Motor Salvage for Grain Mill

My vacuum cleaner just bit the dust, but the motor is still good. I was wondering if this would be a good motor to repurpose for milling my grain. I'm pretty sure I would need a gear reducer or something. Has anyone tried this? I'll take it apart soon and get the details of what I might be working with.

sounds like a great DIY project thread! my concern would be if you could get enough torque out of it and if you could slow the speed down enough

I would imagine that a vac motor would turn crazy rpm. I salvaged a motor from a old clothes washer to power my grain mill. It's definitely overkill, but it was free.

I took it apart, and don't think it's going to work. The motor has an impeller and spins really fast. I don't think I would be able to reduce the speed, or connect to the shaft without great complexity. To the rubble heap!

I think it's probably an induction motor and the RPMs would be Uber fast.

Check around for appliance motors. Maybe Freecycle.org. Free stuff to give and ask for.

I've got like 3 old motors sitting on a shelf in the garage. There must be tons of them floating around, especially at appliance repair centers and salvage yards.

Just my opinion, but if you have to buy pulleys, belts and other miscellaneous hardware to power a mill, you might be better served just buying an inexpensive 1/2" drill for 30-40 bucks.

wilserbrewer said:

Just my opinion, but if you have to buy pulleys, belts and other miscellaneous hardware to power a mill, you might be better served just buying an inexpensive 1/2" drill for 30-40 bucks.

Click to expand...

Yes but what speed is that drill doing?

wilserbrewer said:

Just my opinion, but if you have to buy pulleys, belts and other miscellaneous hardware to power a mill, you might be better served just buying an inexpensive 1/2" drill for 30-40 bucks.

Click to expand...

Like this Harbor Freight $29
Designed for top performance over a lifetime of use.

■Powerful 6.3 amp motor handles tough jobs
■Trigger speed switch, 0-1200 RPM
■Fully shielded ball bearings
■Machine-cut heat treated gears
■Trigger lock
■Rugged die cast aluminum gear housing
■Auxiliary handle mounts on right or left
120V, 1080 watts, 60 Hz
3 jaw chuck
Drilling capacity: 3/4" in wood, 1/2" in metal
Chuck capacity: 1/2''
Overall dimensions: 3'' W x 11-1/2'' L x 8'' H
Shipping Weight: 5.40 lbs.

Dan said:

Like this Harbor Freight $29
Designed for top performance over a lifetime of use.

■Powerful 6.3 amp motor handles tough jobs
■Trigger speed switch, 0-1200 RPM
■Fully shielded ball bearings
■Machine-cut heat treated gears
■Trigger lock
■Rugged die cast aluminum gear housing
■Auxiliary handle mounts on right or left
120V, 1080 watts, 60 Hz
3 jaw chuck
Drilling capacity: 3/4" in wood, 1/2" in metal
Chuck capacity: 1/2''
Overall dimensions: 3'' W x 11-1/2'' L x 8'' H
Shipping Weight: 5.40 lbs.

Click to expand...

I need that

-=Jason=-
Sent from my HTC Incredible using Home Brew Talk

wilserbrewer said:

Just my opinion, but if you have to buy pulleys, belts and other miscellaneous hardware to power a mill, you might be better served just buying an inexpensive 1/2" drill for 30-40 bucks.

Click to expand...

Agreed, I spent ~42 dollars just on my large pulley for the mill. However, I preferred the fit and finish of a permanently mounted motor vs a handheld drill.

Flomaster said:

I need that

-=Jason=-
Sent from my HTC Incredible using Home Brew Talk

Click to expand...

Me to! Looks like my next purchase...and I thought I was at a point I wouldn't be buying more brew equipment. But it will function as a second drill. (justification)

I use a harbor fright hammer drill to power my mill, works great as long as I remember to check the set screw on the mill before grinding.

Dan said:

Me to! Looks like my next purchase...and I thought I was at a point I wouldn't be buying more brew equipment. But it will function as a second drill. (justification)

Click to expand...

well yesterday when I tried to mill 13lbs of grain and discovered I had a dead battery on my craftsman 19.2V drill. no problem I'll just charge it, WRONG... charger is not working and or my battery is dust. needless to say hand cranking 13lbs of grain sucks donkey balls.

-=Jason=-

Flomaster said:

well yesterday when I tried to mill 13lbs of grain and discovered I had a dead battery on my craftsman 19.2V drill. no problem I'll just charge it, WRONG... charger is not working and or my batter is dust. needless to say hand cranking 13lbs of grain sucks donkey balls.

-=Jason=-

Click to expand...

Time for a trip to Harbor Freight.

This is the HF drill I have below, unfortunately not on sale at the moment at 50 bucks

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-ha...-782A-E011-B31E-001B2163195C&mr:referralID=NA

But the other 1/2" slow speed drill is discounted to 42 dollars, others have used this with success...this one is even slower than the first yet still have plenty of power, if that's your goal??

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html

Flomaster said:

well yesterday when I tried to mill 13lbs of grain and discovered I had a dead battery on my craftsman 19.2V drill. no problem I'll just charge it, WRONG... charger is not working and or my battery is dust. needless to say hand cranking 13lbs of grain sucks donkey balls.

-=Jason=-

Click to expand...

Yes Sir, as much as I love the convenience of cordless tools, I also firmly believe there is sometimes a nice advantage to plugging into the grid.

Dan said:

Like this Harbor Freight $29
Designed for top performance over a lifetime of use.

■Powerful 6.3 amp motor handles tough jobs
■Trigger speed switch, 0-1200 RPM
■Fully shielded ball bearings
■Machine-cut heat treated gears
■Trigger lock
■Rugged die cast aluminum gear housing
■Auxiliary handle mounts on right or left
120V, 1080 watts, 60 Hz
3 jaw chuck
Drilling capacity: 3/4" in wood, 1/2" in metal
Chuck capacity: 1/2''
Overall dimensions: 3'' W x 11-1/2'' L x 8'' H
Shipping Weight: 5.40 lbs.

Click to expand...

Problem with this drill is that the variable speed is controlled by the trigger button, the more you depress the trigger the faster it goes, not ideal for large grainbills. The other two have a variable speed dial that sets the drills speed for constant speed and could be permantly mounted to run constant without a hand on the drill.

Has anyone used their pump motor for their mill? Seems like it would make for a good multipurpose motor. You can pull the pump head off with 4 screws. I doubt it has the torque of a drill, but it might work.

Bought a "heavy duty" drill from harbor freight. Low RPM, High torque. Started smoking almost as soon as I pulled it out of the box...

You gotta be careful with electric stuff from Harbor Freight. They aren't always a good deal.

I wonder how a bicycle chain and sprocket would work...

Homercidal said:

I wonder how a bicycle chain and sprocket would work...

Click to expand...

I've been wondering that for years. I can picture the apparatus to accomplish that would be very cumbersome. Otherwise I would have built one already. I only have so much room to work with.

Just picked up the last one of these on sale for $41.99 normally $65



-=Jason=-
Sent from my HTC Incredible using Home Brew Talk

I have to say I don't know much about electrical /electronic equipment, but would a 'router speed controller' help with controlling motor speed?

i use a black and decker corded drill on my mill. works great, nice drill, and it has no problem going through 20-30 lbs in a few minutes. squeeze the trigger lightly, it grinds slow

That's true. I only buy "disposable" tools from HF, but, they do have an excellent return policy for those who want to give it a shot.

Homercidal said:

Bought a "heavy duty" drill from harbor freight. Low RPM, High torque. Started smoking almost as soon as I pulled it out of the box...

You gotta be careful with electric stuff from Harbor Freight. They aren't always a good deal.

I wonder how a bicycle chain and sprocket would work...

Click to expand...

GatorDad said:

That's true. I only buy "disposable" tools from HF, but, they do have an excellent return policy for those who want to give it a shot.

Click to expand...

Mine has a 90 day return policy and they said I have 30 days to add a two year warranty to it for $9.99

-=Jason=-
Sent from my HTC Incredible using Home Brew Talk