"I am in the very beginning stage of building my still.
I am trying to get everything free or as cheep as possible, just because I wanted to build as much of still out of what ever I could find rather than buying everything :) after all, this is a project for me for fun and hobby.

I should note that I want a safe and fruitful product to enjoy.

Any sound advice on sizes and quantities are very welcomed. I prefer to measure twice and cut once.

Just FYI, I am looking to produce a good drinking shine with as much tradition as possible.

The parts that i currentley have are........
used stock 15.5 keg.
3 pieces of 2.5"" copper pipe totaling 40"" if they are put together.
About 30' of new 3/8"" soft copper tubing.
16 gallon stock pot.
15 gallon food grade plastic barrels.
Several small pots and pans ( 3qt to 6 qt) for the thumper and coil.
small water pump (like a back yard pond pump).
Online access and hardware stores for fittings and such.
A guy that welds stainless steel for all my welding needs.
One new turkey fryer with burner.

At this point I am only concentrating on the still.

The questions are....
Should I use a cap instead of a column? Or is there any real difference between a cap and a column?
And if I use a cap or column, what is the best size for a 15 gallon boiler?

For some reason I want to use a cap.
My first thought was a cap would hold and store more vapor than a column and allow the heaver vapors to collect and fall back into the boiler only allowing the lighter vapor to pass to the thumper producing a taster product.
I was going to use a short piece of pipe (2.5" X 12"") to connect the cap to the boiler.
The cap would be the size of 6 or 8 quart pot or pan with a (what ever size that is needed) 1"" pipe going to the thumper and a 1/2"" pipe coming out of the thumper reducing down to the 3.8 copper coil.

I guess it sounds crazy but for some reason, all of the old timers used a cap when they could have just as Easley used a column (something like a stove pipe). I just do not know why and I can only assume it has something to do with flavor since most of the caps are copper and hand made.

once again, any sould advice for a tried and true design would be great.
there are plenty of designs with a column but i have not found any with a cap."

"yes, a cap is the large collector on top of the boiler/pot.
yes, i have 2 1/2"" copper. however i can also get a 2 1/2"" ss threaded nipples from mcmaster carr, part number 9157K601 and have it welded to the top of the boiler/pot.
i decided that the cap can be made from a ss stock pot. i only have to install the proper nipples to attach the piping.

i understand that having a cap instead of just a large stright pipe may not be an advantage. if i find that there would be no advantage then i would go with the column. for some twisted reason i am thinking that i will retain more flavor using a cap."

"kyshine, you will find that neither produces better hooch than the other. It will be easier to clean your unit with the cap as it will have a 8 inch hole in the top. But it will be easier to attatch the tower directly to the keg.
With a cap you will have to have threaded studs welded on to hold down the cap and then you use wing nuts to fasten down the cap. Then fabricate a way to stand the tower in the cap but it is doable just not real stable."

"thanks for the replys, i just got off work, we are working a lot of doubles. I guess that is a good thing now days with so many people who are looking for work.
anyway, thanks again."