Barley Crusher-Works pretty darn good!

I took my new Christmas BC for it's first spin this weekend. After being concerned about recent posts suggesting some quality control issues I am happy to report mine functioned well. Checked the gap and it was set right at .039 or maybe just a tad tighter. I left it here and used my good old Crapsman cordless drill. BC worked fantastic and I also used the malt conditioning as described on this forum as well. Needless to say I went from a routine 65-70% to almost 85% in eff. Some of that eff is due to my new brutus build but the BC helped a lot I'm sure.

Glad to hear it worked well. I just ordered one last night and am very excited to give it a spin!

hey hey, i got one for xmas too, but i havent had a chance to use it yet, what quality control issues should i be looking for?

flyerwire said:

hey hey, i got one for xmas too, but i havent had a chance to use it yet, what quality control issues should i be looking for?

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Yeah, while I didn't get one for Christmas, I plan on ordering one soon. What QC issues?

flyerwire said:

hey hey, i got one for xmas too, but i havent had a chance to use it yet, what quality control issues should i be looking for?

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Most of the issues reported dont show up for a while, and they seem sparse. (6 months or so?)

I am on my second BC this year, but overall they seem pretty relaible.

Mine had a PF pin on the drive shaft wiggle out... it wasnt so PF after all, the shafts are not part of the roller, they are PF pins.

People also have issues adjusting them, as when you gap them and THEN tighten the set screws, it can throw the gap off quite a bit in some cases.

The Pol said:

Most of the issues reported dont show up for a while, and they seem sparse. (6 months or so?)

I am on my second BC this year, but overall they seem pretty relaible.

Mine had a PF pin on the drive shaft wiggle out... it wasnt so PF after all, the shafts are not part of the roller, they are PF pins.

People also have issues adjusting them, as when you gap them and THEN tighten the set screws, it can throw the gap off quite a bit in some cases.

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thanks, good to know. It will be put to good use soon, will be picking up about 5 bags in a few weeks

The Pol said:

Mine had a PF pin on the drive shaft wiggle out... it wasnt so PF after all, the shafts are not part of the roller, they are PF pins..

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I'm new, what is a PF pin?

The Pol said:

People also have issues adjusting them, as when you gap them and THEN tighten the set screws, it can throw the gap off quite a bit in some cases.

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I guess you could leave a couple of feeler gauges, one at each end, in place when tightening?

As the pol said most issues seemed to be about the gap being adjusted uneven, rollers being hard to turn, grain not feeding and a few bent drive shafts. Overall I found mine to be well constucted and had none of those issues. I do wonder about the bent drive shafts. When hooking up my drill I was carefull to center it and always support the weight of the drill. I could see over time the possibility of bending the drive shaft if you just left the drill hanging off the shaft and bouncing it around while moving it.

Just my 2 cents

PF means press fit...

The shafts in the rollers are not "shafts" really. The roller is a cylinder basically with a PF remaed hole in each end. Then a dowel is press fit into this hole, this dowel is the "shaft". Mine unfortunately worked itself out after a few months rendered the mill unuseable. BC replaced it swiftly.

I tried to adjust my mills as well with the feelers still between the rollers...

Problem being that the rollers then clamped down on the gauges so tightly that they could not be removed from the rollers. At the same time, this pressure on the gauges and rollers flattened the knurls, which isnt a good thing either. This is when I also found the loose "shaft" pin and returned my mill.



They are a good all around mill, there are others that are built more robustly... but the BC is a decent product with good support.

jf3233 said:

I do wonder about the bent drive shafts. When hooking up my drill I was carefull to center it and always support the weight of the drill. I could see over time the possibility of bending the drive shaft if you just left the drill hanging off the shaft and bouncing it around while moving it.

Just my 2 cents

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I'll probably do most of my grinding with the hand crank, I'm using a corona now and the small to medium grain bills aren't too bad, especially when I enlist the help of SWMBO.

PF means press fit...

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Thanks, I thought about that after I posted, and kinda figured it was press fit. If you didn't get your mill replaced, and were looking to purchase a new one, would you still go with the barley crusher or another brand?

Reelale said:

I'll probably do most of my grinding with the hand crank, I'm using a corona now and the small to medium grain bills aren't too bad, especially when I enlist the help of SWMBO.



Thanks, I thought about that after I posted, and kinda figured it was press fit. If you didn't get your mill replaced, and were looking to purchase a new one, would you still go with the barley crusher or another brand?

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I would buy a Monster Mill if I had to BUY another one.

The Pol said:

I would buy a Monster Mill if I had to BUY another one.

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Those are nice, but no hand crank. I had all but decided on the Barley Crusher. Now I'm sooo confused.

Reelale said:

Those are nice, but no hand crank. I had all but decided on the Barley Crusher. Now I'm sooo confused.

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Do some research, get what you want... the BC isnt bad, and my opinion isnt worth much, really.

Trust me though, you probably wont be hand cranking for long... trust me.

The crankenstein that BrewMaster's Warehouse uses looks really nice, and I like the crush it produces. I'm probably going to be getting one of those. The small 3-roller one.

The Pol said:

Trust me though, you probably wont be hand cranking for long... trust me.

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Yeah, I'm slowly but surely coming to that realization. Looks like a good price on their website. Any other vendors? And you do have a good reputation and lots o' posts, so I kinda value your opinion.

Didn't mean to hijack this thread.

Reelale said:

Yeah, I'm slowly but surely coming to that realization. Looks like a good price on their website. Any other vendors? And you do have a good reputation and lots o' posts, so I kinda value your opinion.

Didn't mean to hijack this thread.

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Lots of posts means I spend too much time in hotels...

My reputation... eh... okay... sure :cross:

The BC is a great mill, they will last a long time, and I have to say, IF you have a problem, they are there to make it right in short order. Id just not plan on hand cranking for long!

aubrey said:

The crankenstein that BrewMaster's Warehouse uses looks really nice, and I like the crush it produces. I'm probably going to be getting one of those. The small 3-roller one.

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Hmmm. I looked at those too. They look really close to the the MM. I've been through the thousands of posts on which mill is "best", and I'm more undecided now than when I started!

Reelale said:

Hmmm. I looked at those too. They look really close to the the MM. I've been through the thousands of posts on which mill is "best", and I'm more undecided now than when I started!

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The CrankandSteins are very nice. We use one in the store, and I have been very happy with it. I would certainly tell you that they are a great product, and I personally know the owner, who is a very nice guy who's only goal is to make a high quality product.

I have heard a rumor that the MMs look so close because the owner used to be a partner in crankandstein and went out on his own. That is just what I heard from a couple of reliable sources, but I could be completely wrong about that. I am sure that they are quality products as well.

Just my 2 cents.

Ed

Brewmasters Warehouse said:

The CrankandSteins are very nice. We use one in the store, and I have been very happy with it. I would certainly tell you that they are a great product, and I personally know the owner, who is a very nice guy who's only goal is to make a high quality product.

I have heard a rumor that the MMs look so close because the owner used to be a partner in crankandstein and went out on his own. That is just what I heard from a couple of reliable sources, but I could be completely wrong about that. I am sure that they are quality products as well.

Just my 2 cents.

Ed

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Yes, I read the thread and "another" brew forum on that. I don't know if it's correct to ask here, but do you sell just the hopper (without the base) for the 2A? Or is it easy to fabricate a hopper?

It is pretty easy to fabricate a hopper. You can cut a piece of wood to size and a hole to fit a 5 gallon water bottle. Then just cut to top off of the water bottle and you have a nice sized hopper for cheap. We sell the hoppers as a set with the base, so sorry but we do not sell them separately.

Ed

Thanks Ed. I just pulled the string on a MM. We'll soon see how it works!