michaelm
Well-Known Member
Personaly I am not a big fan of multi roller malt mills.... seems they are hard to get setup "just right" and if you need to change your gap well.... everything needs to be cleared out, gap set, add grain and hope its where you want it...(ok ok I know thats a bit overdramatic lol) when I first started brewing I lived in southern ohio not to terribly far from listermanns(home of the phil mill and a bunch of other "phil" products) and I grew to love the simplicity of the Phil Mill's adjust on the fly abilities along with what I have always felt as a superiour crush compared to multi roller mills... then I moved a bit north and had to stop brewing for a spell... Now I am back into brewing but unfortunatly Listermanns is just to far of a drive and well the phil mill hasnt been made since like 2008/2009... so I setout to make a single roller mill similiar to the phill mill just bigger(ok alot bigger)
basics
Roller
2"diameter X 4.5" long
Crushplate is made from 1/8 steel plate
Frame is 1/4" thick 4x5" steel tubing
bosses are welded on 1/4 inch plate
and bushings and such is bearing bronze
and a few pics of the build!!
Roller Stock
rough cut to length
Rough Frame and Roller
Roller ends faced and small recess machined for the face of the bushings
Bronze bushing being turned and then parted from the bronze stock
bosses welded to the box to add alittle more support for the bushings(I KNOW I suck at welding LOL they are ugly as sin but its a strong weld )
welds cleaned up a bit
holes bored for bushings and shafts
then there was the general facing, drilling and threading for the shafts and knurling of the roller... shaping and cutting the crushplate.. and all the other odds and ends of drilling holes tapping for screws etc etc... honestly I kinda got into a groove and forgot to take pics of most of it but this is what I ended up with
and the most important part... the crush
as you can see almost completly intact hulls and the grain itself is seperated from the hulls and pulverized with very little flour... and this thing is a beast.... the one complaint anyone really ever had about the original phil mill is it was slower then the multirollers...... this bigger single roller mill is fast....and I mean FAST next time I brew I will make a video of the grain crushing to show how fast it is
basics
Roller
2"diameter X 4.5" long
Crushplate is made from 1/8 steel plate
Frame is 1/4" thick 4x5" steel tubing
bosses are welded on 1/4 inch plate
and bushings and such is bearing bronze
and a few pics of the build!!
Roller Stock
rough cut to length
Rough Frame and Roller
Roller ends faced and small recess machined for the face of the bushings
Bronze bushing being turned and then parted from the bronze stock
bosses welded to the box to add alittle more support for the bushings(I KNOW I suck at welding LOL they are ugly as sin but its a strong weld )
welds cleaned up a bit
holes bored for bushings and shafts
then there was the general facing, drilling and threading for the shafts and knurling of the roller... shaping and cutting the crushplate.. and all the other odds and ends of drilling holes tapping for screws etc etc... honestly I kinda got into a groove and forgot to take pics of most of it but this is what I ended up with
and the most important part... the crush
as you can see almost completly intact hulls and the grain itself is seperated from the hulls and pulverized with very little flour... and this thing is a beast.... the one complaint anyone really ever had about the original phil mill is it was slower then the multirollers...... this bigger single roller mill is fast....and I mean FAST next time I brew I will make a video of the grain crushing to show how fast it is