AN OFFBEAT APPROACH TO ALCOHOL PRODUCTION

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HOW IT WORKS

First, Jim built a frame to support the still in a partially upright position . . . he feels that an angle of between 57° and 62° is best in his part of the Cotton State, but he suggests that anyone duplicating his efforts elsewhere recalculate this angle by merely adding 25° to their own latitude.

After positioning the still at the correct angle and facing it toward the sun, the Alabamian opens the door at the rear of the box and places five two-liter, plastic soft-drink containers-filled with his mash solution-on the horizontal shelf within the still (he's cut, the top three inches or so off the neck of each bottle to provide a wider opening).

Then Jim just goes about his daily routine and lets Ol' Sol shine on. The theory is that-since alcohol is driven out of the mixture at a lower temperature than is water-the fuel rises in a vapor, condenses on the inside surface of the upper portion of plexiglass facing, and runs down into the basin at the bottom of the still . . . to be tapped off later.

AND HE PUTS IT TO USE

Apparently, J.L.'s distillery has produced alcohol pure enough to run a variety of internal combustion engines. Jim says he's operated his motorcycle on a gasoline/alcohol mixture, but uses pure ethanol fuel in his lawn mower. "I run a mix of six gallons of alcohol to four gallons of gasoline in my bike, but I've got to add oil to the fuel since the cycle has a two-stroke engine. On my lawn mower-which operates just fine on straight alky-I simply drilled the main metering jet out another .002", adjusted the air screw on the carburetor, and yanked the starter cord . . . it purred like a kitten!"

Jim admits that he hasn't made a large quantity of "farmer's fuel" in the several months he's been experimenting, but only because alcohol research is just a hobby for him. "I make a few gallons when I can ... since I enjoy puttering around with gasoline engines. If I had a lot of alcohol, I might even consider running my car on pure brew . . . but right now, I'm playing around just for fun."

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