DIY grain mill in the works...

So is it really worth that much work to use pipe over solid bar stock? I guess if you had a lathe at your disposal and you are just REALLY wanting to build a mill out of "found" materials... Maybe then it would be worth the extra time and effort.
Me... Not the case. I am trying to keep machining time down to a minimum.

The only advantage I can see using pipe over bar is in larger sizes where weight becomes a real concern. I need to look at roller design on commercially made mills with rollers above 4" diameter. I already have a mill and I don't have the access to tools to make rollers or side plates. I'm just curious.

jeepinjeepin said:

The only advantage I can see using pipe over bar is in larger sizes where weight becomes a real concern. I need to look at roller design on commercially made mills with rollers above 4" diameter. I already have a mill and I don't have the access to tools to make rollers or side plates. I'm just curious.

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Good point... It would be much better if you were going to use 4" plus rollers to use thick walled pipe. However, I have heard of guys that have used pipe or conduit get the rollers all dinged up from that occasional REALLY hard grain or small stray rock.

Huaco said:

So is it really worth that much work to use pipe over solid bar stock? I guess if you had a lathe at your disposal and you are just REALLY wanting to build a mill out of "found" materials... Maybe then it would be worth the extra time and effort.
Me... Not the case. I am trying to keep machining time down to a minimum.

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Yup. I have a lathe and my time is not as expensive as purchasing a mill. So far I am 30 bucks in on this project. But honestly if I had the money I would for sure get a 3 roller mill with hardened rollers and be done with it.

danb35 said:

I've been thinking of doing something like this as well. Just have a lathe, though, no mill, so I might need to get creative with some of the machining. I'll be watching this one.

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You don't need a milling machine...I just used the one at the shop to drill holes in the side plates and to steady the tap while I got it started. I also faced the ends of the side plates with an end mill but that's not absolutely necessary. Do you have a drill press with a vice?

stamandster said:

What about using round tube instead of solid bar? Something with a little thicker walls though. And does it need to be stainless? Something with a high Rc (or Brinell if you prefer) and if it's over 3" it wouldn't need to be knurled?

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I was originally going to use 4" pipe. Plan was to weld plates on the ends, drill holes in the plates, weld an axle in place through the holes, and true the pipe up in the lathe. I never got around to it. Then the round stock and the knurling tool popped up at the shop and I jumped on it.

clintopher said:

You don't need a milling machine...I just used the one at the shop to drill holes in the side plates and to steady the tap while I got it started. I also faced the ends of the side plates with an end mill but that's not absolutely necessary. Do you have a drill press with a vice?

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I do have a drill press and vise, and for that matter an X-Y vise I could mount on the drill press. I also just got a 4-jaw chuck for the lathe, which should help out--I'm figuring I could drill/bore more precisely that way than on the drill press. I'm more a woodworker than a machinist, though, so still getting the feel for the lathe (and using the drill press in metalworking).

danb35 said:

I do have a drill press and vise, and for that matter an X-Y vise I could mount on the drill press. I also just got a 4-jaw chuck for the lathe, which should help out--I'm figuring I could drill/bore more precisely that way than on the drill press. I'm more a woodworker than a machinist, though, so still getting the feel for the lathe (and using the drill press in metalworking).

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Definitely mount the xy vice in your drill press. That'll make life with the plates a cake walk. On the lathe, go slow with the knurling tool. I'm definitely no expert but I set the machine up for 135 rpm and pumped a cooling lubricant on the stock as it was rotating. I don't know if that was necessary or not but most of the youtube videos of knurling showed using some sort of oil.

We have a four jaw in the shop too but it's not installed. I would rather have used it to offset the hole in the adjustment knobs more. Our 6 jaw has
.030" of adjustment and I would have like more but not enough to change the chucks out.

Wish I had a lathe! I have the drill press though. Still, looking forward to the final product!

Almost finished. Just need to trim the plate the hopper sits on to final dimension and see if this thing actually works. Here's a pic of it looking into the hopper/rollers.

Very nice man! I like the use of the reflector as a hopper! Any idea how much it will hold?

Looks good so far!

Huaco said:

Very nice man! I like the use of the reflector as a hopper! Any idea how much it will hold?

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Those things aren't exactly small. If guess 20 pounds at a minimum, maybe 30 or more.

The rim of it is bigger in diameter than my 44 qt Bayou Classic by a few inches. I'm with jeepin...better than 30 lbs is my guess. It's a little silly how big it is, but I didn't have to put anything together.

You could also use a stainless bowl from somewhere like Job Lot or Big Lots (cheapo, like 5-8 bucks) they sell really large ones. Not sure about depth though.

Could I use caster wheels inside pipe to create rollers?

^^^^^^^
Don't see why not. You would need to machine the two to be a press fit. Also, probably best to use solid wheels, not spoked wheels.

I was thinking that if I used plastic wheels the machining would be quite easy.