@ redbeard: The still I have in mind would not be adequate for concentrating the alcohol, as is done when making home brew liquor. Given starting with 190 proof alchohol as a solvent, and very dry bud and trim, the still and process don't have to deal with the otherwise critical issue of driving out significant more alcohol than water. With very dry bud and trim, and keeping the temperature below 100C, by using a double boiler as a heat source, I expect that the escaping vapor will be pretty nearly as concentrated as the solvent which I started with. Rather than allow that vapor to boil off into the air, as described in many RSO recipes, I will use a lab style glass 'boiling flask', with a plug with a copper tube inserted through it. All the alcohol vapor will go into tube, which will be formed into a downward sloping spiral as it passes through a bucket of ice. The condensed output will run out the end (the downstream end of the coil will exit through a hole in the side of the bucket) into an empty glass bottle so I can use it again for the next batch. I had thought that I could also use this set up to first increase the proof of the 151 proof Everclear available locally, but once I did some research, I realized that this would require a more sophisticated apparatus, and more care, and experience to be successful. I've instead ordered 1 gal 190 proof organic grain alcohol from Amazon. Cost $135, but I hope to never need to replace it.
