Anyone have a Millars Mill Pilot? Problems with crush

[homebrewdude76]

I have been trying to dial this in, and I am always too coarse.

Are people close to the minimum gap to get a good crush?

 

[JohnSand]

I'm considering one, so I'm interested in this.

 

[yeehaw_charles]

I've got one and really like the quality I got for the price. Best thing to do is put a credit/bank card in between the rollers and set the gap against it.

 

[homebrewdude76]

Just one credit card? Let me see how that compares to my current gap.

 

[homebrewdude76]

I really don't like how the hopper attaches. It is typical to grab the hopper to move the mill, but the hopper is not secured very well.

 

[Metzen]

I like mine. Keep in mind that the mill does have a wide gap spectrum. Credit card width will be at the very lower end. I condition my grain and have my gap set a bit above 0.01.

I BIAB and am getting ~83-85% mash efficiency with this crush.

 

[Metzen]

I have been trying to dial this in, and I am always too coarse.

Are people close to the minimum gap to get a good crush?View attachment 547037

Based on your photo, it looks like your gap is far too wide. For a finer crush regardless of mill, many are in the 0.025 to 0.05 range. It looks like you have yours at ~0.1-0.15. Suggest you use a credit card to calibrate.

 

[ancientmariner52]

What units is that graduated in? .45 inches you could drop a marble through. .45 mm would be less than half a credit card. Just doesn't make sense.

I suggest you forget the graduations and use a credit card until you can pick up a set of feeler gages.

I'm not trying to diss your mill, but, manufacturing tolerances and clearances being what they are, I would be astounded if the same setting on each end actually gives the same gap on each end. At any rate, test it before you trust it.

For what it's worth, I just mic'ed a credit card. It was 0.032 in. over the stock material, and 0.050 in. over the raised numbers.

 

[homebrewdude76]

I checked my existing gap with a credit card (Southwest Card ok?)
One side slightly touched the card, and the other side did not.
So looks like I can tighten down the mill more.

I am running it with an oversize drill I already owned.
Been reading on how I should be running it slow(er)

 

[ancientmariner52]

Sounds like you're nearly there. Once you get the gap set, just find something that fits it to use for a gage in the future. I used to set the ignition points on my 54 Mercury with a paper matchstick.

 

[Sawhorse-Josh]

I'm late to this thread but I bought a Pilot about 8 months ago and I've been struggling to find the right gap. I love the build quality (it's beautiful) but the gradations are useless. They must be for things other than barley. What can you crush with a .45" setting, nuts?

Anyways, lightly conditioning the grain and setting the gap to .03" with a guage seems to get me pretty good results.

One thought I've had is that the Pilot allows milling along the entire length of the rollers. As an experiment I"m going to use some painters tape to restrict the grain to only go through the middle 2-3 inches of the mill. Perhaps this will give me more consistent results.

Oh well, if anyone sees this hope it helps.

-Josh