My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

CornyKegs 728
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hopefully i didn't come off that way! :mug:
super sleepy might be a reason lol.
Cost mostly yeah, and a way to DIY and tinker more :fro:
 
mux said:
Not being rude. Is the benefit of a corona mill the cost?
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Price them out - and compare to roller mills. There at WORST about 1/4 as expensive. They are almost as easy ( or difficult ) to set up and maintain and there's 39 pages of people on this thread who have excellent results using them.

I am one of them.
 
Brewskii said:
Price them out - and compare to roller mills. There at WORST about 1/4 as expensive. They are almost as easy ( or difficult ) to set up and maintain and there's 39 pages of people on this thread who have excellent results using them.

I am one of them.
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Edit: 57 pages
 
Setting up my Corona (actually branded "Victoria") mill was no more difficult than doing the conversion on the cooler I use for my MLT. And well within my (very modest) skills. My setup may be viewed around p. 26-28 of this thread.....
 
some of them don't need any setup either. some come perfect out of the box with some adjusting on the depth of the plates. some need washers, some need more DIY, just depends on what you get
 
Brewskii said:
Price them out - and compare to roller mills. There at WORST about 1/4 as expensive. They are almost as easy ( or difficult ) to set up and maintain and there's 39 pages of people on this thread who have excellent results using them.

I am one of them.
Click to expand...

Just want to add that "cost" is certaily one of the Corona's merits...but the true value is cost in comparison to how well they work! Not sure if anyone has noticed the long thread of unhappy Barley Crusher owners...at least here we know we don't have, nor paid for a "lifetime warranty":mug:

What maintenance does a Corona mill require? Nada, IME, freight train ruggedness.
 
I got mine from an eBay purveyor named "Discount Tommy" for $23 shipped... But that was 3 years ago, and I suppose it might boe higher now.
 
You can almost always find them on Amazon for <$30. Don't be too concerned about the reviews...most of those people are trying to use these to make flour (which they won't do well)
 
Yes- this mill was originally designed to grind corn meal, NOT flour. It just so happens that the mill will do a very good job of crushing malt to our needs.
 
Okay, did my second crush yesterday. 70% efficiency, but that's with stovetop BIAB, and I was trying a different bag that was too small to properly do the "dunk sparge" step with, so I bet I could've hit 75% with the right setup.

Anyway, my new rule of thumb is, "tighten the plates til the motor on your corded drill starts smoking. Then back off a tiny bit."

I was wondering what that smell was...
 
i burned one out about 30 seconds in... went to harbor freight and got a high torque drill... works perfectly fine now!
 
yeah I need another crack at motorizing my grain mill, after crushing some more grains, stripped out lag bolt with head removed (leaving square underhead on bolt) so much for my cheap fix. back to hand cranking for the moment... need high torque drill :(


However I have dialed my crush in to just under 75% - 74.1%, 72.8%, and 74.4% over last 3 beers. Crush looks better less flour (still some it is a corona mill). I still use a mash bag in my 10gal rubbermaid as an insurance policy (first mash in there with finer crush got stuck) I've started sewing my own strainer bags so getting them in the size I need is no longer an issue.

Hand cranking another Vienna Blonde ale today for brewing later in the week. getting process down slowly but surely.
 
If you can find one of their coupons (harbor freight) which you can search Google and print. You can get the drill most of us use for around 40. And believe me, it comes in handy for many other things :mug:
 
starrfish said:
yeah I need another crack at motorizing my grain mill, after crushing some more grains, stripped out lag bolt with head removed (leaving square underhead on bolt) so much for my cheap fix. back to hand cranking for the moment... need high torque drill :(
Click to expand...

I picked up an allen-head bolt...chuck up a bit holder and go! Works great! :ban:
 
sfrisby said:
My question - since you really can't control the degree of crush with the accuracy you can with a high end model, realizing I do BIAB, any reason to not double crush? For BIAB, can you pulverize too much? Thanks.
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Wow! I can't believe I was concerned about needing to double crush. One pass turned this into flour. Next time I REALLY need to loosen it up.
 
was it a bit or a ton?
it's normal with these mills to have a bit, to a slightly abnormal amount
 
can you post up the pic of the crush?
i wouldn't loosen it too much, though.
 
rico567 said:
Tighten until you're scared; then crank it another quarter-turn and try that.
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That is exactly what i did this past weekend and got 78% efficiency on a West Coast Amber recipe! I think I found the right setting. Now if I can just find more time to put that baby to work!
Cheers!
 
I had to drop a massive $30.00 on one of these last night. Should be here later this week. I just so happened to have a couple of fermenting buckets that just got taken out of service.
 
PiratesBeardBrewery said:
autobaun70, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get yours from?
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Amazon.com

Here is the link to the same item.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000T3ML4G/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

There were a few for slightly less, but factoring in the supersaver shipping this one came out less expensive. It will be a few weeks before my next brew day (and before I have kegs empty to hold the beer currently in my fermentation chamber) so shipping time was not an issue.

I've figured out that I will be able to make a 10 gallon batch of my house pale for 33 bucks buying bulk grain.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have followed some designs to make my own setup and it works great, now my question is what corded drill to buy? My cordless got the job done but I know its going to wear out fast.

Would this cheap drill from Harbor Freight work for this purpose?
http://www.harborfreight.com/merchandising-promotions/merchandising/january-specials/3-8-eighth-inch-variable-speed-reversible-drill-3670.html

Or would I be better off spending a 10 bucks more and getting this...
http://www.harborfreight.com/merchandising-promotions/merchandising/january-specials/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-variable-speed-reversible-drill-3273.html
 
Rivenin said:
i wouldn't trust either of those honestly...
you'll want something like this
http://www.harborfreight.com/power-...le-speed-reversible-d-handle-drill-47991.html
something high torque with the amount of turning pressure required.
i've burned out drills just like that. you'll want to spend about $20 more and have years of service instead of buying new drills.
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That is not overkill? I am looking for something decently sized to grind through some grain but if you think its going to burn up, I can spend another $10 no problem. I just wonder because my cordless ryobi worked pretty good for 19 lbs, is it something you worry about burning out over repeated uses?
 
maybe someone else can chime in on that issue as well,
i've burned out two other smaller handheld drills (name brand) on the corona mill.

People have success with the smaller handheld drills. However, with it being harbor freight, i wouldn't trust their smaller/cheaper drills. (that first one you posted, people have burned up or did not have the power to turn the mill)

HTH! :) :mug:

with that drill i posted, i've gone through over 200lbs of grain and not even a wink of pain for it.
 
Rivenin said:
maybe someone else can chime in on that issue as well,
i've burned out two other smaller handheld drills (name brand) on the corona mill.

People have success with the smaller handheld drills. However, with it being harbor freight, i wouldn't trust their smaller/cheaper drills. (that first one you posted, people have burned up or did not have the power to turn the mill)

HTH! :) :mug:

with that drill i posted, i've gone through over 200lbs of grain and not even a wink of pain for it.
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I trust what your saying, it makes sense to have more power than not enough but I just hate to have a big drill laying around if I don't have to. I am sure I will use the drill for other projects around the house so I will probably just get it anyways. Thanks for your help!
 
barhoc11 said:
I trust what your saying, it makes sense to have more power than not enough but I just hate to have a big drill laying around if I don't have to. I am sure I will use the drill for other projects around the house so I will probably just get it anyways. Thanks for your help!
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no problem!

i thought the same thing.. then i had to use it to turn the emergency pulley on the autogate at my other job... (wasn't communicating with the pin pad). spinning it by hand took almost 10 minutes and sore arms. that drill went through it in under 30 seconds with no bog down.
 
Rivenin said:
maybe someone else can chime in on that issue as well,
i've burned out two other smaller handheld drills (name brand) on the corona mill.
Click to expand...

The smaller 3/8" drills are low power, high speed drills and really aren't up to the task of turning a mill for 5-10 minutes. As posted before, the 1/2" D-handle drill is a beast and completes the task without stressing.

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-...le-speed-reversible-d-handle-drill-47991.html

W/ the 20% off coupon this drill can regularly be had for like 32 bucks...that's damn cheap IMO.
 
I also copied Wilserbrewer's design and used my 1/2 inch handheld and it turned it but got hot as heck.... almost to hot to hold. So I got out my 3/4 inch two handled variable speed DeWalt set to low. Fantastic job it does, PITA though so heavy to hold up for the 7 minutes it takes to grind the 13 pounds. Go with a bigger drill.
 
sfrisby said:
What do you use to attach the drill to the mill?
Click to expand...

Common method is to cut the head off a bolt that fits the mill, chuck drill and go...others use the head of the bolt and drive w/ socket on the drill

HPIM05005B15D.jpg
 
Decided to finally post mine. Added a bigger grain hopper made from an old extract container and some extra cardboard to keep the grains going where I want them to = U-G-L-Y-! :)

IMAG0175.jpg
 
When I threw this together today I told myself that this would just be temporary and that I would rework it as a bucket in bucket, but after using it I really can't see why I should bother.

I got to combine all my favorite things....duct tape, scrap wood, a framing hammer.

IMG00376-20120212-1117.jpg


IMG00377-20120212-1118.jpg
 
Anyone have an up-to-date link they used for a corona mill they are satisfied with? I was looking on Amazon to try and get free shipping, seems like a lot of the reviews claim parts are missing, etc.
 

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