Mother's Wood-burning Still

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Finally, take your 3/16" X 3" length of flat stock and weld it to the outside of the water container to serve as a girth band. (Since this midriff support is actually the only joint between the firebox and your mash vat, it must be securely fastened to both containers. You can assure a tight seal by welding one end of the iron strap to the fire chamber and "guiding" the band around the vessel's circumference with torch and hammer . . . tack-welding as you go. When the circle is completed, force the remaining water tank into the iron belt border atop the firebox section, and run a continuous bead along both upper and lower edges of the metal band.)

Now you're ready to start construction on the still itself. First, cut two holes-in the top of the tank-large enough to fit the 3" brass tee and the coupler, then slice a third access hole into the "dome" of the container as shown. Fashion a sealable lid for this opening by welding a collar around the hole, attaching a slightly larger ring to a piece of circular flat plate, and making a "dog and bar" latch as depicted in the illustration. (You may also want to line the edge of the cap with a liberal amount of silicone sealant . . . to prevent any vapor loss during the distillation process.) Finally, braze the tee fitting and coupler to the tank to assure a solid joint.

For the next step, cut one length each of 3" and 1/2" conduit-both long enough to reach nearly from the bottom of the tee to the base of the container-then seal the larger pipe's lower end with a cap and install a drain cock as illustrated. Solder this entire assembly to the lower collar of the tee, then take the length of 1/2" pipe and fasten a 90° elbow to one end of it. With this done, solder the short 1-1/2" nipple and reducer to the tee, then slip a length of 1/2" copper tube through the reducer's opening and solder it to your elbow-and-pipe assembly as shown. Now just route additional tubing to an available existing fitting on the water tank to complete a circuit from the inside of the small "reservoir" to the main mash storage vat.

You can now install a 3/4" gate valve in the base of your container and a thermometer at its top. Most tanks will already have threaded fittings in convenient locations, so it's just a matter of in. stalling adapters-if necessary-and attaching the hardware. At this time, too, check over both the firebox and the vat for extra openings and plug them.

From this point, you can complete the remainder of the tower as follows: Trim each section of 3" conduit to the lengths indicated, then make three perforated discs . . . cut to fit snugly inside the tee fittings (they should rest against a lip inside the three-way unions) and each drilled with a series of 1/4" holes about 1/8 inch apart. Place one of your discs into the top opening of the tee, and solder the 18" length of pipe in position.

Next, fill this section of conduit with glass marbles, place your second perforated disc into the 3' X 3" X 3' tee, and solder that fitting in place. (At this point you can also permanently fasten the pipe connection between the coupler brazed to the top of the mash container and the horizontal arm on the brass tee.)

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