Monday, May 21, 2012

home still: gin basket

It has been a while since I posted anything, so here is an update on the home still. I decided to make the gin basket first because it's small and simple. I also used it to learn how to silver braze so I won't mess up on the more complicated and expensive parts.

Side view.


My brazing was rough and I overheated a section so much that the flux burnt off, but I did have some clean sections and learned some things. The first thing I learned was make sure to sand and clean very well. The second was to heat everything evenly making sure not to focus on one part too much.

Bad section.

This is actually my second attempt as the first piece was much worse, and I didn't feel it was worth saving.


Top view.

There was a lot of oxidation that occured because of all the heating. I wet-sanded it with 600 grit sandpaper to get rid of most of it.

Bottom grill.
The grill was cut from a copper sheet with a waterjet. I even included a logo in there.

The next step will be to make the column, which will be the same in construction but longer.