Going to make my own grain mill, figured Id see if anyone else needs one!

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Now that sucks your loss of freedom in the machine shop, dang any machinery kept in the family? Even just a lathe and Bridgeport can fit in a garage.

Nope. They sold it all after the divorce and didn't want anything at all. I plan on getting a bridgeport and a small hand lathe for my garage once I ship in a few months so I can play.

A few family friends have shops I could go home and play with things. But usually when I go there, I design stuff for off-roading trucks, not beer supplies. Guess it is time to switch gears...
 
+1 IMO, there's no way a home brew scale malt mill could be manufactured and sold at a reasonable profit for $100, at least not in the US. I suppose the Chinese might be able to do it and I am somewhat surprised that they haven't yet done so.

I beg to differ. I use a "Victoria" brand Corona-type mill, got from Discount Tommy on eBay for $24 delivered. Yeah, it's a crude, clunky piece of iron. But, driven with my 1/2" Craftsman drill, it chews through 15 pound grain bills in about 10 minutes, and I hit all my Brix numbers. Every time.
 
I beg to differ. I use a "Victoria" brand Corona-type mill, got from Discount Tommy on eBay for $24 delivered. Yeah, it's a crude, clunky piece of iron. But, driven with my 1/2" Craftsman drill, it chews through 15 pound grain bills in about 10 minutes, and I hit all my Brix numbers. Every time.

You do realize that the double roller mills typically run through about 6 pounds in one minute, right? So in about 1/4 of the time it takes you to use you're hunk-O-iron mill, you could get the grain from a double roller mill. I do believe (from what I've read/heard) that you'll get more consistent crush size with a roller mill than the hunk-o-iron style... Not to mention not needing to sweep up the room after you use it (from the flying grain)... :D

I was looking to get an ugly mill, before I started working again... Now I'm just waiting to see if this project actually takes off, or dies in the womb... Either way, come about 2 weeks, I'm ordering up a grain mill/barley crusher... Already have my 1/2" DeWalt cordless drill waiting to power it... :rockin:
 
Nope. They sold it all after the divorce and didn't want anything at all. I plan on getting a bridgeport and a small hand lathe for my garage once I ship in a few months so I can play.

A few family friends have shops I could go home and play with things. But usually when I go there, I design stuff for off-roading trucks, not beer supplies. Guess it is time to switch gears...

Sounds like a plan, oh BTW welcome home and be safe.
 
well mine is taking off but the OP im not sure what he is doing, once summer roles around i will prob gear mine up so that i can just run it off a motor with the flick of a switch.
 
well mine is taking off but the OP im not sure what he is doing, once summer roles around i will prob gear mine up so that i can just run it off a motor with the flick of a switch.

Dont worry bout me...its coming. Couple questions about your design...How long are your rollers? You are threading the 'cam' ends into the main bar? Any luck with getting a file I can view yet? Ill send you my email addy. Also any others who have done up some part files Id love to see what you have.

Ive been going over some material prices and size issues. Having ball bearings is really gonna drive the cost up...an extra $40 vs oilite. Going from a 1.50 roller to a 2.50 roller is an extra $35, and I would use 8620, not 1018. It will make a superior product but....? Still trying to nail down a base price that we can apply those extra cost to.

For all you guys that are saying 'just hurry up and make one'....that IS the easy part. Making one that is superior to what is available now, and at a reasonable price is where some time in the thinking department needs to be spent.
 
I was in the same camp as the OP and had all my parts modeled and ready for CNC. After pricing out materials and machine time, it was WAY cheaper to buy a Crankenstein.

Id like to see those models, and hear what a shop quoted you at to make. pm me if youd like.
 
this is when the rod is through the roller riding on bushing around the rod
assemlby.png

Might be a stupid question but how are you going to get the bushing onto the shaft? won't the ecentric on either end cause problems?
 
I think he's threading the cams on after the rod is through the roller, that's where my concern is...with the strength of that connection. Personally I would machine that cam onto the rod, it would be stronger and cheaper to make. (obviously you make the cam smaller than the main rod)
 
I think he's threading the cams on after the rod is through the roller, that's where my concern is...with the strength of that connection. Personally I would machine that cam onto the rod, it would be stronger and cheaper to make. (obviously you make the cam smaller than the main rod)

That would mean the pic before that makes more sense now :tank:
 
they are threaded, the would be a right hand thread, so that with the direction of the shaft turning it would only tighten. this is also so that you can take one side off to change out rollers or what not. also if it does not work i figure ill just drill a 1/32 hole through an pin it in place at an off center....remember all mine is a concept right now.. but... i am trying different things...

for my materials i did what the local stock house had in.. not what they could order, because i did not want to wait, this is why most of my materials are standard 6061 aluminum 1018, and 304 SS with a 8 percent student discount it still cost me 42 with materials, mainly the SS cost me 28 dollars of the total cost for 13 x 1 - 1/2 round

too answer the questions about mine, they are 6" long, i based my design on the barley crusher and monster roller... (this one might be redundant) i am treading the ends in the end of my "cam" in because i figure that since its a right hand thread it would only be under tightening torque, so there would be only very little chance that would allow it to untighten. these would also use lockite to secure the thread in place. i figure if this does not work ill drill a hole in the cam and pin it (my original design had pins in this and no threads)

yes i planned on placing my cam end on after the roller is placed on... again this might be a problem.. but for me i made that rod 1/2 inch so that it would not flex and could take a 1/4 thread and load of what it would take to crush barley. as well as, if i feel the need to change out the bushings to bearings later, and/or need to replace them, i could with ease of just removing the housing and then the end of the "cam"

right now i have the bushing pressed into the roller, they are concentric to a couple tho.


note these might be redundant because im abit drunk on HB :)... thanks superbowl!

mrfurlly ill be sending you design tomorrow when i can work programs correctly ( hope all this make sense of why i did it that way)
 
I think this is probably correct. I also think that he is not the only skeptic among us.

I would have to agree, there is a reason why MM/BC/etc. cost what they do and it is not because these guys are greedy and want to rip us all off. Think about it, if they all have about equal market share (which I think would be a fair assumption) and one dropped their price by $50-$100 who do you think everyone would be buying from?
oOn the other hand, I am also looking into getting my own fabricated but that is because I could (probably) do it cheaper than shipping one half way round the world (shipping costs about the same as the product!). I might have a contact that will give me a good price to build me one (read beer), but I wouldn't be able to do this for an actual production run.
My thoughts for adjustment are to have one roller's bushings set in slides that are adjusted by screws, don't know if these would also need to be forced out by springs or if the grain passing through will be enough to force them apart.
Might draw something up if I get time.
 
I own a design and manufacturing company and if I've learned anything in my experience is never try to compete on a cost basis. We in north America can make things better but rarely cheaper. I'd make a better mill but I'd want to sell it for 600 dollars haha.
 
@matt2d

i actually thought of that for my initial process instead of rotating bushings, i was thinking of a slide where on one side of the rod it would have spring pressure to keep spacing and on the other a knob to tighten the gap (this would be for both sides of the housing)

but i decided against that, because over time the springs lose there "k" factor with repeated use, plus it would just be more parts.
 
I own a design and manufacturing company and if I've learned anything in my experience is never try to compete on a cost basis. We in north America can make things better but rarely cheaper. I'd make a better mill but I'd want to sell it for 600 dollars haha.

IIRC the other roller mills are made in the USA. How much would your $600 mill cost to make and how many would you expect to sell for that price? If it was me I would save the extra $400 and put up with having to get out my feeler gauges the every year or so, but thats just me ;)
 
@matt2d

i actually thought of that for my initial process instead of rotating bushings, i was thinking of a slide where on one side of the rod it would have spring pressure to keep spacing and on the other a knob to tighten the gap (this would be for both sides of the housing)

but i decided against that, because over time the springs lose there "k" factor with repeated use, plus it would just be more parts.

Yeah, I just had the thought today of "is the spring actually needed?" My thoughts are the grains passing through the mill will push the idle roller out as far as the stops let it.
 
Not really sure what you guys think is coming, and why you think its impossible? If you refer to the original post, you will see my intention. It is not to make a mill twice as good for half the price....thats just not possible. My goal here is to make a better mill at an 'affordable cost'. Meaning my goal is to make a better mill that will cost...more (probably)...the same (maybe) .... cheaper (not likely). Am I looking to make a million bucks on this idea? hell no. Like I said in the original post, Im going to make one for myself regardless....I might as well make more, and make them better than whats out there. So all you nay sayers....what the hell are you saying nay to? For the rest that have been contibuting in a helpfull manner....THANKS
 
IIRC the other roller mills are made in the USA. How much would your $600 mill cost to make and how many would you expect to sell for that price? If it was me I would save the extra $400 and put up with having to get out my feeler gauges the every year or so, but thats just me ;)


For 600 dollars they would come with a happy ending..

I think missed my point (probably I didn't illustrate it well enough). What I am saying is; it would be hard to penetrate this niche market by competing on both price and quality. I have no idea how many units are sold from the American examples, but by looking at them they are problem made in low volume (and some, potentially in a guys garage). So you can't sacrifice margin in hopes volume because there probably isn't much of a market anyways:)

This is all just my gut feeling anyways, I don't have intimate knowledge of the home brew mill industry.

I'm not trying to be negative, and wish you the best of luck. I just think some challenges exist based on my experience in product design and manufacturing:)
 
Not really sure what you guys think is coming, and why you think its impossible? If you refer to the original post, you will see my intention. It is not to make a mill twice as good for half the price....thats just not possible. My goal here is to make a better mill at an 'affordable cost'.

Sorry, I think that got forgotten with all the talk about cost. I did check back and yes all you said was "I want to make a better mill", nothing about cost ;)
 
For 600 dollars they would come with a happy ending..
... (and some, potentially in a guys garage)...

Yeah I think we are on the same side of this argument without knowing it ;)
And I think your right about at least one of the companies being a "backyard shed" opperation ;)
 
I would have to agree, there is a reason why MM/BC/etc. cost what they do and it is not because these guys are greedy and want to rip us all off. Think about it, if they all have about equal market share (which I think would be a fair assumption) and one dropped their price by $50-$100 who do you think everyone would be buying from?
oOn the other hand, I am also looking into getting my own fabricated but that is because I could (probably) do it cheaper than shipping one half way round the world (shipping costs about the same as the product!). I might have a contact that will give me a good price to build me one (read beer), but I wouldn't be able to do this for an actual production run.
My thoughts for adjustment are to have one roller's bushings set in slides that are adjusted by screws, don't know if these would also need to be forced out by springs or if the grain passing through will be enough to force them apart.
Might draw something up if I get time.

mattd2, for all your effort, time and materials besides high shipping costs from the USA with you looking for a higher quality mill why not just buy a Mashmaster mill? Hell it's made in the lower half of this round rock we live on;
http://www.mashmaster.com/p/563201/millmaster-stainless-steel-grain-mill-.html. Higher quality, larger rollers plus vastly reduced shipping costs.
Get one so I have a second reason to visit you "Kiwis", ride bike, your mill plus some brews.......~~=o&o>..............
 
Not really sure what you guys think is coming, and why you think its impossible? If you refer to the original post, you will see my intention. It is not to make a mill twice as good for half the price....thats just not possible. My goal here is to make a better mill at an 'affordable cost'. Meaning my goal is to make a better mill that will cost...more (probably)...the same (maybe) .... cheaper (not likely). Am I looking to make a million bucks on this idea? hell no. Like I said in the original post, Im going to make one for myself regardless....I might as well make more, and make them better than whats out there. So all you nay sayers....what the hell are you saying nay to? For the rest that have been contibuting in a helpfull manner....THANKS

Personally, if I can get a grain mill that is of better quality, or has better features, than what you can find otherwise (in the ~$200, or less price range) then I'm inclined to get that better product. I wouldn't mind paying a bit more than other mills, if I KNOW the one I'm getting is superior.

I look at it this way... I'm going to pay 10-20% more than the other product, but this one is superior in these areas. Which means that where I'll need to change parts on the other mill after X hours, this one will still be crushing away like a champ... Eventually, I'll probably want the better mill (even if the other does the job) so that means it would end up costing me MORE [in the long term] than just purchasing the better one the first time.

I'm more concerned with WHEN this would be ready, or far enough along so that we have a time frame. I'll want to have it on order, with a projected ship date, about the same time that I place the order for a couple sacks of grain.

Sacks of grain on hand + no grain mill = suck
 
mattd2, for all your effort, time and materials besides high shipping costs from the USA with you looking for a higher quality mill why not just buy a Mashmaster mill? Hell it's made in the lower half of this round rock we live on;
http://www.mashmaster.com/p/563201/millmaster-stainless-steel-grain-mill-.html. Higher quality, larger rollers plus vastly reduced shipping costs.
Get one so I have a second reason to visit you "Kiwis", ride bike, your mill plus some brews.......~~=o&o>..............


Get two and I'll pick the other one up. I love New Zealand.
 
mattd2, for all your effort, time and materials besides high shipping costs from the USA with you looking for a higher quality mill why not just buy a Mashmaster mill? Hell it's made in the lower half of this round rock we live on;
http://www.mashmaster.com/p/563201/millmaster-stainless-steel-grain-mill-.html. Higher quality, larger rollers plus vastly reduced shipping costs.
Get one so I have a second reason to visit you "Kiwis", ride bike, your mill plus some brews.......~~=o&o>..............

I don''t think I could get that past the wife, even if I did save a fair bit on shipping that mill is 3x (at least) the price!
Effort = Enjoyment (at least when it envolves homebrewing!)
Time = Won't be the one actually machining it, can design during lunchbreaks/etc.
Materials = hopefully they have some surplus to requirements stock that I can use ;)
I have lots of other projects on the go at the moment (just bought our first house!) so this might be on the back burner for a while!
 
Congrats on your first house, feels good doesn't it vs renting or living with friends or worse yet "gulp" family. You away from the quake area? What city
plus North or South Island?
I hear ya on building projects it's an addiction plus satisfying when you've created something from scratch. Hell I spent 5 hours yesterday at the National Lawerence Berkely Rad Lab in their machine shop, still stepping on my tongue plus drooling on myself from the machinery they have. A side job my machinist friend had to get done for his cart racing.
 
You have to keep in mind that a big part of the cost of something made in America is the cost of labor. If you consider what the average American needs to make per hour just to live indoors - to say nothing of what a decent machinist makes - and compare that to how much the average Chinese worker brings home and that right there is a hell of a lot of dough.

The reason one guy could make a dozen mills of equal or better quality to the commercial ones without them being outrageously expensive is, presumably, he's not looking to make a career of it. In other words, he's charging little to nothing for his time.

But as soon as he starts renting a warehouse for production, hiring employees, or even just trying to build enough of them himself to call it a business, the retail cost of the mill has to offset his cost of living and doing business.
 
...and the OP was never heard from again. Seems to have died on the vine, just as I had expected. Oh well...
 
Can't say I'm surprised...

Since this started, I've picked up a Barley Crusher... So, chances are I won't be looking to get a new mill for many, many, many years... If ever... :D
 
it's now asking for my email address in order to vote, it didn't do that last night wtf gives?

-=Jason=-
 
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