Copper Distillation Column – let’s get started!
Creating copper and brass products with an old world feel
I have finally done it. Well sort of. I have created a bunch of copper and brass distillation products to make a cool copper distillation column that I think look fantastic and they do a great job too (I’m drinking single malt whisky run through these components). What a journey and what fun; from working 3 years on an international arbitration to making products that I not only love looking at, but I really enjoy the process. And of course trying to learn how to set up a web site which is an incredibly frustrating task.
It all started with me trying to build my own copper distillation column out of copper and save a few dollars. I did not like the stainless steel products, besides they don’t do the job on the sulphates in the enthanol. So I set about trying to find a way to make a copper distillation column with copper pipe and with the little equipment I had. Have you ever tried joining copper to stainless steel ferrules? Do you know how much is a 40% silver solder rod? It is about 20 times more expensive that a 2″ rod and stainless steel is VERY temperamental when it comes to bonding with the solder. And the ferrules are sized to create a butt joint and do not slip over the pipe.
So I sought a new way – and I ended up having to get brass ferrules custom made, in bulk, more than I could ever use. I had copper sheets cut in very inventive ways, to make condenser plates and sieve plates, to bring the price down and ended up with, again, way more pieces than I would ever use. And so I had to make the same products I was making for myself for other people.
Each piece on its own looks pretty good. Put them all together as a distillation column, 180° bend to the final condenser and parrot, and you have a mass of copper and brass that simply stuns and makes stainless steel look rather, well, ordinary. Not only that, but it also outperforms stainless in terms of taste.
Please have a look at the Shop and see if anything takes your fancy and watch as the product base grows. I can also make custom products; I can’t vary the diameter nor the number of pipes in a condenser, but height of item, number of inlets and outlets, angle of bends and that type of variation, I am very willing to have a go and produce what you want.
Soldering a 4″dephlegmator
