3 roller monster mill help

[Monster Mills]

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[Irrenarzt]

Next check your gap. On the 3-roller mills, the gap needs to be set such that the area between all the rollers is MAXimized. If you think about it, you can set the same gap with the knobs in two different positions. Think of two circles that intersect, there are two points where they cross. Put the bottom adjustable roller in the lowest most position, 6, o'clock, on both ends. Looking at the mill from the drive shaft end, the drive shaft should be on the left side of the mill. You need to turn the knob on that end from the 6 o'clock position clockwise to set the gap you want. From the other end, you should turn it CCW. This will make the bottom roller as far away from the top idler as possible. You need to make sure that you set the gap this way so that the mill feed properly. If the ends are not set the same, the idler will bind. ALSO, don't set the gap wider than 0.045". You're wasting your time at a gap wider than that, and the mill might not feed properly, if it's bigger than that. I recommend you start at 0.040", and leave it there, or work slightly smaller.

Before you re-install the hopper, make a small mark with a permanent sharpie on the knob, and on the frames that line up, so that you know where 0.040" is on your mill. All milling is going to happen very close to here. This way, you can remove, and re-install the thumbscrews, and know that the knobs haven't moved, and you can always go back to 0.040"

Good information. I have my gap set at 0.055" (I have an MM3-2.0 with hardened rollers) and it is working well with a nice crush, even too fine with some grains as I'm seeing some flour. I'm reluctant to go with a tighter gap to be honest.

I'll try it tighter but I'm not sure it will be any better than what I'm getting now. Are we talking about the same mills? It sounds like it but just to be sure...

 

[Lost_Arkitekt]

I know this is an old thread, but I have had trouble with my mill since I got it. However, I finally figured out what the problem is. On MY setup, the hopper with extension, presses down on the idler roller and binds it. I know this because I have a high torque drill that I use for mixing concrete, so the if the hopper hits the drive roller, it is either worn down now or moves out of the way.

Everything spins freely with the hopper off. Then, if I put the hopper on and tighten it to the mill, idler roller doesn't spin easily. Getting the drill going first has no affect and no grain gets crushed. If I loosen the hopper slightly on the side of the idler roller and get the drill going first, crushes like a charm. However, if I stop the drill at any point (even if just a little grain in there), the hopper binds the idler again. It will also bind it if I put the grain in first--before starting the drill--even with the hopper loosened.

There is another small flaw with the mill. (I do some industrial design work...hahaha.) There should be some really shallow, #10 tapped holes on the sides--at the top and the bottom. Even though this makes it take longer to remove the hopper, it would keep the dust from coming out around the sides.

I think my solution is to slightly grind the edge of the hopper down that goes across the length of the idler...maybe 0.03125" (1/32)" or so--not a lot. My worry is that I'm not sure how much to grind it down to alleviate the problem. I don't want to grind and then totally install (over and over) just to get it to work. I'd shim the hopper with nylon washers (wafer thin) right under where the bolts on the top (idler side), but then that would leave a gap for grain dust to come out. I made a really nice malt mill stand, so I would like to keep the top from being covered with a **** ton of dust.