Adjustable Roller Mill - $15 and 2 Hours

I just finished converting a Hobby Lobby sculpting clay roller into a working grain mill.

I got the idea from some other posts. I think some people had used these types of pasta machines and had the rollers knurled on a lathe. Having more time than money, I textured the rollers myself with a Dremel and a total of around a dozen cutoff wheels The end product is a cheap, adjustable grain crusher. The device was $25.00 before the 40% off coupon they always have. The work consists of disassembling, Dremel-ing, cleaning, lubricating with vegetable oil, and reassembling.

Anyway, thought I would share the success story if anyone is thinking of trying this. If there's interest, I'll post pics and some details.

That is a cool idea! Pic's would be great.

Don't hold out on us! I've been thinking about going the DIY way for a mill instead of buying one.

Why don't you share your info and pics in our thread, since we've been discussing it, cooperating on our findings and refining our designs in one place since this summer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/using-pasta-maker-mill-grain-75784/

That way people looking to try something won't have to search through a bunch of threads, when all the different refinements and versions are in one place...

Sounds good. Will post pics here and in the other thread later on tonight then.

Just a quick note, using vegetable oil to lubricate anything does not work!!! It seems fine now, however, vegetable oil will evaporate into a gummy mess. It will eventually reach a tree sap kind of consistency and become hard to clean. Trust me, I've been cooking professionally for over 18 years and I have seen cooks make this mistake before by using veg oil on kitchen equipment. Mineral oil is the best choice if you are looking for something food safe. Though it is more expensive.

Darko said:

Just a quick note, using vegetable oil to lubricate anything does not work!!! It seems fine now, however, vegetable oil will evaporate into a gummy mess. It will eventually reach a tree sap kind of consistency and become hard to clean. Trust me, I've been cooking professionally for over 18 years and I have seen cooks make this mistake before by using veg oil on kitchen equipment. Mineral oil is the best choice if you are looking for something food safe. Though it is more expensive.

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Good catch, and WELCOME!!!

Would keg lube be a better option than either?

It's funny I didn't catch the use of oil in putting it back together...when I have taken my oroignal polymer clay one apart, I've noticed the need to lue it...and I don't recall anyone in the original thread mentioning lubing it up after putting it back together.

Thanks for the welcome.

Revvy said:

Good catch, and WELCOME!!!

Would keg lube be a better option than either?

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Most keg lube is Petrol Gel, which is mainly mineral oil anyway.

I've had problems with oil oxidizing and gumming up before, but i had some coconut oil on hand and didn't want things to rust after my thorough cleaning. perhaps coconut oil (solid at room temp) will make a better protectant than soybean oil ever did before. We'll see i guess.

Good call on the keg lube. don't have any though - i just lube keg seals with vaseline. Next time I take the machine apart, I'll probably re-lube the thing.

One thing I should mention - I was thinking that once the surface of the rollers has been modified, the chrome plating is no longer protecting the base metal, which I'm sure is just generic steel (can't imagine stainless in this cheap-o machine). I applied a very light coating of oil all over the rollers with a paper towel to prevent the grooves from flashing over with rust.

Where do you get a 40% coupon for hobby lobby? I'd like to use this as a mill as well.

Details on how to "texture" the rollers?

More details on this mod (Some just run a drill-bit back and forth to gouge the rollers)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/using-pasta-maker-mill-grain-75784/

Also found the coupon, just signed up for their e-mail list. I plan to stop by on the way home.