Motorizing MM3--Options? How about these?

[Soulshine2]

augie, Do you have any issue getting that coupler to clamp onto the MM? Mine keeps slipping and I swear if I try to tighten it any further, I'll snap the alan wrench

a little (millwright) tip if your coupling shaft is perfectly round or the contact end of the set screw is round and not grabbing ...make a small flat spot on the shaft where the set screw contacts it.

 

[mongoose33]

why do you not want to use a drill? its a motor thats a lot less than $300 or 179,and has plenty of torque. and when you're not milling, its got a second duty. If you're worried about speed, buy a variable speed. No need to overthink a motor purchase for milling grains.
My 1/2" Ridgid cordless drill driver does just fine. Torque setting. 13 lbs in 5 minutes .

I did the drill thing with my Barley Crusher for a while, and the problem was always starting the crush slowly. Couldn't do that. I had to give it the juice to do it, and then crush at a much higher speed than I wanted to.

Further, I had no way to determine the speed of the drill, and I wanted it to be slow as I could get it to go. Too slow and the mill would bog down.

A third issue was that I'm doing LODO brewing and a slow crush right before dough-in is part of that approach. The drill just wasn't going to measure up.

I suppose I could have tried to get a heavy-duty drill from someplace like Harbor Freight, but I'd have had to jury-rig it in place. In the end, a drill just seemed to me like a kludged-together solution. Yeah, a lot of people use them to good effect, but for all these reasons, a drill wasn't the answer. For me.

 

[Soulshine2]

I did the drill thing with my Barley Crusher for a while, and the problem was always starting the crush slowly. Couldn't do that. I had to give it the juice to do it, and then crush at a much higher speed than I wanted to.

Further, I had no way to determine the speed of the drill, and I wanted it to be slow as I could get it to go. Too slow and the mill would bog down.

A third issue was that I'm doing LODO brewing and a slow crush right before dough-in is part of that approach. The drill just wasn't going to measure up.

I suppose I could have tried to get a heavy-duty drill from someplace like Harbor Freight, but I'd have had to jury-rig it in place. In the end, a drill just seemed to me like a kludged-together solution. Yeah, a lot of people use them to good effect, but for all these reasons, a drill wasn't the answer. For me.

how slow are you trying to go ,and why? if it bogged down , that was a lack of torque ,im thinking.
I see a lot of overthought and overspending on the simplest things here. mill speed being one of them. I can see mill roller gap being more important. flat is flat ,no matter what speed. Im not saying one should mill at 1350 rpm ,but the standard quality home improvement store drill driver is plenty powerful at the slowest (drive) setting and does a fine job. Locking trigger and all, just chuck it up ,set the variable speed to where you want it, leave it and hook up a simple switch box to a remote outlet for it .

 

[mongoose33]

how slow are you trying to go ,and why? if it bogged down , that was a lack of torque ,im thinking.
I see a lot of overthought and overspending on the simplest things here. mill speed being one of them. I can see mill roller gap being more important. flat is flat ,no matter what speed. Im not saying one should mill at 1350 rpm ,but the standard quality home improvement store drill driver is plenty powerful at the slowest (drive) setting and does a fine job. Locking trigger and all, just chuck it up ,set the variable speed to where you want it, leave it and hook up a simple switch box to a remote outlet for it .

Here are two things part of the LODO approach: one is crushing as close to dough-in as possible. I can do it within about 2 minutes. The reason is to reduce exposure of the crushed grain to oxygen, the less time, the better. Another thing is crushing at a slow speed. It reduces flour and heat.

Now, these things may not be important to you. If you're not doing LODO, are crushing really fine for BIAB, then they won't matter to you. But I am doing those things, and this is part of my attempt to produce LODO beer to determine the actual effect of LODO on the outcome.

My mill turns at 180rpm; it's set for that, I don't have to fiddle with it. I have no way to determine the RPMs of a drill, and fiddling with it is not on my menu.

It may be different for you. If a drill works for you, that's fine. My setup works for me.

 

[augiedoggy]

You might try drilling a small depression into the shaft where the set screw makes contact. That should keep it from slipping.

im pretty sure my kegco has a flat . 3 of the actually which is likely why its working so well.

 

[augiedoggy]

why do you not want to use a drill? its a motor thats a lot less than $300 or 179,and has plenty of torque. and when you're not milling, its got a second duty. If you're worried about speed, buy a variable speed. No need to overthink a motor purchase for milling grains.
My 1/2" Ridgid cordless drill driver does just fine. Torque setting. 13 lbs in 5 minutes .

Some situations are difffernet. In my case I thought about 3 things..

mounting

the cheaper drills use brushes they wear down quickly in this application and the drill tends to get very hot and they burn up over time.

The cheaper drills make dust (from brushes?) that are known to be carcinogenic and I would rather avoid that especially being my mill is being used in a nanobrewery.

 

[Soulshine2]

I have a corded drill thats easily 15 yrs old and been worked to death, it still has the original brushes . If you stop and think of all the "contaminants" in the air you breathe day in day out , what little amount comes out of a drill in 5 minutes of milling is next to zero in comparison.

 

[mongoose33]

I have a corded drill thats easily 15 yrs old and been worked to death, it still has the original brushes . If you stop and think of all the "contaminants" in the air you breathe day in day out , what little amount comes out of a drill in 5 minutes of milling is next to zero in comparison.

IMO, if you use a drill, and others use a motor, then we'll all be pretty happy with our choices. Nobody's saying you should use a motor. If you don't want to, don't see the need, or can't afford one at this time, then don't use one.

That I've gone a different direction doesn't mean I'm wrong, or that you're wrong.

 

[Soulshine2]

i never said that anyone was right or wrong. I just think theres a bit of overthinking being done over a 5 minute process. use a motor , im ok.

 

[burdbrew]

Is wanting to brew luxuriously a crime, LODO or otherwise? There are a lot of ways to mill grain; why the issue with making it less of a chore?

This whole sub-forum is a wonderland of overthinking it. Take it in.

 

[BBBF]

When it doesn't slip, do you get enough torque off this motor/gearbox? I'm interested in going that route.

To be honest, I haven't used it as much as I'd like because the first beer I brewed with it was a gluten free millet beer that won a 1st place medal and 3rd place best in show. I have been sticking with my old mill to avoid cross contamination for now, but 20 N m is 177 inch lbs of force and 3 or 4 times more than the recommendations I was finding.

 

[augiedoggy]

I have a corded drill thats easily 15 yrs old and been worked to death, it still has the original brushes . If you stop and think of all the "contaminants" in the air you breathe day in day out , what little amount comes out of a drill in 5 minutes of milling is next to zero in comparison.

again my mill is for a nanobrewery.. Im not making that choice just for me. Some people dont want the lead and other heavy metals in theose brushes in the grain so I just assume avoid the whole thing, issue or not.
Im also not going to sit there holding a drill 30minutes milling 100 pounds of grain. If your drill works well for you great, I here a lot of people say they've burn up drills using them.
my mill at home uses a motor I got from a pile of old obsolete machine parts from work. the motor at the brewery was 140.. almost the same cost as a good High torque drill.

 

[Soulshine2]

again my mill is for a nanobrewery.. Im not making that choice just for me. Some people dont want the lead and other heavy metals in theose brushes in the grain so I just assume avoid the whole thing, issue or not.
Im also not going to sit there holding a drill 30minutes milling 100 pounds of grain. If your drill works well for you great, I here a lot of people say they've burn up drills using them.
my mill at home uses a motor I got from a pile of old obsolete machine parts from work. the motor at the brewery was 140.. almost the same cost as a good High torque drill.

ok, I get it , you're milling 100+ lbs. Yes i would agree then a dedicated motor would be good. I was aiming at the 5 -6 gallon batch crowd.