Drill Powered Grain Mill Setup

I've been working on setting up my motorized grain mill.
Decided to go with a low RPM drill from Harbor Freight that I found on eBay
It has a ton of torque, and a lock on the trigger for always on

I'm powering a Barley crusher with a 7 lb hooper...
So part of making automating it is accommodating a full grain bill



Used a 22 oz bottle case for the hooper extension
Supposed to be temporary but the aluminum extension is becoming a PITA

Maybe just add some tape to the cardboard just to clean it up

I used my cordless drill for the first time today when I milled my grains. I don't know why I waited so long to try that! Saved my arms a lot of work...

I just bought a used Malt Mill, when using a drill do I need any bit or am I cool just attaching the drill to the mill --- this worked but I don't know if over time I'll strip the rod or damage anything where the handle should go. Looking forward to using this mill with a drill. Save time.

I just got this all set up and have used it once. I'm lovin' it!

Rustym.... how did you mount the drill?

The drill has a threaded hole for a handle on the top (bottom in the picture since it's upside). I used a bolt with the same threads, drilled a hole in the table and used some washers to shim to the right height. Very solid mount. That drill has a variable speed dial that you can adjust while you have the trigger pressed and locked. Very low RPM if you need it and completly hands free!

How do you adjust the speed? Or is constant on slow enough to just crush, and not turn to flour?

This is my set up.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/grain-mill-station-358310/

I love it and it stores nice.

Once you "pull" the trigger in, it is constant on. The dial on the trigger (it's kind of hard to see, but notice the round piece on the trigger), allows you to adjust the speed (RPM). This is a low RPM drill so you can really dial in the speed to whatever RPM you want and get the crush you want as well.

This isn't a great picture but you can get the idea. This was my first crush using this setup. I got 80% eff. out of this.

bbarr21 said:

Used a 22 oz bottle case for the hooper extension
Supposed to be temporary but the aluminum extension is becoming a PITA

Maybe just add some tape to the cardboard just to clean it up

Click to expand...

Thats what I did! It has been working great for a while now! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-hopper-extension-322686/