Valley Grain Mill

Does anyone have a link to the Valley Grain Mill site? I understand they have an adapter bit needed to properly attach a drill to the mill.

I picked one up as part of a great equipment score, but it's without the handle.

Any advice on getting this thing working so I can mill by own grain too?

 

Good mill but they stopped making them a few years ago. The threaded bolt with female hex head that functions as an electric drill adapter is probably something you could find at a good hardware store or through a catalog supplier like McMaster-Carr.

 

I recently acquired a valley mill through similar circumstances. What does the crank side of your mill look like? Mine has a metal rod, maybe six inches, with a wheel for a belt drive. Sadly I don't have the belt drive. I'm wondering if there's something I need to remove (aside from the wheel) before I can just use a drill.

Is this hex bit mentioned something that was included with the mill or just a standard part I could buy anywhere?

Thanks!

 

I've had a Valley mill for 15 yearsnow and it is great. I'm not sure if the hex part is standard but it was on mine when my friend gave it to me. I use a 1/2 " drill and it slips over the shaft and tightens nicely to the squared of part of the shaft close to the mill body.

 

Ahh okay, so it sounds like I might have some after market parts that I can remove from mine. Hopefully there's a more obvious way to attach a drill bit once I remove some of that stuff.

 

Any tool store (Home Despot, Lowe's, Canadian Tire, etc) will sell drill bit extenders, from 6 inch to over a foot. They will have set screws at one end that you attach to the mill shaft, and a normal drill bit end, probably with a few flat spots, to go into the drill chuck. Should be able to get them for under 10 bucks.

 

Hey you all think this will work? I removed the fly wheel on my mill to find that a bolt was broken off in the place where I assume you would screw in the bit adapter. The shaft is 1/2' diameter (I believe).

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020430/6883/Forstner-Bit-Extension-12-x-4.aspx

Thanks!

 

That is exacyly what I was talking about, couldn't think of the real name.

 

I've had a V-mill for many years. A 1/2 drill works good at LOW speed. The bushings are nylon and will wear out quickly at high speed and there are almost no replacement parts available.

 

The Nylon bushings also tend to swell up with heat in my hot garage...

They wouldn't be too hard to fabricate in bronze by a machinist.

M_C