Grain Mill Build

I wanted to post this in the DIY section of the forum, but I was told by the app that I did not have permission to do so.....

I finally got around to motorizing my two roller monster mill. No more squatting over a bucket with a power drill! I started out by building a cart frame out of reclaimed 2X4's, attaching casters for a rolling base, and giving it a coat of paint.

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I cut the top and bottom shelf pieces out of some scrap plywood, cut the hole for the grain to drop through, and gave them 3 coats of high gloss poly. I then attached them to the cart with L brackets from below for a clean look (no screws or nails showing from the top).

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I attached the single gang metal switch box and installed a grounded power cord.

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Thinking it would be nice to have cord storage, a hook to hold a rolled up cord was installed.

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The mill base needed to be raised a few inches to align the mill and motor shafts. I biscuit joined, glued, and clamped this frame for a strong base. Lots of measuring and extra trim passes through the saw to get it the proper height. I had to route out some recesses in the top to allow for the bolts on the under side of the mill base. It was then attached to the cart.

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I removed the mill from the original particle board and trimmed the particle board to match up to the biscuit joined base. Holes were drilled so it could be attached to the base. The mill was then reattached to the particle board and was screwed to the biscuit joined base with 2 inch screws. The hopper needed to be removed to give my impact driver access to the screw heads.

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I purchased the 240 RPM motor and lovejoy couplers from allamericanaleworks.com. It was pricey, but I'm of the school of thought - buy once, cry once. I received a shipping notification from them a half hour after placing the order and received it 2 days later! No dangerous flywheels to cover and enough torque to start milling a full hopper from a dead start. The wiring would have been confusing, but the company provides a very clear wiring diagram. It can be wired to have the shaft spin counter clockwise or clockwise - depending on which direction your mill needs to spin.

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Here is the motor attached to the table and mill with the lovejoy coupler. You need to order the coupler that corresponds to your mill shaft size. My monster mill has a 1/2" shaft (said with a semi-straight face).

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I finished wiring up the switch. The cord storage was a good idea.

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An 8" HVAC take off duct fitting was attached underneath the grain opening to help contain dust as the grain falls into the bucket.

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The hopper was reattached and here is the finished product!

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Looks pretty sweet. Re the app, there's something weird about it...sometimes it'll tell you that you don't have permission, then the next time it'll work fine.

really like the duct work attached on the underside to help contain the falling crush. What size is that?

Ruint said:

really like the duct work attached on the underside to help contain the falling crush. What size is that?

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It's 8 inches, which is just big enough to surround the monster mill opening.

Terrific post. There is just something fulfilling about automating your own mill permanently. In leu of ductwork, a folgers coffee can with the lip and bottom trimmed off works well to channel the crush. A piece of plain white sheet can also be duct taped to the pipe and drape down into the capture recepticle and keep dust down during fall.

wyorubi said:

Terrific post. There is just something fulfilling about automating your own mill permanently. In leu of ductwork, a folgers coffee can with the lip and bottom trimmed off works well to channel the crush. A piece of plain white sheet can also be duct taped to the pipe and drape down into the capture recepticle and keep dust down during fall.

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A piece of fabric is a great idea! Some dust is always going to escape no matter what you do, which is why I mill away from where I brew.

Agreed. I felt compelled to try something as my motor isnt a sealed unit. Works well

very nice!

After all these DIY's I'm beginning to think

1. We home brews have a ton of free time on our hands

2. We are all rich, or just "up to our eyeballs in debt" as the guy on the lawnmower in the insurance commercial would say. :rockin:

I've got the kegco mill with a flat piece of partical board and a bucket as my setup but maybe one day I'll try something like this bad boy!

If its any consolation the commitment to automating mine happened over a period of 4 years as worry about the loss of fingers finally waned and a free 3/4 hp 1725rpm motor winked at me as I was rummaging around in an old shed for completely other reasons last month. After that i spent about $35 total on belt, sheaves, spacer and shaft nuts. After enough time and a few deliberate steps it happened in a matter of hours. Good luck. I do appreciate Harry482's thoughtfulness to share his efforts. Seems like he sourced his stuff thoughtfully too,but i bet that motor wasnt lying around like mine was....

wyorubi said:

If its any consolation the commitment to automating mine happened over a period of 4 years as worry about the loss of fingers finally waned and a free 3/4 hp 1725rpm motor winked at me as I was rummaging around in an old shed for completely other reasons last month. After that i spent about $35 total on belt, sheaves, spacer and shaft nuts. After enough time and a few deliberate steps it happened in a matter of hours. Good luck. I do appreciate Harry482's thoughtfulness to share his efforts. Seems like he sourced his stuff thoughtfully too,but i bet that motor wasnt lying around like mine was....

Click to expand...

Ha, no, the motor certainly was not laying around. If I had an old motor available, then I would have done the same. I do like the added safety of the direct drive with no spinning sheaves to sever little kid fingers. Did you build a guard to enclose the belt?

I think you really did it right and definitely fewer safety concers. I did fashion a pretty solid screen enclosure on th outside of the mech. I also load it from the side away from the drive and its tucked in a rather secluded corner of the garage. I ran it for the first time aft build yesterday and it was awesome! I thought my drop cloth was nifty but i am going to have to find something better. Still threw some dust! Oh well its set up to pulverize those chits now!