Mother's Wood-burning Still

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HOW IT WORKS

The mash solution is contained in a hot water tank, and is constantly simmered by a blaze set in a firebox underneath the container. The vapors that rise from the steaming liquid travel up through a short length of 3" conduit and into a five-foot section of pipe . . . which is packed with glass marbles and contains a 5" length of coiled copper tubing at each end.

As the alcohol/water "steam" passes through its marble "maze", most of the water will be left behind on the surface of the glass orbs (the spherical playthings provide a far greater surface area than would the inside of the "bare" pipe). In addition-by running cool water through the coiled tubes at a controlled rate-the condensation process can be regulated to provide the most efficient separation of alcohol from water.

Ideally, only pure alcohol vapors will rise to the top of the conduit, while the water should fall to the bottom of the sealed tube. In practice, however, some H2O does find its way past the marbles in the form of steam, and-by the same token-much of the "pure" water that falls back into the small reservoir is actually laden with a good deal of recoverable alcohol. Therefore, an additional plumbing circuit has been incorporated into the base of the copper tower . . . to allow some of this valuable alcohol/water mixture to flow back into the mash solution and be recycled.

At the top of the four-foot column-just above the upper series of coils-is an inverted funnel which is surrounded by still another condenser. When the "stripped" alcohol vapors pass through this cone and make contact with the coils, the ethanol liquefies, runs past the outer surface, of the funnel, flows through a downspout. and enters a storage container.

LET'S BUILD!

Before you start "still-buildin'", you'll need to gather an oxyacetylene torch (with welding and cutting tips), a pipecutting tool, several C-clamps or visegrips, a hammer, a ruler, and a file. Begin by cutting around the circumference of one of your salvaged water tanks, at a height of about 18 inches, then fashion an opening in the side of the container to accommodate the firebox door. Next, weld together an angle-iron frame for this opening as shown, fasten it to the tank, and cut a steel plate to serve as your cooker's "portal". Border the inner surface of this lid by welding four sections of trimmed-to-size channel iron in place, then go on to fabricate your two hinges and the latch system as illustrated . . . and fasten these parts in position.

With this done, weld a bolt-head first -to your tank (at a point just above an existing heater element hole), then make a small "draft door" from a piece of steel plate and attach it to this stud... using a spring, washer, and nut so the plate can pivot. Cut a hole in the rear of your new firebox and weld the 4" stove, pipe collar to the circumference of this opening . . . then fabricate a grate-as shown-from 3/8" rebar, and tack its sup- porting tabs in place. (Form the rod "frame" for each grill half to fit the inside of the tank, and make a weld at the, junction point of both grate sections. Then tack the rearmost platform directly to the tank . . . the front grill rests solely on the tabs which you've welded to this fixed grate and to the inner face of the firebox.)

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