That's not the point. There are a lot of moonshiners that have good equipment and know what they are doing.
On the other hand, the process is dangerous. And a homemade still will blow up for no apparent reason.
The other poster was trying to compare the safety of a professionally designed still used in a classroom with a still made in a metal shop by someone of unknown skill.
In this comparison, the homemade still is the most likely to blow things up.
Clear now?
BTW, the guy you know probably took really serious precautions and used a lot common sense.
Granted, but that's a far cry from "Homemade stills blow up. Period."
Clear now?
You don't appear to be, but I doubt I'll achieve any better than this, so let's just let it go.
The most likely way to turn a still into a bomb is to burn the kettle dry and have the coil plug up at about the same time.