I made my mash already, I just have a few questions abnout building the still:
1.)What kind of tubing should i use? Is copper pipe alright?

2.)What should I use to seal the joints? Should I solder it? What kind of solder?

3.)What kind of arm should I build (I'm making a pot-still)? Should I just use pipe or make a tapered one?

4.)Where can I easily get stuff like an alcohol hydrometer without ordering it?

5.)What kind of heat source should i use? Would a small propane stove work?

Keep in mind that this will not be used indoors. It's gonna be an old fashioned moonshine still out in the woods :-) Obviously, I will not be near any electric lines so please don't bother to suggest an electrical heating element or anything of that sort. All responses are welcome but I'd love some experienced response. Just please be sure you know wat your talking about and are not relaying some second-hand, untested info.

Peace.

Copper should be fine if its a still for ethanol and also use silver solder thats lead free you dont want lead poisoning now do yah?

Copper tubing is usually the prefered method for condenser coils, make sure you use soft, as opposed to rigid, copper tubing though. Get 1/2" tubing, if you get 3/8" you'll have trouble getting it to bend without kinking, well, I'm assuming you aren't using a pipe bender. The other thing is, you should really use some kind of container to run your coils through. I don't know how big your still is, but anything like a 50 gallon steel drum should be big enough for most things. Cut a hole in the top and run a water hose through it, and then have a drainage hole at the bottom, snake your coils in through a second top hole, and out through a second bottom hole. You said it's out in the woods, but you really should do it that way, that's why moon-shiners usually build their still near woods. You don't have to use water-cooling, but it makes the best shine. If you're only doing short runs you also might be able to get a larger barrel or container than you normally would need and run the same amount of coil through it, it'll take longer to get too hot. Also, although I recommend using tight coils not any farther across than say the diameter of a big coffee can, if you had to use the more water not running method because you can get to running water, it would be best if you spaced your coils out some more, gives more room for the heat to dissipitate and keeps your alcohol from re-vaporizing.

Hmm...the best thing to do as far as joints is to keep them to a minimum and if you have to use them it would be best to braze them if you know how, if not, use lead free solder. Try to use all copper cooking equipment, it's slightly harder to steal/find/or it's more expensive, but it makes a much better product.

Make a tapered arm, that's not really an aesthetic reason, though partly, it's just that a tapered and larger opening facilitates the alcohol vapors rising into the arm and then going to the coils. One thing about copper, be very careful with your pot, if you get it too hot you'll scorch your mash, and then your moonshine will taste like burnt toast.

Once you have made a few batches of moonshine, you won't need a hydrometer, at least if you're observant. You'll notice that after the straight alcohol starts running (the first runnin') after a little while it'll start to gurgle, spit a few times, then run again. If you didn't stop collecting the alcohol when it gurgled you just fucked up because you added water to the whole bit. But don't let it run on the ground, or otherwise exit the still. Add fresh mash, and then re-add your alcohol, this time you could add some kind of fruit and add some flavor. Run it again, still don't catch anything after the gurgle, but this time you can throw out the sour mash, in my experience it doesn't get any better with subsequent runnings. Until you gain the ability to judge when the bead is, where the gurgle occurs, you can use a hydrometer. I take it you're not 21, but my suggestion is to order one from a wine magazine using a fake name and PO Box in another town, other than that you can get a hydrometer at an auto-supply store, they're used to check anti-freeze concentrations in radiators.

The heat source to use brings up an interesting point, STILLS EXPLODE!!! Which is why I suggest building in a pressure release valve, you can get one off an old pressure cooker lid. But they still sometimes explode. And alcohol will explode. And if you use propane, it too will explode. So a good idea is to try to build up, with sandbags or dirt, a berm. Basically a wall that if things look like they might get ugly you can jump behind and piss yourself. Trust me, don't make it more than 7 running steps from your still, even it makes you a little crowded it's worth it. If you use propane, and you're using a bottle connected to your stove with a hose, the best thing to do is bury the bottle and just have the hose running up through 3-6 feet of dirt. Make sure you bury the bottle with the ends up and down, less shock if it does explode.

One thing I'd suggest for you to try using, it'll make better moonshine, which of course makes it more complicated is using a thumper keg. You can look up designs online I'm sure.

If you need more visual help, meaning something you'd like to see to understand, then you can look up building stills for alternative fuel use online. I was born and raised in Arkansas, though now I live in Texas, and my family has always run towards the home alcohol hobby. So if you have any other questions I'm sure I can help. One last cationary note, I'm not sure if you know, but during the 20's alot of people especially those of the lower class got poisoned and went blind or died from home-made alchohol. Bathtub Gin and the like were/are dangerous occasionally, and although I hope you enjoy yourself do it carefully, and try to maintain good working conditions

I guess my post was rather comprehensive since no one else responded? And still not even a thank you. *sigh* What's the world coming to?

Thank you, Thank you, thank you.

Sorry i didn't respond. I tried this post on many other forums before finally getting any response. I guess I gave up hope and forgot about it for a while. Anyway, thank you.