My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

camiller said:

I'm still trying to figure out if this wiper motor has enough torque at only $16. I need to find a torque wrench in the right range to test the mill.

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From the specs, and since the translation from foot-pounds (3.98) to inch-pounds is 47.76, I'd say it may be in the ballpark for sufficient working torque. Where you may be in trouble would be sufficient starting torque. You may be able to get around that by starting the rig empty, and then feeding the grain. I've rejected the 12V idea (even though I have a 25A 12V power supply that weighs as much as a concrete block), because I don't want to dedicate space to something like that, neither do I want to set it up and tear it down each time I mill.

I just got my mill recently(inspired by this thread), i noticed that where the auger shaft comes through the base is poorly milled. I cut a piece of cardboard(from an empty 18pk of bud left by my buddy) wrapped this around the shaft then assembled the mill this took alot of the wobble out of my plates. When i get my pos computer to accept the memory card from my camera ill post pics of my mill.

rico567 said:

From the specs, and since the translation from foot-pounds (3.98) to inch-pounds is 47.76, I'd say it may be in the ballpark for sufficient working torque. Where you may be in trouble would be sufficient starting torque. You may be able to get around that by starting the rig empty, and then feeding the grain. I've rejected the 12V idea (even though I have a 25A 12V power supply that weighs as much as a concrete block), because I don't want to dedicate space to something like that, neither do I want to set it up and tear it down each time I mill.

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Since it only really needs 2A I'm thinking a used computer power supply I have lying around should be sufficient and not that heavy. Mounted on top of the mill bucket should be OK and hopefully I can figure out a way to mount the motor on the side of the bucket so it is all self contained.

not sure if it qualifies as ugly junk but it just got me 83% last brewday.

tchuklobrau said:

I just got my mill recently(inspired by this thread), i noticed that where the auger shaft comes through the base is poorly milled. I cut a piece of cardboard(from an empty 18pk of bud left by my buddy) wrapped this around the shaft then assembled the mill this took alot of the wobble out of my plates. When i get my pos computer to accept the memory card from my camera ill post pics of my mill.

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Hah, yes my mill has the same poor tolerance as the shaft is a sloppy undersized fit. Cardboard bushings...prefect solution. I bet they last a helluva lot long longer than you'd think.

wilserbrewer said:

Hah, yes my mill has the same poor tolerance as the shaft is a sloppy undersized fit. Cardboard bushings...prefect solution. I bet they last a helluva lot long longer than you'd think.

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My 'Victoria' branded mill is as sloppy as the next, from what I've read. All I did was to take out the cotter pin and replace it with a tight-fitting SS bolt....after reaming out the hole in the shaft with a drill. That took the PLAY out of the front plate, but not by any means its eccentric rotation....and I don't think any bushing I can make would help.
OTOH, since I cranked down the clearance between the plates until they almost touch, I get all my numbers when I mash, and even though there's a certain amount of flour and shredded husks, no stuck sparges.
I'm just not sure there's all that much extreme precision involved in crushing grain. If I'm AB InBev, doing grain by the rail car, then these things matter a great deal. To me, a homebrewer making 5-gallon batches in plastic buckets, not so much.

I just scored a Weston mill on Warehousedeals.com for $26.00 shipped. Should be here by Monday. I talked SWMBO into it by mentioning we could use it to switch between barley crushing and flour milling. She uses our blender to make flour but would rather use a mill.

So how big of a pain is it going to be for me to tweak the crush every time? I figure I'll set it as flour by default for her since she'll use it more often than I will. I don't mind running a handfull of grain thorugh to tweak the crush each time.

It would be killer if I could find a spacer like an alluminum billet otr something of the correct width to set the gaps.

JetSmooth said:

I just scored a Weston mill on Warehousedeals.com for $26.00 shipped. Should be here by Monday. I talked SWMBO into it by mentioning we could use it to switch between barley crushing and flour milling. She uses our blender to make flour but would rather use a mill.

So how big of a pain is it going to be for me to tweak the crush every time? I figure I'll set it as flour by default for her since she'll use it more often than I will. I don't mind running a handfull of grain thorugh to tweak the crush each time.

It would be killer if I could find a spacer like an alluminum billet otr something of the correct width to set the gaps.

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My wife had a Corona for milling flour already when I met her. Only I use it now.

I set the crush every time I mill. It is quick and easy. I make two-three turns of the crank with my hand under the mill. IMHO, this is the best way because it is easy to only see the chaff and coarse pieces of endosperm if you don't get your hand in there. I get a fair amount of flour and no whole kernels. I presoak the malt to avoid shredding the husks.

you presoak your grains before you mill?

That has to make quite the mess, I never heard of doing it that way. Did you have an issue with hull shredding before? I just keep my drill at a medium steady pace and I have had good efficiency and no stuck sparges.

props for milling your own flour. For the price of flour I am sure there isn't a cost advantage - is it the freshness you are going for?

CidahMastah said:

you presoak your grains before you mill?

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Yupp, learned about it here on HBT from BrewKaiser. I use 2% water by weight of the malt, soaking for 20-30 minutes before milling.

That has to make quite the mess, I never heard of doing it that way. Did you have an issue with hull shredding before? I just keep my drill at a medium steady pace and I have had good efficiency and no stuck sparges.

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It is a little messier, but not bad. Presoaking allows me to use a more aggressive mill setting without shredding the husks. The husks get kind of leathery. I get about 86% brew house efficiency, give or take a few percent depending on recipe.

Quaffer said:

Yupp, learned about it here on HBT from BrewKaiser. I use 2% water by weight of the malt, soaking for 20-30 minutes before milling.



It is a little messier, but not bad. Presoaking allows me to use a more aggressive mill setting without shredding the husks. The husks get kind of leathery. I get about 86% brew house efficiency, give or take a few percent depending on recipe.

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Very cool. I feel like here we need to insert the chimes (**the more you know**)

Interesting stuff

taken directly from this thread, of course...

Does this degree of milling appear sufficient?
I did insert a single washer to each side.

Good to go?

Crank 'er down some more. It looks like there is A LOT of uncrushed grain.

If you are worried about shredding the husks you should condition the malt. Just spray it lightly with water right before you mill. Don't use too much as it will make it hard to mill.

originalben said:

I did insert a single washer to each side.

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I would crush a little finer. The adjustment is done w/ the wingnut and eyebolt.

I'd agree with "wilserbrewer." He has a fine eye for these photos, and helped me get my crush dialed in when I started with my "ugly junk." I can identify what look like a number of uncrushed grains in that picture, and what is crushed doesn't look real fine.

Yeah - crank 'er down.

For my crush I pretty much put the mill at its lowest setting. No stuck sparges here.

I also found that if I ripped through it fast (highest drill speed), crush quality went down. Try hitting a middle RPM and the mill will do a better, more consistent job (that is, if you aren't doing that already).

Thanks, gentlemen. I just did a cup or so before work to make sure it even worked;^)
I'll tighten 'er up this evening in preperation for tomorrow.
Sidenote- the absolute first bolt I grabbed fit the arm perfectly...and had a nut to adjust it's depth as well. WooHoo.

tchuklobrau said:

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not sure if it qualifies as ugly junk but it just got me 83% last brewday.

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This is a very nice setup. BZ! I tried an inverted bucket on top of another bucket and it didn't turn out to hot. So, I clamped a 2x4 to my portable workbench and clamped up the mill to that. put a shallow container under it with a homemade cover over the mill and it has been working great.
If/when I get around to a stand or something of the sort I will be thinking of something like this.
Great job!

I too have Jumped on this train. This mill works awesome for my purposes. A decent crush, fast enough to enjoy a HB while I grind and it was fun to build.

Perhaps the coolest thing about this mill is the intersection of family history and American history that led to it falling into my hands. If you are interested read below....

I needed an inexpensive, manual grain mill since I was going all grain. I put out a want add on C-list and was offered a mill for $10 bucks. To me, that was an awesome deal. I rode my bike ~9 miles to the guys house to pick it up, since he was a gentleman and it was about 5Fout he invited me in for a cup of tea. I obliged and we got to talking... He was an older guy; if I had to guess I would say 85. He started talking about his days in the pacific during WWII and mentioned he was on an aircraft carrier. As a shot in the dark, I asked if it happened to be the Wasp, the carrier my grandpa was on. Turns out it was. These two guys worked together with out knowing it (~ 2.5K men on that ship), participated in the last hostile action of the war together, AND I was buying a mill from the guy....

Two amazing men who live 30 miles apart protected everything we all love. Both agreed to a reunion, which I will document. To be scheduled soon....

Great story man...yet another reason I love HBT!!! It's one thing to be able to say thanks to a young vet. It's quite another to say thank you to a guy who put his ass on the line over a lifetime ago for most of us. I ran a plumbing co. for years in the Texas Hill Country and had a lot of WWII pilots, grunts, & seamen as customers. Always loved listening to their stories.

PROSIT!!!

I have a victoria mill. I'm getting sick of hand cranking it. What kind of screw do I need to get so I can attach my power drill?

I have a handcrank that came with my Victoria, never used. Since I had a 13mm socket an and a 3/8" drill adapter already, I just went to the hardware store and got a 13mm bolt about 2" long that fit in the threaded hole in the back of the auger. I took the screw that comes with the mill in with me to check the thread pitch (it is METRIC, but I can't remember the pitch), and it cost about 50 cents. So that's all it cost me to adapt my Victoria to my ancient Craftsman AC 1/2" drill. Works like a charm- I can maintain a nice drill speed of about 150 rpm or so with no trouble, get a great crush.

You can see the adapter and the 13mm socket in this picture, but only the shank of the bolt where it goes into the auger.

Its a standard thread. Just go the the hardware store, get a 1.5 inch hex head quarter/20 bolt. Then thread it into your mill, put a socket on your drill and watch the dust fly.

Make sure that you have some bolt shaft stocking out. Then if you snap the bolt (unlikely with the torque involved) you can grab it with some vise grips and get it out.

Unless the rest of the community think it would be better for the head to be bottomed out, I havent done this yet but maybe they can weigh in on that...

Gotcha just the info I needed thanks =D
I need to steady my plate on the other end as well. If I remove the cotter pin would the 8/32 bolt listed earlier in the thread work for a victoria mill?

To be safe, I would put a nut on the bolt you attach and have it set the depth. I did mine last week and it was very smooth- first bolt I found in my cluttered stash fit perfect and had a nut on it already.
Pics of the setup in my gallery.

For my Victoria mill I used a stainless 5/16'' x 2'' hex bolt

Thundercougarfalconbird said:

Gotcha just the info I needed thanks =D
I need to steady my plate on the other end as well. If I remove the cotter pin would the 8/32 bolt listed earlier in the thread work for a victoria mill?

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I ended up using a 8/32 bolt & nuts in place of the cotter pin, but I had to ream out the hole with an appropriate drill before it would go in.

Thundercougerfalconbird,

As a more primitive option if you don't have the socket and adapter to drive the bolt, simply cut the head off the bolt and chuck the drill on the headless bolt.

What I'm going to ask is pretty much antithetical to the "ugly junk" concept, but has anyone put a permanent motor on a bucket setup, rather than just use a drill? So far, the ideal configuration would appear to be a large truck wiper motor. It's already geared down and the torque spec looks good. Used ones are priced right...the biggest problem is, of course, that it's DC and therefore requires a separate power supply.

How much is a wiper motor vs a cheap drill? How would one mount something like this? Got a link to a wiper motor that you've got in mind?

wyzazz said:

How much is a wiper motor vs a cheap drill?

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No idea on the wiper motor...but the Harbor freight 10 amp 1/2" D-handle drill is on sale for 32.99, so with a 20% off coupon it's almost free.

Yea i know it's cheap chinese...but it tears through grain very easily and is variable speed w/ a dial not by the trigger. Could be mounted pretty easily. I have been trying to come up w/ a cheap and easy way to configure my mill to run unassisted. Kneeling down for 5 minutes holding the drill is getting old...or maybe i am.

anyone conditioning their grain before milling? Setting up my discount tommy mill this week and looking forward to a go at it

bucfanmike said:

anyone conditioning their grain before milling? Setting up my discount tommy mill this week and looking forward to a go at it

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There's a current thread about this. I don't know how to link on my mobile, but search on "Conditioning Grain == Awesome"

BeerEagle said:

There's a current thread about this. I don't know how to link on my mobile, but search on "Conditioning Grain == Awesome"

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yeah im on that on also, cross posts since i knew everyone on this post was using a corona type

bucfanmike said:

anyone conditioning their grain before milling? Setting up my discount tommy mill this week and looking forward to a go at it

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Thought about trying it...but im lazy, and "if it ain't broke"

wilserbrewer said:

No idea on the wiper motor...but the Harbor freight 10 amp 1/2" D-handle drill is on sale for 32.99, so with a 20% off coupon it's almost free.

Yea i know it's cheap chinese...but it tears through grain very easily and is variable speed w/ a dial not by the trigger. Could be mounted pretty easily. I have been trying to come up w/ a cheap and easy way to configure my mill to run unassisted. Kneeling down for 5 minutes holding the drill is getting old...or maybe i am.

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I was going to pick up that very drill today since my cordless finally took a dump!

I believe if you watch ScubaSteve's video about the Unibrew 5500 you'll see that drill mounted under a table turning his mill. Maybe cut a hole in a tabletop or piece of plywood to fit your bucket in there and set the drill on the table mounted with some zip-ties to keep it ugly?

wyzazz, I doubt you will be disappointed w/ that HF drill...the thing is a beast!

Good to know, thanks!

how to motorize your corona!
GFs daughter, she didn't want to stop! but i had to pull her aside 'cuz we still had like 5lbs of grain and i was at strike temp already!