A Confirmation on the LeFevre

Big E
ADI Research, Uncommon Stills
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In December 2022, Jesse from StillIt gave me a heads up that another distiller out there was building the LeFevre (zigzag) apparatus, and had it working. I was very happy to hear about that, but elated to be contacted by the builder!

I am very honored to present the work of Paul Volland, who successfully built his LeFevre Zigzag out of 3/4″ copper tubing, for less than $50, and achieved in excess of 90% ABV!

Paul Volland’s $50 copper LeFevre Zigzag

Up until Paul’s work, we only had LeFevre’s theoretical manuscripts and Eric Stroud’s glass recreation to go by. Paul has independently confirmed our results, thus, this ancient still design is CONFIRMED! Paul’s design is the practical way to do this, as it is cheaper, durable, and removes organosulfides. Paul’s design uses fans to cool the column and force reflux, and has a non-circulating worm.

Paul graciously shared some of his data, and it coincides closely with our glass unit:

  • Sugar wash 12% 
  • Jar 1) 500ml @ 92% liquid temp 56°F
  • Jar 2) 500ml  @ 92%                     56°F
  • Jar 3) 300ml  @ 85%                     56°F
  • Jar 4)  500ml  @ 91%                    56°F
  • Jar 5) 500ml  @ 91%                     58°F
  • Jar 6) 180ml @ 68%                      58°F
  • Jar 7) 200mi @ 90%                      58°F
  • Jar 8) tails 40%                              58°F

NEXT STEPS FOR ANY DISTILLERS OUT THERE:

  • Change the diameter of the tubing
  • Change the path length
  • Change the angles
  • Increase/decrease the number of zigzags

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