Building a motorized grain mill. Questions.

So we just had a new gas furnace installed in our house to replace our dead oil furnace. The install was today and when I came home from work, the installer had all of the parts of the disassembled oil furnace stacked on the lawn by his truck. The first thing that caught my eye was the blower assembly. The drive motor for this bad boy was an old GE 1725rpm 1/4hp motor with a 3in drive pulley and a 8 inch driven pulley. From my math, the pulleys are both throw aways since they will yield too high of a final rpm to drive a grain mill. 646 rpm if my math is correct so I'll need a smaller drive pulley and larger driven pulley to get it lower.

Anybody have a good source for pulleys so I can match the shaft diameters and pulley diameters I will need to get to a lower rpm?

Cheers,

Duke

These guys are sure to have what you need:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#pulleys-for-belts/=a4ztwl

All said and done, IMO you would be better off driving your mill with a 1/2" off the shelf Harbor Freight drill motor like this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-...le-speed-reversible-d-handle-drill-47991.html

IIRC, I've seen that drill on sale for even less awhile back. Add up the cost of the new pulleys and belt plus shipping and you will realize that the drill motor is a more cost efficient way to go. It would probably be a cheaper, easier and safer way to go. Sometimes free is not as low cost as it seems.

Catt22 said:

IIRC, I've seen that drill on sale for even less awhile back. Add up the cost of the new pulleys and belt plus shipping and you will realize that the drill motor is a more cost efficient way to go. It would probably be a cheaper, easier and safer way to go. Sometimes free is not as low cost as it seems.

Click to expand...

Do you pull the drill assembly out of the case or just leave it as is?

weirdboy said:

Do you pull the drill assembly out of the case or just leave it as is?

Click to expand...

No, just leave it as is and tighten the drill chuck down on the mill drive shaft. It would be a good idea to support the drill motor so that it's entire weight is not supported by the mill bushings alone. That could accelerate bushing wear and possibly cause some other problems. You could use some large U-bolts to attacj tje drill motor to the mill base. You may have to enlarge the original mill base to accommodate the drill, but that should not be difficult. The shape of the drill motor might require some custom shimming. clamps etc to get the alignment right, but again, that should be fairly easy to do and the options could easily range from ghetto to space age and beyond.

Mine is with a 10:1 gear reducer box and a lovejoy coupler instead of pulleys. It's freaky awesome and fits inside my brew table on a pull out shelf. Happy not to have any pulleys.

http://groschopp.com/Products/Gearb...htAngleRAGearboxesNEMA/tabid/269/Default.aspx

It was $100 (ebay- iowabarns is the seller but it's them), but way worth it. My motor (1/3 Hp 1725) was $40 on ebay. The gearbox is aluminum and like 5 lbs.

This gearbox is awesome since it is (out of the box) vertically mountable- others need a special bracket. I have the gearmotor vertical right behind the hopper. There is just enough room. Very small footprint and no child finger disclaimer warnings.

SankePankey said:

Mine is with a 10:1 gear reducer box and a lovejoy coupler instead of pulleys. It's freaky awesome and fits inside my brew table on a pull out shelf. Happy not to have any pulleys.

http://groschopp.com/Products/Gearb...htAngleRAGearboxesNEMA/tabid/269/Default.aspx

It was $100 (ebay- iowabarns is the seller but it's them), but way worth it. My motor (1/3 Hp 1725) was $40 on ebay. The gearbox is aluminum and like 5 lbs.

This gearbox is awesome since it is (out of the box) vertically mountable- others need a special bracket. I have the gearmotor vertical right behind the hopper. There is just enough room. Very small footprint and no child finger disclaimer warnings.

Click to expand...

We need more info and pictures!!

okgasdude said:

We need more info and pictures!!

Click to expand...

Seconded! SankePankey I'd love to see a pic of your setup.

I prefer a gearmotor/direct drive arrangement too, but I already had the mill. I got lucky and bought the Bodine for $5. The LoveJoys weren't very expensive and I built the stand myself:







IMO, it would still be easier and cheaper to go with a drill motor.

The cost for a mill, motor, gearbox, spider coupling, wiring etc and add up fast. I'm under $150 total, but as I said, I got the gearmotor for almost nothing, so most of the cost was for the mill and the couplings.

First pic is before installing on the track.

Track $40
Gearbox $100
Motor $40
Lovejoy ~$20
Birch board and other bits: ?

I am going to do a build thread of my own once I clean up the aesthetics a little more. I have it 'juuust' the right height so that I pull out the shelf and then it rests on the bucket making it a little bit more stable when extended. The shelf is rated for 100 lb and does extend just fine by itself, but it bends the whole steel shelf that it's mounted on (it must be near to 100lb installed).

Sorry you have to turn your head for the second one.

Party on Wayne.:rockin:

P.S. As I mentioned, gotta love that gearbox. Most other gearboxes I researched (in a short time) you needed another non-supplied bracket to mount it this way. From Boston Gear (major gear manu) the bracket itself was like $60... making finding a used gearbox (they do exist) something I couldn't go for. Besides, like I said the shelf is about ~75 lb or so and a steel gearbox instead of an aluminum one might have made it unstable on the track. I'm very happy with how this turned out.

Oh, and I ran that thing with a 3/8" variable speed drill before installing it like that. All I can say is that it was very difficult. I don't like the drill routine... at least not with my 3/8" corded Craftsman drill. No beast for sure.... once I could get it crushing (which took dancing to the mill gods) it would then smoke towards the end of the grain bill.

Based on my experience alone, I cannot recommend the drill method. Not for me.

This thing, however, would crush you down to your shoulders if you stuck your hand in. With my 1/3 HP motor, I'm getting 100 in-lb torque which is about double what's the recommended minimum (by MonsterMill).

As far as finding a gear motor that suits you off of ebay or CL, that takes some time. It was a few months that I searched for something around 200 RPM and over 50 in-lb torque. Finally I just gave up and found a 1725 RPM (easy) and the brand new gear reducer. Sometimes you can waste so much time waiting for something to arrive on CL, other times it's worth it.

Slow as heck at 30 RPM, but cheap and easy.
Ebay listing.

SankePankey said:

Oh, and I ran that thing with a 3/8" variable speed drill before installing it like that. All I can say is that it was very difficult. I don't like the drill routine... at least not with my 3/8" corded Craftsman drill. No beast for sure.... once I could get it crushing (which took dancing to the mill gods) it would then smoke towards the end of the grain bill.

Based on my experience alone, I cannot recommend the drill method. Not for me.

Click to expand...

Yeah, you will usually smoke most 3/8" drills if you try to use them to crank a mill. It really requires the larger 1/2" drill motors which are essentially just a motor with built in gear reduction (ie gear motor) and the drill chuck makes for an easy connection to the mill.

AnOldUR said:

Slow as heck at 30 RPM, but cheap and easy.
Ebay listing.

Click to expand...

That item linked from ebay say it turns counter clockwise, Is the seller just describing it badly?

camiller said:

That item linked from ebay say it turns counter clockwise, Is the seller just describing it badly?

Click to expand...

for $20 more you can pick this one up:

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=5-1098

30 RPM is just too painfully slow, especially if your trying to brew 10 gallons of a big beer

infection said:

for $20 more you can pick this one up:

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=5-1098

30 RPM is just too painfully slow, especially if your trying to brew 10 gallons of a big beer

Click to expand...

Why couldn't you gear it up to make it mill faster?

Although I have to say that one you linked looks like a great fit for milling grain.

camiller said:

That item linked from ebay say it turns counter clockwise, Is the seller just describing it badly?

Click to expand...

FYI & IIRC, electric motor rotational direction is typically referenced from a head on view. ie, facing the motor counter-clockwise it would be turning to your left. Also, IIRC with some mills you can swap ends with the drive roller so it can be used with a motor that turns in either direction. Some mills have a drive shaft which is threaded into the roller. When running these with a motor that turns in the direction that could possibly unscrew the drive shaft, you can use Locktite to secure the shaft.

weirdboy said:

Why couldn't you gear it up to make it mill faster?

Although I have to say that one you linked looks like a great fit for milling grain.

Click to expand...

Gearing it up would cause a proportional decrease in torque and it may not have enough oomph remaining to crank the mill.

infection said:

for $20 more you can pick this one up:

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=5-1098

30 RPM is just too painfully slow, especially if your trying to brew 10 gallons of a big beer

Click to expand...

Actually I think for motorizing a corona mill it's about perfect. I figure hand cranking it I'm probably only doing 45RPM anyway. 100+ RPM for a corona would probably wear out the nylon bushing the shaft runs in.

Catt22 said:

FYI & IIRC, electric motor rotational direction is typically referenced from a head on view. ie, facing the motor counter-clockwise it would be turning to your left. Also, IIRC with some mills you can swap ends with the drive roller so it can be used with a motor that turns in either direction. Some mills have a drive shaft which is threaded into the roller. When running these with a motor that turns in the direction that could possibly unscrew the drive shaft, you can use Locktite to secure the shaft.

Click to expand...

figured it was something like that, thanks for the info.

infection said:

for $20 more you can pick this one up:
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=5-1098
30 RPM is just too painfully slow, especially if your trying to brew 10 gallons of a big beer

Click to expand...

Well, not too painful. It all about planning. I crushed a 20+ pound grist yesterday. Start it up before filling and heating the HLT and there's no problem. Just walk over and dump in another 7 pounds of grain every once in a while.

The nice thing is I didn't have to do much to mount it. The shaft is the same 3/8" dia size as the one in the Barley Crusher. I took that one out and slid this in. Used a set screw the keep it from slipping. Routed a little step in the wood so it would line up (but you could probably just shim the mill up.) Didn't even have to attach the motor to the base. Letting it float works fine.

All that said. The gearmotor you linked to looks very nice. If I'd seen that first, it may have been my choice.




edit:

. . . and it may be my imagination, but the grind looks better than it did when I was using a drill. Husks seem to stay more intact at the lower speed.

I use a 1725 rpm motor with my JSP MaltMill. Works OK with a 1 1/2" driver and 9" driven. Keeps it about the max 300 rpm Jack recommends (~290 rpm IIRC).

It doesn't throw grain at all. But with the speed I sacrifice a bit of torque so I can't dump more than a few inches deep in at a time into the hopper. It is not an issue because it will grind as fast as I pour really. It takes maybe 20 seconds for a 5 gal grain bill.

I got my pulleys at a place we have in the Great White North called Princess Auto. They are the purveyors of all hardware that is cheap and made in China. Not much help for you down in the US...

Oh the nine incher had a huge hole at the hub- 1". I had to make an adapter for it on my lathe. But at ~$6 for the pulley I couldn't complain...

I looked for days through all the videos and all the blog threads to find the proper materials to build my grain mill. I finally saw an ad on a side page while looking for parts. Go to zoro.com. They had everything from motors (a little expensive) to fly wheels and direct drive spiders and actuators (at great prices). Good luck in your motorized adventure.
Boz