Motorized mill - Which model drill?

OK, Many of us have motorized our mills, whether Corona, MaltMill, CnS, or Barley Crusher.... After popping my shoulder out of socket for the umpteenth time, I think I want to do the same.

My current all-use tool is a Coleman 18V cordless drill like this...

All I know is "24 adjustable torque settings plus a drill setting for precise results ... One-speed gear (0-600rpm)" ... I hooked it to my JSP Maltmill, and it won't turn, even on the drill setting, which basically removes the torque limiter that is present on settings number 1-24. It's not strong enough, it turns out. Even with a full battery. So, I need to go shopping.....

What model of drill have you guys successfully (or more importantly, NOT successfully) used?

You may have to have the drill started and then pour the grain....if that doesn't get it, you may need a more powerful drill.

I use my DeWalt 14.4 cordless and I have more than enough power. It crushes an entire batch easily. The problem I have is every time I start, the battery is about dead. One of these days I'll remember to charge it BEFORE I crush the grains.

RichBrewer said:

The problem I have is every time I start, the battery is about dead. One of these days I'll remember to charge it BEFORE I crush the grains.

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Heh. I figured that would by my demise, too, but I actually remembered to charge it this time!

I keep thinking about a corded drill. They seem to be slightly torquier, but I also haven't used a corded for at least 3 years........

My cordless drill of choice is the Dewalt XRP series. They have tons of torque. Even the 12v one was crazy. I upgraded to the 14.4v one after both 12v batteries died for good. I suppose a cheap corded drill from harbor freight would be OK for a dedicated grain mill setup though.

8 amp Corded drill. Will suck a golfball through the rollers

There's really only one choice:

Yah, but those Craftsman drills burn out after 30-40 years.

LOL. Yours is the deluxe model, BM -- the Cadillac of drills! (Wherein "Cadillac" refers to a '67 Eldorado with chrome all over the place.)

Bobby_M said:

I suppose a cheap corded drill from harbor freight would be OK for a dedicated grain mill setup though.

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I have tried 3 drills on my victoria mill.

B&D Firestorm cordless 18v - Works fine if you don't leave the extra battery in your sawzall the night before the brew...

Skill 3.5a - corded drill - not up to the task

B&D 4.5a corded drill - works fine.

at a semi-local homebrew shop, the guy told me they've burned through some cordless drills already (even quality ones) with their mill. Granted, as a HBS they crush more grain than most people, but still. I've now stick with using corded drills on my mill because it's more expensive to replace a cordless, and it's not like I need portability when using my mill. Not to mention, you can get a powerful corded drill for the same price range as a weaker cordless.

That, and you never have to remember to charge the battery. After two batches in a row where I had to stop and charge the battery halfway through milling my grain for a batch, I was ready to switch to corded...

Northern tool has a pretty decent deal on a cheap corded drill:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_47901_47901
It has a "feature" that would be annoying for everyday use, but is great for milling: the variable speed is set with a little knob, rather than by how much pressure you put on the trigger. That way you could dial in a speed and just clamp down the trigger.
disclaimer: I haven't actually used that drill myself so I don't know if it's powerful enough, though from the specs it seems it should be.

I've got an old-school, BierMuncher special corded drill from my old man that I use on the grain mill. Pretty sure it's a Makita, though. Kicks major arse. I have a newish, cheap-but-works good corded drill, but I figgered I'd rather just use the old one since otherwise it was just sitting in a corner unused.

somecallmetim said:

I have tried 3 drills on my victoria mill.

B&D Firestorm cordless 18v - Works fine if you don't leave the extra battery in your sawzall the night before the brew...

Skill 3.5a - corded drill - not up to the task

B&D 4.5a corded drill - works fine.

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Black and Decker is like the Mr Beer of powertools.

I tried my 18v Craftsman and it got pwned by some pale wheat malt. I went out and got a corded drill and it avenged my cordless. I highly recommend a corded drill, simply because you really don't want to destroy a good cordless drill on grain. It's going to drain the hell out of your battery and take valuable life from it.

I got a Rigid corded drill from Home Depot. $54 and enough torque to probably put a screw in concrete (which i'll find out come summer time when I build my deck).

Get yourself a nice, big 1/2" chuck 6A corded drill. It won't get bogged down quite so easily as the cordless ones.

Yuri_Rage said:

Get yourself a nice, big 1/2" chuck 6A corded drill. It won't get bogged down quite so easily as the cordless ones.

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My DeWalt cordless has never bogged down milling grains. (I need a manly man's emoticon here!)
What did Tim Allen say? Ouh Ouh Ouh Ouh Ouh Ouh!

Cheese, have you used the Rigid around the house for odd jobs yet? My Coleman cordless can't drill into concrete, it's really quite pathetic... I was thinking about that new Rigid brand, but haven't heard anything about 'em. I will have to swing by HD since you like yrs.

I'm noticing amongst everyone's replies that amperage seems to be the single variable most related to output power/torque?

Thanks, all, for your replies, appreciate it much! Now I just need to see what's in town.

OH and thanks for the link, Funk, to Northern Tool. I had never heard of them before!

DeWalt DC920KA 18 V Heavy-Duty XRP Cordless Drill 450 in-lbs. A friend uses one of these to raise and lower things on his boat. Had a socket made to mate with the winches. Even hoists his anchor with it.

chriso said:

Cheese, have you used the Rigid around the house for odd jobs yet? My Coleman cordless can't drill into concrete, it's really quite pathetic... I was thinking about that new Rigid brand, but haven't heard anything about 'em. I will have to swing by HD since you like yrs.

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Not yet, because I use my cordless for drilling into soft wood / wallboard. This summer I'm going to build a deck and I'm hoping that it'll drive a self-tapping cement screw into the concrete. If not, I'll rent a heavy-duty drill and use the corded drill for sinking the anchor bolts into the 4x4's.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...0003+90401+1600&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125

Bobby_M said:

Black and Decker is like the Mr Beer of powertools.

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Yup. I literally burned a 5.2 A corded B&D with my 3 roller Crankandstein. Granted, that was doing a real tight crush, but I eventually went with a dedicated table with a Bodine gear motor.

My Craftsman 18v cordless got warm and smelled funny while crushing 30 pounds through my BrewTek mill. My brewing partner destroyed one corded drill already and his backup drill is acting wonky after trying to crush a similar grist with his Crank & Stein.

I decided to just go for it, and built this:



It's powered by a 173 RPM gearmotor that makes roughly 1.2 metric craploads of torque. The hopper used to be a 1-gallon bleach bottle and is now a 5-gallon water bottle. It holds about 25 pounds of grain. The mill starts with no fuss no matter whether the hopper is full or empty and plows through the grain with no apparent effort.

Last brew day, it milled three batches worth of grain totalling around 60 pounds without the slightest issue.


Here's the old mill (with hand crank) for reference: