Clear Grain Mill

Ok, well not really but you can see the grain feeding on this one. The hopper base is polycarbonate sheet and it's set up for a removable water cooler bottle hopper.



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Very cool!

Pretty cool. You'll have to take a video of it in action milling a grain bill for us. Also like the polyethylene edge liner.

Pretty cook, what mill is that? Is this something you are going to be selling? I am in the market for a mill.

Thanks,
-G

HDIr0n said:

Pretty cook, what mill is that? Is this something you are going to be selling? I am in the market for a mill.

Thanks,
-G

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Crankandstein per the video.

I'm not going to be selling any mills like this anytime soon. Just a rebuild of my personal mill.

Neat, is that just plexiglass? If so, how thick if you don't mind me asking?

Nvm. Just watched the video. I need to do something different with mine, its currently attached to a price if particle board and the torque from my motor is sending it out of square every now and then.

If I didn't already have scraps, I probably would have gone with 3/8" thick. Anyone that wants a cheap source for polycarbonate sheet, check out freckleface.com. It's a gamble but I really like the cheap 10 pound variety pack of cutoffs for projects like this.

Ya the local tap plastics has a scraps per pound price at like a buck or so. I might try it.

Bobby_M said:

If I didn't already have scraps, I probably would have gone with 3/8" thick. Anyone that wants a cheap source for polycarbonate sheet, check out freckleface.com. It's a gamble but I really like the cheap 10 pound variety pack of cutoffs for projects like this.

Click to expand...

That's pretty cool. What kind of sizes did you receive in a pack like that? Also, was shipping pretty reasonable?

It's been a while since I got the grab bag packs so I don't remember the shipping but I did note some real variety in what you get. My first box had mostly 1/2", as they must have just cut a bunch of large sheets into smaller sizes. The second pack had a little of everything from 1/8" to 3/4 thick. If you really want a specific anything, you have to pay up for the cut sheets.

Bobby: how did you cut the grove inside the 1st sheet? the inside oval? Router?

Also, how did you get your sides clear? I thought i remembered you use a torch to clear it up but mine turns clear then instantly bubbles and burns, lol. I don't think cutting it with a dull table saw blade was the best of ideas.

I used a router table for the slot, first a narrow flute bit, then a 45 to knock the corner off, then a cove bit to put a inside curve on it. It's probably overkill.

The secret to flame polishing is to get it really smooth working all the way up to 600 grit paper and wet sanding it. If it's too rough, it takes too much heat to melt clear.

Thanks!

Is the entire width of your routered slot 1/2"? Is there any value in doing a 45* channel so it mimics the stainless steel hoppers and creates the "ribbon" flow you were talking about? I've had issues with marris otter straight up jammping my mill on my old set up which just dumped it in.

Edit: I ended up grooving it. Came out nice. You sir have an amount of patience for sanding I do not

Making my whole mill table out of clear got 2 pieces of clear acrylic 1" thick for a buck 18"x22" have some cut pieces leftover from a guard at work 3/8 and 1/4 inch

In fairness, I did use an electric palm sander. I had the feed slot stop about 1/2" from the end blocks figuring that it's best to keep grain from directly crowding the bearings and fouling them faster. The reason I used a large cove bit to taper the top opening of the slot was due to the diameter of the hopper neck. It was something like 1.5" so I didn't want there to be a shelf for grain to collect. In this configuration, very little grain gets hung up after the hopper is empty.

Slightly off topic but how has that edging in your video held up with heat?

I was using a similar product on my boil kettle (I think mine was automotive door trim or something) but on two occasions it became so pliable from that heat that it actually fell off into the boil.

So far so good. This stuff is MDPE which is similar to HDPE using in buckets. I wonder if what you used was based on PVC.