Motorized Mill Project

As some of you know I am opening a taproom and small brewery here in Eagle. I am building a new system and planning on 3bbl brew days. Well my pasta maker grain mill just doesn't seem to fit into that plan.

So I bought a barebones JSP mill. I got the hardened rollers, hardened gear option, and had them throw in some 1/2 bushings to fit the pully I purchased. My plan is to have a hopper that will fit about 50# of grain. I did not do any scientific planning for this. I just went with what looked good. I think in the end it will actually hold about 75#. I should know in a day or two.

I hope to finish the project today, but here are some pics of the progress so far.

Is it just me or does the belt tension seem super loose?

It is not mounted yet. I was just measuring and figuring out where the final mounts will be in that picture. The motor will be adjustable so I can tension the belt. All these pictures are of rough cuts and getting ideas for placement.

I had the same thought...

IrregularPulse said:

Is it just me or does the belt tension seem super loose?

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Did you plan on putting a guard around the belt and wheels? It would suck pretty bad to get something stuck in there by accident, especially a hand/finger.

CarlLBC said:

Did you plan on putting a guard around the belt and wheels? It would suck pretty bad to get something stuck in there by accident, especially a hand/finger.

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Yeah the wire rack came with 4 shelves. I am going to use the extra shelf and attach it so it covers the belt and pully area. It will also be against a wall so the pullys and gaurd will be facing the wall and the switch and dumping will be from the other side.

osha and your insurance company will like to see that belt and pulley covered from all sides.

I will be sure to have osha and my insurance company there to inspect

Wow I suppose I should not have posted this thread. Not one person has even cared to comment on the mill itself. Just its lack of whatever you all think will not be there. Well That is why this is a project thread. It is not finished. How about saving the you are going to die and that will not work until it is finished.

Man, you're going to die...that thing will never work.



Seriously though, that looks pretty good. Is this going to mount above the MLT or stand alone?

done for... all the grain will get caught in the belt and a black hole will appear there and all of colorado will be sucked in it for good...

did you have to cut out sections of that top shelf to get the hopper sides in or did the shelf come like that? i'm sure this will be a malt grinding monster once finished.

Looks good so far. Also looks to me like the hopper will hold way more than 50#, probably more than you's ever want that shelving unit holding up. What are your initial thoughts / impressions of the JSp mill? What size / speed motor are you using? Keep the pics coming, I need ideas for the one I plan on building soon.

Live dangerously!! Ta He!! with safety guards!!

what hp motor and what speed are you turning the rollers at? My first hopper was the full width of my valley mill and the 1/3 hp motor turning the rollers at 300 was too much and stalled the motor or slipped the belt.




I re-hoppered mine with a water bottle and turned the neck into more of an oval/rectangle and ended up with a 3" wide mouth, which is a perfect match and I still use 3/4 or the roller width with the grain spreading out once it hits them. I even put a slide above the rollers to adjust the amount of grain getting to the rollers, but with the new hopper I really don't need it unless I over wet my grains when I'm conditioning them.



I hope you got an explosion proof motor an non sparking bearings so you don't blow up with all the dust that beast will be making

Thanks guys. I am using a 1/4 hp capacitor start motor 1725 rpm, with the pulleys I purchased I should be getting about 350rpm at the mill.

I am making my opening 6 inches wide and if I need I am going to use adjustable wood plates to make it smaller if If i have issues.

I was told by the company I bought the motor from that it is explosion proof. The box only stated that it was for hazardous conditions.

I did cut out the top shelf to fit the wood. I left a bit of it so I could secure the top of the hopper to the frame.

Looks good. One thing I plan to modify on mine is to make a louver or slide-out grain stopper so I can add grains, start mill, and then slowly let grains into the opening. It is a huge PITA to have to add grains as I go because I don't have a flow-control mechanism at the opening to the mill.

Looks like a good start.

Keep us informed on progress.

We cut the sides for the hopper and fitted them. Cut the hole for the mill and mounted it into place. We had some trouble getting the angles right and sizing it. Took longer then we thought but It came together in the end. Today things should go faster. We will secure the wood for the hopper and reinforce it with braces. Then we need to mount the motor and wire it. Here are a few pics.

You have to let me know how the gear option for your mill works out for you.

Looks good so far, just remember with 50+lbs of grain in there it WILL be top heavy. Be sure to secure it to the wall or something.

Also, did you add some kink of flow regulator in case the mill cannot handle that much grain at a time? If not, you might think about it BEFORE you load it up.

I have had some of those thoughts in the back of my mind. I think I am going to end up securing it to the wall or making a fold out brace that attaches to the wall when it is being used.

As for the flow issues that may pop up, I am think about plates of Melamine board that can adjust the opening size. I have not come up with final plan yet for that. I will for sure start the motor before adding grain to the hopper and see where that gets me first. I hope to test this weekend or early next week.

Looking good! Let me know what you think of the JSP mill. I'm shopping for a mill right now, and haven't really decided which way I want to go.

+1 on securing it when it's full. 100# with a 4' high center of gravity gets a little precarious.

I'll be using a piece of a cheap cutting board to adjust the opening on mine. It's super slick so it will slide easily, and I always have a few pieces laying around my shop becuase I use it as a zero clearance insert material in my woodworking tools.

Looks good. Where did you get the large pulley?

Go green and power it with the bike.

Joker said:

Go green and power it with the bike.

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It is funny you say that. I was just looking at plans to make that happen. We want to put pedals on a bar stool and have people pedal for free beer. We plan to put solar on the roof and for a gimmick, put an array of batteries that power something in the bar. If you pedal for a enough time you get a free pint.

The only issue with power the grain mill with a bike is space. My brewing room is going to have limited space. I might not have room. I would love to figure that out though. I ride my bike to the building as it is so I will almost always have my bike there.

jfkriege said:

Looks good. Where did you get the large pulley?

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I got my pulleys from McMaster Carr. 1/2 diameter. JSP mill has 3/8 shaft but if you ask them when you order, they will send you a brass bushing that will make it fit.

Hah thats cool, I was just being a
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since I saw the bike in the picture.

I bet you would need pretty good gearing as turning a mill I think would be like climbing a pretty good hill. Anyone tried this?

Joker said:

Hah thats cool, I was just being a
<--------

since I saw the bike in the picture.

I bet you would need pretty good gearing as turning a mill I think would be like climbing a pretty good hill. Anyone tried this?

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A friend of mine powers his grain mill with a bike. He says it's a light workout and it takes ~15 min for an average grain bill. He has plans for a completely "green" brewing system. I e-mailed him this-http://***********/component/resource/article/2063-last-call-solar-brewing when I saw it, and now I'm on the lookout for a broken projection tv to scavenge a fresnel lens.

Looking good. What do you plan for capture of the crushed grain? That should hold a lot of grain. FYI: i motorized my jsp and still have the belt and pulleys exposed (home use only though). I also just keep refilling the standard hopper as the time to weigh 3 lbs of grain is about the same as time to crush the previous 3 lbs.

Buffalobrewer: I have a 20 gallon rubbermaid brute container that slides in the bottom shelf.

Here are some more pics. The mill is pretty much done. I need a plug for the end of the wire and a connector for the wire to the motor and it is completely finished. I don't think I am going to paint it. I am going to stencil the flame from our logo onto it and clear coat the outside. I plan to leave the inside raw. I have been thinking about it more today and I am pretty sure I am going to secure it to the wall when I know where it is going to live inside the brewery.

looks good

Two concerns though...well three I guess: 1) it's going to be very top heavy, 2) the wieght distribution is lacking...most of the wieght is centered on the middle shelf, 3) I think the openeing on the bottom of the hopper may be too big and put too much weight on the rollers. With only a 1/4HP motor it may not start.

I think you are right on all accounts. I plan to secure the frame to the wall so it can not fall over. As for the mill opening I have a plan for that as well. I am making plates that will fit into the hopper, that will allow me to adjust the size of the opening. I think I will also turn the mill on first then pour the grain into the hopper so that I don't have any issues getting the rollers moving.

good deal

Hey Brewmoor.

So I purchased the jsp maltmill barebones (with the hopper deck). I skipped on the gear driven model because I figured I could just throw the gears on myself in the future if need be.

However, I hooked up my 12 in sheave using the bushings provided by jsp, and it fits pretty snug. However, the wheel spins a little off, kind of like a wobble. I originally thought that the sheave might be bent, but its pretty leveld. are you experiencing the same issues with the 12in sheave?

Sorry for hijacking your thread lol.

I am really interested in hearing how you like the JSP. I have been going back and forth between the one you bought and the 8" crankandstien 3 roller.

Thanks for the pics of your build up. Looks good!

BW

SeanGC said:

Hey Brewmoor.

However, I hooked up my 12 in sheave using the bushings provided by jsp, and it fits pretty snug. However, the wheel spins a little off, kind of like a wobble. I originally thought that the sheave might be bent, but its pretty leveld. are you experiencing the same issues with the 12in sheave?

Sorry for hijacking your thread lol.

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I don't think it is much to worry about. I am using a 10 inch sheave and it has a wobble too. I am going to turn mine on today. I just got the last electrical parts I needed this morning. I will know for sure when I run some grain through it tomorrow or tuesday.

I tested it the other day. It was perfect. Grain bill was about 30# and it crushed it in about 3 minutes.

I turned the motor on and then for testing just poured the whole bucket into the hopper. It had no problems with the 6 inch wide opening. I was also surprised by the frame. There was no vibration or shaking. I will still secure it to a wall, a full hopper will make it top heavy.

This thing is a dream to use. I am more then happy with it. I will post a video when I use it next week.

glad to hear it's working fine! Nice job!

that's pretty fast. I use a jsp with the original hopper and it seems like a 12# grain bill takes about that long.

Here is a video of the mill in action. I love this thing. It works perfect.

[ame="http://www.vimeo.com/14910590"]http://www.vimeo.com/14910590[/ame]

nice! what rpm and how much grain was that. Looked like a decent amount (20# or so) in about 50 seconds...very nice!

JSPs can handle anything you can throw at it. New ones come with some plastic bits screwed to the inside that help with flow control. For instance NOLA brewing uses a JSP maltmill that was formerly in the now defunct Brewhaha Homebrew shop. That thing is at least 20 years old. I have a geared JSP myself I don't think I'll ever need to get another mill. The cool thing about the gears are that the rollers don't rotate at the same speed, they have different numbers of teeth.