Grain Milling Station Design

**bradsul** · 12-24-2007, 03:58 AM

Edit: I've posted the final design and sketckup files at post 19.

I've been staring at my monster mill and motor w/ VFD and wishing I had access to my shop so I could build something to actually USE them. Since I can't do that I thought I'd put my ideas on paper. Here is the milling station I came up with.

I plan to make the cabinet and hopper mounting plate out of 1/2" melamine for easy cleanup. The hopper will probably be 1/4" melamine though I drew it out as 3/8" because I was originally going to go with MDF - mostly it depends on the amount of scrap I have

.

The hopper size should hold about 8KG (17.6lbs) of grain but the top of the hopper will be finished level and flat so an extension can be added easily if I want it (though I doubt I will). I may put a shelf in the other section as well.

**shafferpilot** · 12-24-2007, 04:02 AM

Do you buy your 2-row in bulk? maybe no shelf on the other side to keep your 50lb bags in there.

**bradsul** · 12-24-2007, 04:06 AM

And just for completeness, here are the hopper base plate (with feed chute) and hopper assemblies.

**bradsul** · 12-24-2007, 04:09 AM

I have a couple garbage cans I keep my grains in. I was thinking that would be just a handy little storage space for my scale and scoops etc. I mostly wanted the extra bit of counter-top space for measuring more than I wanted the storage.

**eriktlupus** · 12-24-2007, 04:13 AM

this should fit in that hole on the left http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6004473

i've got one and it'll hold a 55# sack of 2row

**SuperiorBrew** · 12-24-2007, 04:22 AM

It looks great, I would put a door on to keep the dust at bay. You also may have issues if you fill you hopper of too much pressure pushing the grain into the rollers too hard.
Here is how I did mine but I still want to address the dust issue, especailly now that is cold out and I dont want to mill outside, I dont want all the airborn dust in the garage where I will be brewing and filling carboys.

**bradsul** · 12-24-2007, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperiorBrew

It looks great, I would put a door on to keep the dust at bay. You also may have issues if you fill you hopper of too much pressure pushing the grain into the rollers too hard.
Here is how I did mine but I still want to address the dust issue, especailly now that is cold out and I dont want to mill outside, I dont want all the airborn dust in the garage where I will be brewing and filling carboys.

Yes I forgot to mention the doors, I plan to have that on the milling side for sure (probably both just so it looks nice).

I spoke to the engineers at my office (our company makes feeding equipment) a while back when I had the idea and they said 3.5" tall chute that results from the table-top -> mounting-plate -> hopper should take care of the grain weight issue. They say it will constrict the flow enough to counteract most of the weight issue. I'm one of those believe it when I see it types but with that assurance I'm not too worried about it.

mr x · 12-24-2007, 10:03 AM

Instead of building a hopper, just use a 5 gallon water bottle. Far easier solution. Also, consider a method to throttle the grain input, it can be a useful feature.

Grimsawyer · 12-24-2007, 11:51 AM

My friend, you have some mad auto cad skills! Best I can do is get a relative idea down on graph paper and hope for the best(educated guessing)!

jdoiv · 12-24-2007, 01:00 PM

Looks good Brad! I put casters on the bottom of mine to make it easy to move around. I haven't decided if I want to enclose the base yet with fiberboard or maybe just some canvas to control dust. I'm thinking of just using some canvas circling the mill and bucket would be real easy. Also it is hard to tell how much space you have between the motor and the mill. Are you going to use pulleys? If so, the pulley on the mill should probably be around 10 inches in diameter and you'll need to account for that bit of space with the motor location.

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