Hooking up Drill to Corona Mill: Ideas? [pics]

Anyone know what I need to hook my drill up to this sucker? I'm so sick of hand cranking it for half an hour:

Find a bolt that will thread in there - one that's at least two inches. Cut the head off the bolt and flatten one side (not the threads). If you have access to some kind of grinder, that will make the job easy.

Hook up your drill and go!

The flat side may not be 100% necessary, but it will help if you can do it.

rdwj said:

Find a bolt that will thread in there - one that's at least two inches. Cut the head off the bolt and flatten one side (not the threads). If you have access to some kind of grinder, that will make the job easy.

Hook up your drill and go!

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I'm gonna drive up to lowes right now and see if they can help me, I was just starting to crank and decided f* this. I'm gonna be brewing again tommorow so might as well figure this out now.

It's hard to tell from the picture - is that just too big to get the 3-pt chuck around? Since it's got 3 flat sides, it seems like it wouldn't need any mods unless it's just too big.

Conveniently enough, I was sitting 2 feet from both my modded corona mill and my camera when I read your post, so here goes...

All it took for me was a hex head bolt with a long enough unthreaded portion, a matching nut, and some washers. I don't remember the bolt thread size, all I remember is that it was metric - but take the original bolt/eyelet thing to the hardware store with you and match it up.

Then, you just cut the head off the bolt, and put it together - using enough washers to make up for the fact that the threaded hole in the shaft isn't very deep.

I don't have anything to cut a bolt, hopefully they'll do it for me up at lowes.

Lil' Sparky said:

It's hard to tell from the picture - is that just too big to get the 3-pt chuck around? Since it's got 3 flat sides, it seems like it wouldn't need any mods unless it's just too big.

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It's too big for mine, it's about 3/4inch.

You don't have a dremel? Who doesn't have a dremel?

Got a friend with a dremel? or a hack saw?

Funkenjäger said:

........ using enough washers to make up for the fact that the threaded hole in the shaft isn't very deep.

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Or you could just tighten the nut against the shaft.

Yeah, they're not going to cut it for you.
Unless maybe you go to tool rental, they might help you out there.

A local hardware store might be able to help you out a bit better.

Cheap hacksaw is about $5.00. Pony up and get it, or get some real tools like an angle grinder or a dremmel.

D*Bo said:

Or you could just tighten the nut against the shaft.

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Yep, you could. I used washers because I had a bunch available, and with them I just assembled it by hand, without any tools, since I was too lay to go grab my toolbox Plus, this way puts a little less stress on the threads in the mill shaft, as I don't have to tighten it in place, so it only ever gets as tight as the drill makes it during drilling. Corona mills are incredibly cheaply made, so I don't trust the strength of the threads very much.

I do have a hacksaw, didn't think about that. They did cut it for me at Lowes though, which was awesome. I got it all hooked up, except my drill is being a ***** and acting like it doesn't have enough power to crush grains. grrrrr... so I just picked up a new drill to try, it's 18volt as opposed to 12volt. Hopefully it'll give me more power. GOtta let it charge for a few though, figure I'll put my pumpkin into a keg while I wait.

Make sure you spin the nut onto the bolt past where you're going to cut the bolt with the saw. That way you can spin the nut off to clean the threads after the cut. Otherwise you'll never get it threaded into anything.

Edit: Nevermind, just saw your last post. That'll just be an FYI for any future researchers of this DIY.

Ó Flannagáin said:

I do have a hacksaw, didn't think about that. They did cut it for me at Lowes though, which was awesome. I got it all hooked up, except my drill is being a ***** and acting like it doesn't have enough power to crush grains. grrrrr... so I just picked up a new drill to try, it's 18volt as opposed to 12volt. Hopefully it'll give me more power. GOtta let it charge for a few though, figure I'll put my pumpkin into a keg while I wait.

Click to expand...

Get a corded drill for your mill. Can't stress this enough. I'm not familiar with the corona mill, but it's a LOT of work for a drill to turn a mill and you're just asking to eat up battery life early. Plus a corded drill can deliver more torque.

Cheesefood said:

Get a corded drill for your mill. Can't stress this enough. I'm not familiar with the corona mill, but it's a LOT of work for a drill to turn a mill and you're just asking to eat up battery life early. Plus a corded drill can deliver more torque.

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Word, then I'm taking this one back. I was about to give it a shot first, but, eh. The corded one was only 12 volts though, do volts have to do with torque at all?

The corded one will be 110 volts AC, vs. the 12 or 18 volts DC. The wattage will give you an indicator of horsepower. If you really want a drill with a lot of torque, get a 1/2" drill vs. the 3/8 drill. The 1/2" chuck drills are torquier.