My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station... - Page 17

Rick500 · 06-01-2009, 05:18 AM

Hey guys, is this the Victoria Corona-knockoff?

**wilserbrewer** · 06-01-2009, 11:36 AM

yep...on sale here
NEW Premium Cast Iron Corn Grinder Wheat Grain Nut Mill - eBay (item 220424538091 end time Jun-08-09 16:01:07 PDT)

ognam · 06-01-2009, 01:49 PM

I bought one of these from that same guy on eBay... shipped fast, $22 total cost. I replaced the cotter pin with a small bolt. I still can't seem to get the plates lined up perfectly parallel. If I really tighten the nut onto the bolt (thereby fixing the plate in place firmly, no wiggle at all), the plate ends up crooked and the gap closed and opens as I turn the crank.

However, if I loosely tighten the nut, there is a little play left in the plate (less than with the cotter pin, but still some), and it seems to self align when crushing the grain (i.e. the volume of the grain moving through is enough to keep the plates aligned).

After adjusting the set screw for the gap (and adding a couple washers per this thread) , it does seem like I got about 15% flour, but nearly zero uncrushed grains, and the hulls looked mostly intact.

I crushed 1 lb. of toasted malted barley (for steeping) in my last brew. My OG was higher than expected, and I wonder if it was due to too fine a crush.

I think the setup is ok, but I think everyone here is more experienced than I am, and I'd appreciate any advice or comments.

**cyberbackpacker** · 06-01-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ognam

I bought one of these from that same guy on eBay... shipped fast, $22 total cost. I replaced the cotter pin with a small bolt. I still can't seem to get the plates lined up perfectly parallel. If I really tighten the nut onto the bolt (thereby fixing the plate in place firmly, no wiggle at all), the plate ends up crooked and the gap closed and opens as I turn the crank.

However, if I loosely tighten the nut, there is a little play left in the plate (less than with the cotter pin, but still some), and it seems to self align when crushing the grain (i.e. the volume of the grain moving through is enough to keep the plates aligned).

After adjusting the set screw for the gap (and adding a couple washers per this thread) , it does seem like I got about 15% flour, but nearly zero uncrushed grains, and the hulls looked mostly intact.

I crushed 1 lb. of toasted malted barley (for steeping) in my last brew. My OG was higher than expected, and I wonder if it was due to too fine a crush.

I think the setup is ok, but I think everyone here is more experienced than I am, and I'd appreciate any advice or comments.

I think your OG ended up high because, if as stated, you calculated your fermentables based on extract plus steeping grains. However what you actually ended up doing by crushing your toasted barley was a "partial mash" instead of steeping, which yielded more sugars into your wort than a mere steeping would do.

Make sense?

ognam · 06-08-2009, 01:55 AM

Well, I figured out exactly why my OG was high (probably in addition to the mash from this small amount of grain)... the original recipe called for 9.9lbs. LME.

I ended up using DME, but used 9lbs! I only learned after about the conversion factor of .8*DME = 1*LME... at least it's explained.

Now I have an 8% ABV Maibock on my hands. I sampled when I racked to the secondary today, and it is strong but has a good flavor. I have hope that this will turn out well.

LakeErieBrew · 06-08-2009, 02:23 AM

I just bought a grinder from Discount Tommy on eBay. I'll post some pics once I get it set up.

BuzzCraft · 06-08-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ognam

I bought one of these from that same guy on eBay... shipped fast, $22 total cost. I replaced the cotter pin with a small bolt. I still can't seem to get the plates lined up perfectly parallel. If I really tighten the nut onto the bolt (thereby fixing the plate in place firmly, no wiggle at all), the plate ends up crooked and the gap closed and opens as I turn the crank.

However, if I loosely tighten the nut, there is a little play left in the plate (less than with the cotter pin, but still some), and it seems to self align when crushing the grain (i.e. the volume of the grain moving through is enough to keep the plates aligned).

After adjusting the set screw for the gap (and adding a couple washers per this thread) , it does seem like I got about 15% flour, but nearly zero uncrushed grains, and the hulls looked mostly intact.

I crushed 1 lb. of toasted malted barley (for steeping) in my last brew. My OG was higher than expected, and I wonder if it was due to too fine a crush.

I think the setup is ok, but I think everyone here is more experienced than I am, and I'd appreciate any advice or comments.

To get the plate parallel AND tight with the bolt, take note of which side of the rotating plate is closest to the fixed plate. Then remove the bolt and rotating plate and put some material under the plate (where it meets the shaft) to shim it outward. I used an aluminum pie plate and cut small pieces with shears and kept adding them in inder the rotating plate until it was parallel with the fixed plate. Took some trial and error, but it's dead parallel and solid now.

Hope this makes sense and good luck with it.

**rico567** · 06-08-2009, 07:44 PM

Well- they're not available for $22 shipped any more, so I used the "make an offer" button and offered them that. If they were selling them for that a short time ago, they can do it now. For $22 shipped, I'll pull the trigger.....and then tinker the thing into a correct grind.

LakeErieBrew · 06-08-2009, 07:58 PM

This is the one I bought. $24.86 shipped with insurance.

Link

LakeErieBrew · 06-13-2009, 03:01 AM

Everything is assembled and ready for action! I pretty much copied Wilserbrewer's awesome creation.

Here are the pics:

The mill is mounted inside the bucket so once milled, the grain is contained.

Here it is with the lid on. No flying grain. Notice my brewing assistant coming over to check out what all the noise is about.

Finally, here's the obligatory shot of the crush. This is some leftover Chocolate malt I had laying around.

Many thanks for all of the awesome posts and ideas in this thread!