Secure a steel nail to a vise with the point up. Heat the tip of the nail red-hot with a mini butane torch.
Hold the flame of a butane torch at an upward angle to the nail tip while gently pressing the bottom of a test tube against the nail's tip. Puncture through the bottom of the test tube with the heated nail. Widen the hole until it's large enough to insert a glass thermometer.
Heat the nail until the tip is red-hot. Hold the flame of the butane torch across the tip of the nail and against the side of the test tube approximately 1 inch below the bottom of the tube. Press the hot nail tip against the side of the test tube until it punctures through the softened glass. The side hole should be just large enough to insert one end of a length of food-grade plastic tubing.
Hold the test tube right side up and fill it two-thirds full with glass beads. The glass beads provide an increase in surface area within the column for multiple exchanges of liquid/vapor separation during the distillation. Pack just enough of a piece of a copper scrubbing pad into the open end of the test tube to prevent the glass beads from falling out when the test tube is held upside down.
Turn the test tube upside down. Insert the metal end of a glass thermometer into the bottom hole of the test tube, and slide a small rubber gasket ring down the body of the thermometer until it rests against the bottom of the test tube. The rubber ring should hold the thermometer end in the open space between the bottom of the test tube and the top of the glass beads.
Insert one end of a piece of food-grade plastic tubing into the side hole of the test tube. The distillation column is now ready to use. A rubber ring or heat-resistant tape can be wrapped around the open end of the column to fit it to a boiling chamber.