My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

Damn you all! I had pretty much made my mind up on the cereal killer roller mill. Now I'm questioning it all. I can buy two bags of grain for the difference in price between these mills. Finish convincing me. The only two issues I have left are: is the link you provided to one of the Chinese ones that flame metal off everywhere, and does it not throw grain everywhere without a shield over the grinding plates?

This is the one I use, and it's pretty solid. No quality issues that I can see. It doesn't have a cover, so I had to rig a large Folgers can over it, but it works great!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000U5NZ4I/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you believe that one of those half-moon shields is going to stop stuff from flying all over when you put an electric drill to it, I have bad news for you.
I am an advocate of the "bucket-in-bucket" Ugly Junk design.....my particular implementation can be seen viz:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/index21.html#post1408147

I think the classy Pratt & Lambert 5 gal. primer bucket makes the whole thing work æsthetically, don't you? This COMPLETELY does away with any mess.

Yours is exactly what I was thinking on if the guard wasn't included. I may just have to this way. Amazon has one under that same link as a warehouse deal for $21. I may try that and save the extra few bucks. With amazon I'll know exactly what the return policy is too, should an issue arise.

Do it i tossed the idea around for far too long and have no regrets with my corona.

n240sxguy said:

Amazon has one under that same link as a warehouse deal for $21. I may try that and save the extra few bucks.

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For $21 WTH! Over 1500 posts in this thread, and I think I recall maybe one purchaser not satisfied.

If you are slightly mechanically inclined, you will very likely have success with a corona.

If you are the type that is not easily satisfied, value warranties, have high expectations of getting a precision built unit, then look to spend more money!

Oh, need not really worry about breaking one of these mills, they are cast iron and built like a freight train!

I recently disassembled my corona, and expected to find slight wear after roughly a thousand pounds of grain, the internals looked pretty much like the day I bought it, FWIW.

n240sxguy said:

So which version of these mills do you guys use? I've seen a Corona, Victoria, and some generic that has "500" cast into the side that doesn't have a shield over the plates. The cheap "500" looks like a POS, but it's cheaper. I'm already questioning this type of mill. If I get one, I want it to be a good one; not a piece of junk that's gonna break.

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So I have seen you twice now say it's not the money, you're looking for quality, so why not get a roller mill? The corona mills are intended to grind into flour while the rollers are designed to crush the grain. Crushing leaves you with at least a partially intact husk to form a good filter for your lauter, while adjusting the roller spacing can give you more or less of a flour from the endosperm. I know roller mills are like 5x the price but they can also go through grain a a great speed and have very consistent results from batch to batch.

This is the one I went with because it includes a hopper and is made very well. Was only $120 at the time, but looks like this is up a little. free shipping at least. Miller's B2 Barley Mill

n240sxguy said:

Amazon has one under that same link as a warehouse deal for $21.

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$21 + shipping > $27 w/ free shipping, amiright?

vraftsman said:

So I have seen you twice now say it's not the money, you're looking for quality, so why not get a roller mill? The corona mills are intended to grind into flour while the rollers are designed to crush the grain. Crushing leaves you with at least a partially intact husk to form a good filter for your lauter, while adjusting the roller spacing can give you more or less of a flour from the endosperm. I know roller mills are like 5x the price but they can also go through grain a a great speed and have very consistent results from batch to batch.

This is the one I went with because it includes a hopper and is made very well. Was only $120 at the time, but looks like this is up a little. free shipping at least. Miller's B2 Barley Mill

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Do whatever floats your particular buoyant conveyance. My husks filter perfectly well. As recently mentioned, empirical evidence indicates that consistency is not really a problem with the Corona mill. With a good drill, speed is no issue, either.

One final note - grain conditioning requires minimal effort and can be very helpful.

Shakybones said:

$21 + shipping > $27 w/ free shipping, amiright?

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Wrong. $21 w/ free prime shipping < $27 w/ free prime shipping.

Well, I finally bit the bullet. $22.24 corona mill will be here Tuesday. To the folks wondering why I didn't just go ahead and drop $100+ on a roller mill, I'm buying a pump in the next couple of days too. Happy birthday me!

Built mine this evening! Stole the idea right off this thread. Thank you for the ideas. No real improvements to add. Not yet at least. A friend is building a hopper for me to attach to the existing one. I can't wait to try it out!

That's how I'm gonna do mine. I have a 5 gallon plastic water bottle around somewhere I'll use instead of the metal hopper that comes with it.

I use a 3 gallon water bottle for my hopper and a bush's bean can for a chute into the mill. If you bend it a little it can make a nice tight fit into the top of the mill. I just wish i left the label on the can.

So, just FYI, this popped up into my "ads"
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038NPJVG/ref=dra_a_cs_lb_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradis-20

$10 corona mill.. not sure how much shipping is though.
==============EDIT==================



crap.. just noticed $22 in shipping haha, nevermind!

n240sxguy said:

Wrong. $21 w/ free prime shipping < $27 w/ free prime shipping.

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Ooh...burn. Guess I got told.

Happy Birthday, ya bastage! Enjoy yer ugly junk!

n240sxguy said:

That's how I'm gonna do mine. I have a 5 gallon plastic water bottle around somewhere I'll use instead of the metal hopper that comes with it.

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Use the metal hopper as the base for your water bottle. Works good.

vraftsman said:

So I have seen you twice now say it's not the money, you're looking for quality, so why not get a roller mill? l[/URL]

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Because Charlie Papazian is satisfied with his crush on this to the tune of 85% EFFICIENCY with the crush he gets from his CORONA mill. That's pretty good QUALITY to my eyes. :rolleyse:

I might have to hold off on the bucket thing. If I have any extra lumber left from my fermentation chamber build, I may build something like that. Only concern is leaving grain in all the little crevices. Do you put a bag over the mill to direct the grain into the bucket?

I spent some time wandering around Ikea figuring I could find something cheap that would work. I ended up with a cheap set of food containers with snap-on lids.


- I took the mill apart, and traced the size of the burr onto the blue lid near an edge and cut it out
- Marked rectanges for the through-bolt locations, cut those out too
- Now the blue lid could be attached behind the burrs
- For the bottom - measure enough to clear the middle bolt & wingnut, cut that off too

Now I have a shroud that's about 320 degrees that can easily be snapped on/off.

Here's pics of the completed build, the mill in action, and the final mess after milling about 12lb of grain. I'm quite happy with it, and pulling 80% mash efficiency BIAB. Once I improve the adjustments, I should be able to raise that higher

kaotikfunk said:

I spent some time wandering around Ikea figuring I could find something...

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Woa hold on just a minute...this is the "Ugly Junk Thread", you are supposed to outfit your mill with either something that is easily within reach, or something from the recycle bin.

Not make a trip to a Swedish home goods store to see what kind of chic acutrements might gussy up your cheap mill. What the hell is going on here?

Good job all the same, and you got it done so cheers to you!

here is my bucket in a bucket i had everything layin around the brew room or shop figured i would post my new build thanks to this thread

wilserbrewer said:

Woa hold on just a minute...this is the "Ugly Junk Thread", you are supposed to outfit your mill with either something that is easily within reach, or something from the recycle bin.

Not make a trip to a Swedish home goods store to see what kind of chic acutrements might gussy up your cheap mill. What the hell is going on here?

Good job all the same, and you got it done so cheers to you!

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I agree, IKEA?!?

While their stuff is mostly "junk", very rarely would one find it "ugly". Shame on you, you pretty little man.

I don't know if I would call their stuff junk. Everything I've got from there has lasted extremely well, as well as being a good deal. Some of the parts of thinks look like the typical Walmart pressboard crap that will fall right apart, but it lasts much better. I've got some hanging wall cabinets in my kitchen that are freakin awesome. In other news, I got my mill in the mail yesterday. I still have to get a couple new buckets to use with it.

tre9er said:

That's what I do, hex bolt and socket.

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Me 3. 2 years now with my free corona mill. Roller mill still way low on the list.

kaotikfunk said:

I spent some time wandering around Ikea....

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Oh great, now we have to come up with some nonsense sounding name for it.

The Klurgnerf or something.

Mmmm.... Powdered chicken.

chefcurt said:

Built mine this evening! Stole the idea right off this thread. Thank you for the ideas. No real improvements to add. Not yet at least. A friend is building a hopper for me to attach to the existing one. I can't wait to try it out!

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Revvy said:

Oh great, now we have to come up with some nonsense sounding name for it.

The Klurgnerf or something.

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Umm korn mal would be grain mill

or ful skräp would by ugly junk. Take your pick

jjadamsfb said:

Umm korn mal would be grain mill

or ful skräp would by ugly junk. Take your pick

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I would vote full skrap

jjadamsfb said:

ful skräp would by ugly junk.

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Is that pronounced "fool's crap"?

Kidding, I love my ugly junk.

I added a low low speed drill. I swore I'd only use it for big beers, but man is that soo much easier. Its not like my forearms are suffering from lack of exercise anyway.

Hi,

I read through the first 30 or so pages.. Thank you for this great DIY grain mill idea. Initially, I tried just the corona mill over a table top. Man... what a mess! My wife almost killed me..

My limitations are lack of tools and knowledge of how to circular cut the wood piece.. So, I just cut the plastic bucket in a few spots and came up with this -













Apart from the corona mill, I purchased the 2 home depot buckets, Huskey 13mm Socket and 1/2" socket adapter.
Total cost ~$35.

cool_ece_friend said:

My limitations are lack of tools and knowledge of how to circular cut the wood piece.. So, I just cut the plastic bucket in a few spots and came up with this -

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Looks good!

cool_ece_friend said:

So, I just cut the plastic bucket in a few spots and came up with this -

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Wrong thread. Waaay too purty.

Nice jorb!

Grimtas said:

My Ugly Junk

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So far gritmas wins! I have seen 20 or so pics and i ask why make this more dificult. The top comes off and the bucket is still useful for other stuff. I will follow this design except attach a plastic coffee contauner instead of a wooden box and instead of routing the lid, just screw some blocking to hold it on the bucket.

also you can put a bag in the container to catch the nectar of the gods!

Grimtas rocks

lowtones84 said:

Wow, this thread is awesome. I got a Victoria mill for Christmas and mine was actually very good right out of the box. I tightened it down all the way and put a handful of grain through. It was basically coarse flour so I backed it off a quarter turn and it was perfect for BIAB. Here is my ugly junk! Christmas colors were unintentional. The string around the red bucket is holding my bag for BIAB in place, so I just grind right into it. Made my basement smell awesome!

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I like this idea , just ket your kids to sit on both sides of the 2x6 for support. tell them its a teder toder that start as soon as dad is finished milling the grain.

Hey guys I just picked a corona mill off of amazon from cheap Pete's or whatever.

Any ideas in getting that smell off the mill? Smells like motor oil - soap & water? Soak it? Vinegar solution?

I'm gonna build out an ugly soon - got some driftwood from the ocean .

Soap and hot water. I think I put mine in a warm oven to dry it well.

My Corona mill just arrived today. I'm going to check with the chinese restaurant down the street and see if they have any buckets I could have. If they do, I think I'm gonna go with a double bucket setup. But I might go about it the same way the guy in this video does it.



I'll also be throwing some washers on it to get the spacing right, and putting a bolt in it so I can use a drill. A bigger hopper will probably happen at some point, but it isn't a high priority for now. I'm going downstairs right now to see if I can find some washers.

Edit:
Argh. No washers to be found, but I did find a bolt for drill use.