DIY Grain Mill

I am going to try to build my mill as Yuri does in this thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/diy-grain-mill-12858/index7.html


My Question is this, Is .045 the normal distance most people are using between rollers. I ask because if this is the case I am not going to build in adjustability which would make the project far easier. Thx in advance,,,Dave

For those that are tool challenged thats roughly the thickness of your Credit Card at the raised numbers.

I think most are closer to .039...that's the factory setting of a Barley Crusher, and mine is currently closer to .035

Hang Glider said:

I think most are closer to .039...that's the factory setting of a Barley Crusher, and mine is currently closer to .035

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I have the Barley Crusher too, and I think .039 is the default setting. I'm happy with the crush. I get around 75% efficiency with this crush and a single infusion mash with a batch sparge.

I think I'm around .036, but I adjusted by looking at the crush, and never really measured.

I built mine adjustable. It was not nearly as easy as building it fixed, but at least now I can space it for whatever crush I want, or whatever grain. Who knows if I'll ever want to change it though.

I crush at 0.025" (25 mils, I far prefer mils) and routinely get 90% efficiency. I also get the occasional stuck sparge too

Homercidal said:

I think I'm around .036, but I adjusted by looking at the crush, and never really measured.

I built mine adjustable. It was not nearly as easy as building it fixed, but at least now I can space it for whatever crush I want, or whatever grain. Who knows if I'll ever want to change it though.

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Yeah my thought process in this is,,,does anyone really ever change adjustment for different grains? Or is everyone mostly just finding the magic number that'll work for all of them without sticking sparges. Sounds like .036 is a good number but more input would help everyone I think to increase efficiency with less problems.

A lot depends on your system. I would hate to build it and find out that the crush was too fine and I kept getting stuck sparges. Then I'd have to lathe down the roller and reknurl it hoping to get it right.

Or worse, the gap is too much and you get ****ty efficiency and no easy way of resetting the gap.

Building the mill to be adjustable allows you to make simple adjustments to match your system. Yes it's more complicated to build. But, you can make up for it by having the ability to tweak as needed.

PDawg said:

Yeah my thought process in this is,,,does anyone really ever change adjustment for different grains? Or is everyone mostly just finding the magic number that'll work for all of them without sticking sparges. Sounds like .036 is a good number but more input would help everyone I think to increase efficiency with less problems.

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Yep, I adjust my mill every time I use it. Grain varies considerably in size and for some, a finer crush is desirable as with wheat for instance. I have a Phil Mill I (unfortunately no longer in production) which is adjustable while running. I never have to measure the gap as I can simply inspect the grist visually and make adjustments on the fly with a turn of a thumb screw. No need to fuss with feeler gauges and eccentric bushings. I would consider that to be a major PIA and more than likely I would just try to find an acceptable gap and leave it at that with any other mill. You can achieve any efficiency you desire if you know how to manipulate the numbers properly.

When looking into designs to use for my own, I only saw the eccentric type. I'd be very interested in seeing a Phil Mill and see how easy it would be to build one of those. If it doesn't look to difficult, I'll simply build a new mill and pass my old one down to some new brewer who wants to go AG.

Now that I have more experience using the CNC Mill and Lathe, I don't think it would be too difficult to build a new one. (If I can find scrap stock).

EDIT: Just looked at a Phil Mill and notice that it is a single roller mill. Not the design I was looking to use. I am considering using a slide and adjustment screw for a double roller mill the next time, IF I decide to build another. It takes a bit of time when you only can play with the CNC equipment at break or after hours.

Yeah in looking at my drawing today I decided to make it adjustable,,,I like the adjustment knob as well. I am in the same boat tho,,,dunno if I am going to fing the piece of scrap I need to do it. Think I will play around on Sketchup with the knob idea.

Here's a pic from the underside that will give you an idea of how the Phil Mill is constructed. Basically, it has a single knurled steel roller mounted in a square section of extruded aluminum. The roller smashes the grain against a movable curved steel plate that's attached to the aluminum frame at the top with two bolts which function as a sort of a hinge. A thumb screw through the frame pushes against the back side of the curved plate allowing for the gap adjustment. It's actually a very simple design with essentially only one moving part; the roller. The roller rides on oil impregnated bronze bushings mounted in the aluminum frame. This mill is small and not very impressive visually, but it performs like a champ and it produces grist as good as any. The through put is about 2 lbs per minute with my 115 rpm motor. Not real fast, but I can mill grain for a 12 gallon batch in about 15 minutes or less. The speed is not an issue for me. I actually prefer it to mill on slow side as it generates almost no dust that way. You could easily build one of these with a longer roller if you wanted faster through put, but then you must consider that it will require more torque to operate. The motor I use is rated at 68 inch-lbs of torque which is more than sufficient and it will start with a full hopper no problem:



Don't be so hasty in dismissing the single roller design. It rocks!

"Don't be so hasty in dismissing the single roller design. It rocks!"

Agreed! I have a Philmill and love it! I actually started my setting by screwing in the nut until I just heard the highest points of the knurl lightly graze the plate, backed off a little bit and Voila, good, fine crush, and empty but intact husks. If I was going through the trouble of making a mill I would opt for a PhilMill type design, but a little longer roller to up the throughput. Love the simplicity of one moving part and easy on-the-fly adjustment!

bentonre said:

"Don't be so hasty in dismissing the single roller design. It rocks!"

Agreed! I have a Philmill and love it! I actually started my setting by screwing in the nut until I just heard the highest points of the knurl lightly graze the plate, backed off a little bit and Voila, good, fine crush, and empty but intact husks. If I was going through the trouble of making a mill I would opt for a PhilMill type design, but a little longer roller to up the throughput. Love the simplicity of one moving part and easy on-the-fly adjustment!

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+1 My feelings exactly. I also adjust the mill exactly as you described. I recently began conditioning the malt which let me back off the gap a little more while producing an even better grist. IMO, all mills should have the on-the-fly adjustment feature. I've never completely understood why they do not, but I guess it comes down to the economics of manufacturing the mills, although it would seem that you could build sliding yoke type frame assembly for only a little more expense and that could be set up for OTF adjustment in lieu of the eccentric bushing configuration.

I don't think you can compare gap settings from different kinds of mills. You'd have to factor in knurl size/depth, roller hardness and speed when crushing. In addition to other factors like malt conditioning and type of grain.

I'm @ .034 on my BC with conditioned malt.

samc said:

I don't think you can compare gap settings from different kinds of mills. You'd have to factor in knurl size/depth, roller hardness and speed when crushing. In addition to other factors like malt conditioning and type of grain.

I'm @ .034 on my BC with conditioned malt.

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IMO, you are correct, with maybe an exception for roller hardness. I doubt that would have any effect on the grist so long as the rollers were steel. Mill speed does make a difference, but you can compensate for that with gap adjustment. You are especially correct on the malt conditioning and the type of grain. Those make a huge difference in my experience.

Great thx alot Catt now I went from a simple no adjustment mill to on the fly adjustable. Actually I thought about it and its doable. So today I will draw out a couple scenarios for the adjuster and see what i like. Thanks for the imput everyone, as always I am enlightened. Dave

this is an old thread but maybe i could have a question answered? i have two rollers being made for me , and was thinking of doing the same rig , but i dont understand how the adjustable roller stays in place. are there just two screws going to the eccentrics and the force of the screws keeps them in place?and why use eccentrics when i could just use a flat cylinder with an offset hole? might my definition of eccentric be off? I googled steel eccentric and got pics of offset "pipe" IDK? Any help would be appreciated