re: anyone on here ever have any experience in the manufacturing of moonshine?

Tin cup of fruit cocktail juice sittin' on an engine manifold with a pinch of yeast...oops, sorry, that's grog.

The biggest cost is the boiler. I've seen them made out of beer kegs. Then it's water grade copper tubing, some fittings and/or a $20 solder kit with non-lead solder. I'm sure there are plenty of videos these days on YouTube.

I also once saw some scientists brewing a small batch with glass chemistry equipment and a Bunsen burner (basically and boiler and a condenser).

Or be willing the fork out the dough and get a kit from hillbillystills.com or other similar supplier.

Or have a buddy who can weld stainless steel and a fist full of $$$ to buy stainless steel.