This is not a drill...

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freddyb

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It's a pedal-powered grain mill!
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I didn't like using my drill to power the PhillMill II because it felt like there wasn't much speed control with my crappy Harbor Freight drill. So, I had an idea to power the mill using one of the many bicycles that I've accumulated over the years.

Previous setup
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Shoulder screw from McMaster and roller chain sprocket from an Ebay scooter store...it was a lot harder to find a bike chain compatible roller chain sprocket than I thought it would be. Most are too thick. This one fits a BMX chain (1/8")
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Welded together and hit with a squirt of Krylon
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I don't have an indoor trainer stand which would probably have worked better, so I made a stand out of the rear triangle of a Mixtie junk bike. The flip/flop hub on my fixed gear bike allowed me to mount sprockets on both sides. Added a cheap-o freewheel to drive the mill on the left side.
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Here's a YouTube video of the movement: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yORXoQHRO8g]YouTube - Grain Mill Driven by Bicycle[/ame]


I'll probably need to put a dumbell or a brick on the wooden platform to keep it from moving around. Or I might make a bracket to attach the platform to the stand. I'll figure it out once I give it a try.
 
OMG dude, that is awesome! Love the idea, now we just need a video of it in action! :rockin:

EDIT: LOL, you're quick with that vid...
 
Ha....Congrats on the "green" grain mill. :)

I'm way too lazy to pedal a bike to mill my grain...Maybe my gf would, but not me. :D
 
and i quote...and i quote...

Quote:
Originally Posted by fastricky
I don't think a day goes by on this Forum where I'm not completely floored by man's ingenuity when it comes to making beer.

+1

Very cool!

Now if ya can come up with a bicycle powered burner... generator... electric... pedaling like hell for a couple hours...
 
+1

Very cool!

Now if ya can come up with a bicycle powered burner... generator... electric... pedaling like hell for a couple hours...

I'd start 'roiding up to get my efficiency higher! But all my beers would probably be too dry because my fat ass couldn't get my mash temps up.... :(
 
Cool!!!

There's a NGO working in Africa that uses a bike powered mill in their food production system to help feed the malnorished in remote communities.

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2) Cycle grinder: Based on a design originally created in the mid-70’s in the US, energy is produced through a pedal-powered system that uses adjustable-speed pulleys, permitting fast and easy grinding of a variety of foods. An inexpensive modified hand mill using metal to metal plates grinds foods at least ten times faster than with traditional methods.


Seating is adjustable depending on the operator’s height and the adjustable speeds can be matched to the individual’s strength and the type of food.

It's part of the "Vita-goat" system. The VitaGoat System

A Non-Electric Food Processing System
For Nutrition and Micro-Enterprise Development

The VitaGoat is a food processing system for developing countries. It serves as a principal vehicle for micro-enterprises, while providing the local community or social institution with high-quality nutrition. Operating without the need for any electricity supply or generator, it uses locally-available fuels, including wood or other biomass, or bottled gas, for the cooking section of the operation. This is a critical feature, due to the unavailable or unreliable supply, and/or high cost of electricity in most developing countries.

But yours is sleaker and purdier.
 
Wow that's awesome. I guess I know what I'm doing with those old bikes in my backyard.

I hate using the drill, i always feel like I'm going to break the damn thing.
 
Very nice. How do you get the sprocket on the extra freewheel to turn with the rear wheel of the bike? My bike's real wheel spins independently of the rear sprocket due to the freehub. I'd like to see details on the bike side modification of this excellent setup.
 
Thanks all for the feedback.

Very nice. How do you get the sprocket on the extra freewheel to turn with the rear wheel of the bike? My bike's real wheel spins independently of the rear sprocket due to the freehub. I'd like to see details on the bike side modification of this excellent setup.

Since it's a flip/flop hub, one side accepts a fixed-gear sprocket and the other accepts a freewheel hub.. I went with the Surly Dingle Cog (fixed gear sprocket, but with two gears on one piece) when I built the bike. The freewheel I had laying around.

When the freewheel is on the left side (the non-drive side), the wheel is spun 180* so it basically resists movement in the opposite direction as when it's being used on the drive side. So running the chain back to the mill is essentially the same as running it forward to a chainring. The fixed gear on the drive side spins with the hub no matter what.

If you have a multi-speed bike and you want to make a similar contraption, you can always run two chains on the cassette/freehub...one going forward to the chainring, the other running back to the mill. Just need to make sure you're running the mill in the correct direction.
 
I'm interested in using the bicycle wheel as a flywheel which your
modification does very ingeniously. That wouldn't work running two
chains I think, but I know exactly squat about bicycle technology. I've been thinking about a hand crank system mostly (without the rest of the bike), but one that used a (water filled) bike wheel as a flywheel and a freehub to spin up the wheel and let it go. I couldn't figure an easy way to connect the wheel to the crusher bolt with the old bike parts I have since the hub and axle spin independently. I never thought about the chain to the rear cluster. That's fantastic. Thanks to you I think I know what I need to do now.

Thanks all for the feedback.



Since it's a flip/flop hub, one side accepts a fixed-gear sprocket and the other accepts a freewheel hub.. I went with the Surly Dingle Cog (fixed gear sprocket, but with two gears on one piece) when I built the bike. The freewheel I had laying around.

When the freewheel is on the left side (the non-drive side), the wheel is spun 180* so it basically resists movement in the opposite direction as when it's being used on the drive side. So running the chain back to the mill is essentially the same as running it forward to a chainring. The fixed gear on the drive side spins with the hub no matter what.

If you have a multi-speed bike and you want to make a similar contraption, you can always run two chains on the cassette/freehub...one going forward to the chainring, the other running back to the mill. Just need to make sure you're running the mill in the correct direction.
 
I'll probably need to put a dumbell or a brick on the wooden platform to keep it from moving around. Or I might make a bracket to attach the platform to the stand. I'll figure it out once I give it a try.
This looks like it may be the hardest part...keeping the whole thing somewhat steady with a hopper full of grain attached to it.
 
Here's my version:

[ame]http://youtu.be/XB0U1pJ5QRg[/ame]


I bolted a cog from an old cassette to a v-belt pulley that was the right size for my drive bar on the mill. Then ran an extra long chain from the cranks on the bike. The bike has long since lost any wheels, so I had to make a stand for it.

grainmill bike.jpg
 
Here's my version:

http://youtu.be/XB0U1pJ5QRg


I bolted a cog from an old cassette to a v-belt pulley that was the right size for my drive bar on the mill. Then ran an extra long chain from the cranks on the bike. The bike has long since lost any wheels, so I had to make a stand for it.

Love it. Great pic. So great. I'm in awe of your ingenuity.
 
21 speed mountain grain crusher!

And I scrapped an exercise bike that had a front wheel that may have made a nice pedalmill! I think I just coined a new word!:D

I'm not sure that I could, or should even try, to make it work with my Corona style mill.
 
...attach this to the rear chain of a motorcycle. You could go from Zero to grain flying everywhere in about half a second.
 
Yes cool, here's my bike , you could hook to this motor without the bike and have throttle control 50 bushells to the gallon

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