Motorized Grain Mills: Time to show them off!

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Hmmm 230 seems right on as far as looking at the crush. I am sure slower would be better ther is no doubt, I will agree with you on that. But for the price, less than $70 for the gear box and the motor, brotha' I am loving it. We fired it up last night 10# a min and the crush looks WOW out of this world killer. We have been fighting the other grain mill we had for 5-6 months because I couldn't afford the parts to slow the damn thing down. Then my best friend DC (photohand here on HBT) found this killer combo. All I had to do is build a sleeve that went from 7/8 to 5/8 key one side and drill and tap some sets in the other and I was on my way. I will be at the store tomorrow I will snap a few photos and post up.
 
LOL... so far I have acquired no cost in the build. The motor I had lying around in the garage, cabinet and counter top came out of my buddies kitchen, and the pulley was given to me by neighbor.

I figured I would give it a shot and if the pulley starts to cause issues I'll spend the $24 for a zinc die cast 10". But so far so good.
Not bad for nearly FREE.

Even bad tasting bier's good if it's free unless your friend hates you.
 
okay after much research and a nice score on bulk trash day last week (for the stand)....and I had the motor and capacitor from awhile ago.... I built this today...
 
vincemash looking good:mug:

With a small safety guard around the motor coupling, it would be a perfect setup.
Remember the guard is to protect the other i***t not you.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB
 
vincemash looking good:mug:

With a small safety guard around the motor coupling, it would be a perfect setup.
Remember the guard is to protect the other i***t not you.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

Thanks......maybe in time i'll put in a safety guard.

Another question, has anyone wired this motor with a start capacitor? In doing some tests it works great as long as you start the motor before adding grain, if you add grain first the motor does not have the torque required to get going. I was thinking of wiring in a 108-130 MFD motor start capacitor (in parallel with the motor run cap) and put in a push button switch to activate it when needed....has anyone done this?
 
Another question, has anyone wired this motor with a start capacitor? In doing some tests it works great as long as you start the motor before adding grain, if you add grain first the motor does not have the torque required to get going. I was thinking of wiring in a 108-130 MFD motor start capacitor (in parallel with the motor run cap) and put in a push button switch to activate it when needed....has anyone done this?

I answered my own question and put in the additional motor start cap and wired it to an additional "turbo" button (momentary on push button switch).... not that I will ever need it but its nice to know its there as I tend to over engineer everything I do...


Filled the hopper with wheat last week and the motor wouldn't budge.....a quick push of the "turbo" button and it started right up.....more pics in my original post #52
 
PTO :)

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FTW! That's the greatest truck accessory I've ever seen!
 
Here is my mill. I have been wanting to upgrade the base, but this one works so well I'll keep it around for a while.

The motor is mounted on a hinged base with a threaded rod to act as my tensioner. I saw this idea somewhere on this site but I can't remember where. But thanks to who ever it was!

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here's a picture of a motorized crankandstein 2S. the motor was salvaged from my brew bud's old kenmore dryer - motor is 110 VAC. sheave reduction yields ~325 mill roller rpm.


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I'm currently building one similar to MrH's (page 3). Cabinet is getting sanded down now and hope to have stain on it this weekend. I will post some pictures up with the stain. Didn't even get the mill or the motor yet, so it won't be a done deal for a couple weeks yet.
Tom
 
Here's mine... Crankandstein 328d, 40-50lb hopper, 280rpm geared 1hp motor

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Compared to my old BC
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Here is picture taken during the build phase of the cobbled up malt mill hardware for the automated brewing system, hopper on right side, screw auger to gear motor driven valley mill on top, and 3" drop tube to mash tun https://picasaweb.google.com/kevin.ladue/ScrewConveyor#5188941488760211522
Here is a later picture of the system taken during testing https://picasaweb.google.com/kevin.ladue/Panels#5339967138764297570, insulation and tubing covering are not finished

Seriously. Dude. AWESOME! Very, very well done.
 
As I said earlier, I'm building mine to be like MrH's. One or two more coats of polyurathane and the cabinet will be finished. Still need the mill and motor to complete the whole thing, but i figured I'd show my progress so far.
Tom

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TomRep great looking mill stand.

I went the easy route, used extruded aluminum.
All the great wood mill stands posted take too much talent and work.
Aluminum extrusion requires only cut and bolt together.

Grain_Mill.jpg


Mill1.jpg


Cheers,
ClaudiusB
 
Finally took a couple pics of mine to share. I got a deal on this stainless cart on CL. I drilled a 2" hole and added a SS flange and Galvanized hopper from McMaster. Decided to bolt the motor underneath so I can use the top for my scale. The hopper holds about 12# of grain. Mill is a CrankandStein 3d.

Mill10.jpg


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Alright ClaudiusB - I have to ask.
What is the poly chain set-up you have running there - where do I buy one?
 
This mill was set up to handle 1 bag of grain at a time. the hopper is just sitting in place so it can be removed easily. Grain runs down into a bag or a bucket. works like a champ

Will send pictures when i figure out how to change a IMG to something HBT can use
 
Will send pictures when i figure out how to change a IMG to something HBT can use

just host the pic on photobucket or the like, click the img tag provided by photobucket to copy, then at hbt, click on the 'mountain' and paste - remove the extra tags if needed (only one at each end)

there's a testing forum in the second HBT header - [U]Homebrewtalk announcements and feedback[/U] -
 
Here's mine with a JSP and a 70+ year old motor a friend found for me. All mounted on a $10 goodwill find. I think I may build a shoot and run the grain out the side next for easier access and larger grain bills. This works for now up to 5gal barely wines. :mug:

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Here's mine, just finished grain mill. Purchased table from Ikea ($59), motor from ebay ($25), monster mill ($119), pulleys and belt Ace hardware. Still need to install guard. Works great.

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Ok, I finally have a post for this thread.
I tried to find a rolling cabinet to build this with, but I wound up building the cabinet myself. I think it worked out great. I'm quite happy with it. Mill and motor mount under surface, but the mill can be removed easily with wing-nuts for adjustments.



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Here's mine.

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My cord management wasn't the best, but I was limited by how short the cords coming from the motor were. I might get some butt connectors and encase all of the wiring. But it seems safe for now. Everything's bolted down and not going anywhere.
 
I found a overstock cabinet for reasonable at the local HOBO's. I made the top from some leftover lumber. I wired the switch for forward and reverse. The sliding shelf I relocated to the bottom, so it can hold the bucket. I needed to make a chute to get the grain from the opening in the top closer to the bucket. I ended up cutting out the bottom of a taller Tupperware container, and attaching that to the underside (not visible in pictures). It works great.


Please excuse the messy basement in the photos. :(

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I found a overstock cabinet for reasonable at the local HOBO's. I made the top from some leftover lumber. I wired the switch for forward and reverse. The sliding shelf I relocated to the bottom, so it can hold the bucket. I needed to make a chute to get the grain from the opening in the top closer to the bucket. I ended up cutting out the bottom of a taller Tupperware container, and attaching that to the underside (not visible in pictures). It works great.


Please excuse the messy basement in the photos. :(

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Is that an MM3? I have that same mill and motor and the 40 in/lbs of torque wasn't enough when I tested it. It would jam (motor would stop) whenever I put more than an inch of grain in the hopper.

Is that the 40 in/lb motor from surpluscenter with an MM3?
 
Is that an MM3? I have that same mill and motor and the 40 in/lbs of torque wasn't enough when I tested it. It would jam (motor would stop) whenever I put more than an inch of grain in the hopper.

Is that the 40 in/lb motor from surpluscenter with an MM3?

It is a MM3 with 1.5 inch rollers, not the 2 inch rollers, and the 177rpm 40lb gear motor from surplus center. I had no problem starting it, then dumping in 20lbs grain. Maybe it depends on how tight the crush setting is set?
 
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