lot better than the last one . Try to see if you can clean up the first job before you scrap it. You've got the parts there just need them to be pretty.
Aren't those 2 metals dissimilar? What about electrolysis? ..anyway, if you heat a spot on your rod a couple inches up from the tip, you can put a bit of a bend in the rod, like 45° or something. That bend will allow you to approach the joint at a better angle, you will then be able to add the rod in a more of a sweeping motion which will give you cleaner , smoother looking joints. ..especially if you ever want to cap your joints by laying a bead down around the entryway (for lack of a better word) of the joint. A properly capped joint really stands out . I wish we could post pics so I could show you what I mean.. anyway. Just try brazing with a bend in the end near the tip. You'll notice the positive difference right away. Just poke the tip of the rod against a solid surface to hold it steady, heat it at a spot a couple inches up from the tip and push the rod into the tip to bend.
If you heat the entire part until it's glowing red then put the rod on the back side of the heat it will run around the entire thing and won't leave any unwanted materials behind
I bazed all My copper and stainless with a tig and argon no need for flux clean everything with scotch bite and acetone then run the arc hot enough to just melt the rod and perfect stacked beads
Keep up the great work. It's always fun watching your videos. Pretty good job for only having done it a few times. I have done plenty of copper on copper(not a sexual reference).. but not much stainless to copper(again, not a sexual reference). Made a at sugar batch up this morning in fact. Cheers
I know in a lot late on coming to the shot gun condenser. I'm not sure how much brazing you will be doing . But at some point you will have to swop out your copper work due to thining of the copper , because of the spirit contact. But to get the best results tin / butter both surfaces first . Clean them up & you will get a tight joint . Put flux on both surfaces . As well as cleaning the copper it lowers it's melting point . Also not enough heat was being put in to your places they should be cherry red . Map gas is a hot enough gas . But copper sucks the heat out so fast . Try two torches , one to brazen & one on the opposite side to you to keep the heat in your work .
Love your video's! When I cut copper pipe, I use my chop saw and go slow. I don't have a tubing cutter that will go that big and my hacksaw skills could use a lot of improvement.
Ive looked everywhere for some of those stainless tri clovers. Can you let us know where you got them from. And whats the inner and outter diameter of the 2" fittings
man I have been going threw the same thing as u. one thing I have learned is to b patient and just keep going. And by the way what kind of brazing rods are u using I need to do the same brazing that u have been doing it's my first time at it to
Good job Jesse! You are learning a valuable skill. You are are gonna need it. When you build something modular, you always want to change it for either efficiency, speed, high azeo, or taste. Have you looked at controller plans yet?
hahaha yup! That was my thinking. I get the feeling my still will never be "finished". So I wanted to be able to work on it myself. I built an Arduino-controlled (with SSR) for a brew kettle a while back. So I am going to use the same basic plan / code to run this. I am looking into the practical side of things right now though. Dealing with higher amps etc. Looking to pick up a high amp plug second hand. Install that, run wiring and then get a to hook it up to the board.
As long as the arduino can control how many volts is sent to the element. It should not act like on/off throwing 100% power at the element. It will cause the product takeoff to run fast, then almost stop as it reaches operating temp and it powers down the element. Then it powers it back on, the cycling causes the flow to pulse. You can run a simple SSVR - Solid State Variable Relay. With a potentiometer (dimmer switch) on one element. And hardwire the other element with a on/off switch. When the boiler comes up to temp, shut off the hardwired element. Then adjust the SSVR how fast you want to takeoff product. It is just like adjusting a faucet, as long as your condenser can keep up with the heat. A complete setup: KYOTTO KR2040AX SSVR 40amps on ebay Australia is $25au
Thanks, Had a look at something similar to that. I may use one as a backup, or to get me up and running ASAP. Logic voltage on Arduino is either 5v or 3.3v. That controls the SSR as a "gate" for mains voltage (The SSR I have is rated at 20amp). So no problem there. The SSR would indeed be completely on or completely off. But I should be able to get it running pretty close to 50hz cycle. I hazard a guess that even if 50% power was 1/2 sec on 1/2 sec off heat stability wouldn't be a problem. Just for clarity, I am not going to be running the boiler on any PID algorithms. It will just be "manual". But will give the ability to run it as a PID later on if I have an application for it.
Having only run a PID with my brew pot. I too can adjust my PID power output manually. I did build a dedicated SSVR for the boiler, which I have been able to use when mashing/boiling wort for beer. But a temp controller makes the job so much easier when mashing in. You'll see after you get it running. If you can tune it in, you should not have any problems. As long as the stream is steady and consistent it will be fine. It's when it stops for 2-4 seconds then starts up with a heavy stream, then slows and stops that can yield very funky cuts. Side note: A cleaning run with water, and a alcohol run are completely different animals in performance. Cuts, another video topic... Fores, heads, hearts, tails. And what to do with them.... Another one to research "Smearing".
Thankyou for your films. I am wanting to make a locomotive steam boiler and the techniques are the same, I am watching and learning lots. Thankyou. Dave.
holy shite... lead free solder is smth very obvious that i would've completely forgotten to pay any attention to^^ *makes note to future self* in case i ever build a still^^ then again, the thought police came down on our small time destillers about 3 years ago. up to that point stills with
nice work! after watching this, I'm thinking I need to re-do some of my starter work too :(. I made my own flange using the "Easy Flange" recipe from HD.com. It works but feels a little janky. I'm liking the look of those machined ferrules. What are you going to use as a gasket?
+dannalbob ah that's cool man!! I kinda wanted to make a easy flange. If it works........haha I got PTFE gaskets. I have yet to steam test them. But they are water tight :)
Where did you gey the ferrules from? I got some 2 inch pipe went and got some 2 inch stainless ferrules and they don’t fit ie i would have butt weld them
what an awesome improvement. great job. keep it rolling. youre already better than some people i know. that was great advice to reme,ber to have fun. wish i had thought to say that.
Thanks, dude :) And thanks again for the advice/input!!! Yeah, it's kinda cheesy I guess (especially of me to point bring it up like that). But so true. I mean why the hell else am I doing this? haha
Mate! These are amazing videos! You have inspired me to pick up the art again. I'm also from NZ and was wondering where you find your copper pipes? I have trouble finding places that will sell cuts instead of whole lengths
Not an all in one sorry man. I do want to get around to that at some point in time! This is what is there so far. ru-vid.com/group/PLZEGsXzw_6OBFV558MO8qqCAb_veJnG1F
Honestly can't remember the exact name of each. They both standard issue plumbers brazing Rob from the local hardware store. The one for stainless is slightly higher silver content.
Correct. Apply the flux as soon as you have mechanically removed any oxide. Oxide begins to form straight away (not in 5 minutes time). The longer you leave it after mechanically cleaning, the more the oxide will build up. Solder WILL NOT stick to oxide, no matter how hot you get it. Avoid using tools that have cleaned other items before hand as you will transfer the old contaminates to your new work. Grinding ordinary steel then grinding your still parts will contaminate your joint with iron oxides. Again, solder will not stick to oxides. Also, if you go too hot, the solder will burn and you will have to pull apart the joint, mechanically clean it and repeat. You don't have to like my advice, but that is the reality. The solder doesn't care what you think. Most of the joints in the video looked either not cleaned and fluxed properly, or the temp was wrong. If you put on enough solder, you will eventually bury the joint in metal that will seal it, but it will not be a good joint. Silver solder (245) is very good on stainless and copper, but the temps for each metal are different. I would direct more heat into the stainless as the solder was taking to the copper easily, but avoiding the stainless. Once the solder wants to wet the stainless, the temp should be right. That means you need to direct the heat more to the stainless than the copper. That said, the copper will absorb the heat from the stainless more than the other way around, so you will find the heat in the copper dissipates quickly once the heat source is removed. A big soft flame is better than a small high temp flame to give more uniform heating. The video shows a good torch to use. Use heaps of flux on both parts of the joint. Don't just coat one piece only. Where-ever the flux gets scratched off, add more flux immediately. Clean joints, lots of flux and even heating are the key to good joints. Done correctly, you will get smooth fillets at every transition from one piece to the next. That is not visible here, thought the joints may have enough solder to seal them. Good video all the same. Lots of aspects covered that are not in others.
man were did u get it from and what well it say on the package. I just want to make sure I get the right one I have been threw all kinds of different solders and steel don't have that brazed yet. thanks man
Hmmmm, I have no idea sorry man. I will need to do some googling for you. Both I bought loose at the trad store. For copper to copper I used the standard (for here at least) plumbers braze. For copper to stainless a higher % silver. Although it was significantly less liver % that "you have to have" for stainless. Perhaps part of my frustration with it haha.
instead of the stainless 2" ring is there a copper 2" ring we could buy somewhere and then just solder copper to copper? thanks great lesson here. I just wonder about the copper ring. Brian
sorry just googled. this 2 inch Diameter Copper Flange/Ferrule and see Mile Hi Distilling sells them for 19.99 thats expensive... but still its copper.
You can get thick-walled copper pipe so the SS ferrule fits really tight into the copper pipe and you have to basically press the ferrule into the pipe making a watertight seal but be sure to seat the ferrule square in the pipe when you press it in because it will not seal good. thick-walled copper pipe is more expensive but worth it, if you are not sure test the ferrule to see that it fits really tight and snug in the pipe before you buy it, If you can't find a ferrule or pipe that fits tightly together either the ferrule flange is too small or the copper pipe wall is not thick enough.. Different SS ferrule manufacturers have different ferrule flange diameters the best way to check this is by using a large veneer caliper.
That is the most ridiculous statement I've read in quite some time !! You are aware that piping and the fittings used are certified by the ASME, ANSI and the ASTM. The ferrule flange diameters are set sizes for each size of pipe. Hard to believe in 4 years, no one has corrected this statement.
