Cheap grain mill

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SaevaVeritas

SaevaVeritas

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I have been looking and looking to find a cheap DIY option for making a grain mill that is reliable. Unfortunately I don't have access to a metal working shop.

The concrete roller idea seems cost prohibitive.

Any one out there have success making a grain mill with minimal tooling required?

Thanks!
 
there are not many options because of the process of crushing grains....


Perhaps look into the way that dutch mills ground grains into flour and employing a similar process.
 
I just got my barley crusher with 15 pound hopper yesterday and it is bad ass. I can't wait to make my next batch. If you buy it directly off of their website, you'll save about 30 bucks over any other homebrewing site that sells it and marks up the price.

If I were you I'd throw a 20 dollar bill in a drawer every week or two and just buy one in a month in a half. That's just me though.
 
Sharkman20 said:
I just got my barley crusher with 15 pound hopper yesterday and it is bad ass.
Click to expand...

I got mine last week and used it this weekend. Just keeping at factory settings, my efficiency went up to 84%. My robust porter is now going to come in at 7% abv if it attenuates correctly. Damn the bad luck. :D

Normally I like to see if I can do things myself, but for the mill it wasn't something I was going to waste my time and money on. And for what you get, it's really not a bad deal.
 
Search "Corona mill" on here. Many use these to mill grain, either by hand or with a motor (Revvy has a nice set up). These mills can be had for $40 or lower if you scrounge eBay or flea markets.
 
I've looked at corona and roller mills. At McMaster Carr, you can get 2" 1018 smooth steel rollers, threaded idler shafts, bronze food grade bushings, 3/8 or 1/2 thick Aluminum plates for about $85 depending on your selections. In my opinion, with a drillpress, tap and die set you could build a better quality mill for about the price of a brand name mill.
 
jhorgan1 said:
I think I've seen some threads where people take this kind of grinder:
http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=225634958&sellerid=22540558
and hook up a power drill too it and use it as a mill. It might have been a different mill though. I'm not sure. Anyone have any thoughts on this mill? It's pretty damn cheap
Click to expand...

Spunkmeyer said:
Says the link you provided is expired... :confused:
Click to expand...

huh, youre right. no clue why that may be. Try this link:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=Ft5fT-TxJ8S60AHZ76CkCg&ved=0CFkQ8wIwAA
Otherwise just google corona mill and click the first link under shopping. I'm pretty sure its the same mill that ive seen on a few threads but its titles victoria old fashioned corn grinder.
 
Old_mil_guy said:
I've looked at corona and roller mills. At McMaster Carr, you can get 2" 1018 smooth steel rollers, threaded idler shafts, bronze food grade bushings, 3/8 or 1/2 thick Aluminum plates for about $85 depending on your selections. In my opinion, with a drillpress, tap and die set you could build a better quality mill for about the price of a brand name mill.
Click to expand...

If the threshold to test your theory is the price of a Barley Crusher with the 15 pound hopper ($150 delivered), just the parts listed using your prices would only leave you $65 for your time.

And you obviously left off quite a few items, like the whole hopper, all of the screws and washers, the eccentrics to allow you to adjust the gap, a handle, a base, etc. And it isn't clear how you'd actually drive the powered roller - idler shafts aren't going to do it - so there must be something more to that part as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see someone do what you think you could do. But my guess is you'd be lucky to come up with something for $150, and that's if you really don't put much value on your time...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
If the threshold to test your theory is the price of a Barley Crusher with the 15 pound hopper ($150 delivered), just the parts listed using your prices would only leave you $65 for your time.

And you obviously left off quite a few items, like the whole hopper, all of the screws and washers, the eccentrics to allow you to adjust the gap, a handle, a base, etc. And it isn't clear how you'd actually drive the powered roller - idler shafts aren't going to do it - so there must be something more to that part as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see someone do what you think you could do. But my guess is you'd be lucky to come up with something for $150, and that's if you really don't put much value on your time...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

My barley crusher with 15lb hopper add on was $159.50 delivered to CA. Took about 2 weeks. Now, it can't boast what the malt mill boasts where you can stand on the thing, but who really needs to put that kind of strain on a grain mill? For what it is made for, which is crushing barley it is more than durable and should last many years as long as it is well taken care of just like with any piece of equipment. What I also like about this one, is they also include a handle in the price where you can manually crank the grain through instead of relying solely on a drill or charging another 30 bucks for a handle attachment. I'll most likely put the handle away and use my drill, but it's good to know that if my electric drill craps out on me on brew day I don't have to drive anywhere to complete the task. Also, they include a base that fits perfectly onto a 5 gallon bucket for collecting the crushed grain and keeping the dust down which would be more additional cost in money and time for you to construct one yourself. I'd definitely recommend ponying up the dough and getting a premade mill. Like I said, that's just me though.
 
Cambone said:
Search "Corona mill" on here. Many use these to mill grain, either by hand or with a motor (Revvy has a nice set up). These mills can be had for $40 or lower if you scrounge eBay or flea markets.
Click to expand...

Like this?

CoronaMill.jpg
 
I was looking at these on amazon and they are not highly rated. However I have only heard good things on HBT should I not get it off amazon or are people too picky?
 
I thought that was obvious in my post. You can buy eccentric and bronze bushings, rollers etc. They have the alum to make a base. inserts, stainless hardware. If you really wanted to assemble a mill, you could do it for about the same price but you would have to want to build a mill not justify the time you'd have in it.


day_trippr said:
If the threshold to test your theory is the price of a Barley Crusher with the 15 pound hopper ($150 delivered), just the parts listed using your prices would only leave you $65 for your time.

And you obviously left off quite a few items, like the whole hopper, all of the screws and washers, the eccentrics to allow you to adjust the gap, a handle, a base, etc. And it isn't clear how you'd actually drive the powered roller - idler shafts aren't going to do it - so there must be something more to that part as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see someone do what you think you could do. But my guess is you'd be lucky to come up with something for $150, and that's if you really don't put much value on your time...

Cheers!
Click to expand...
 
Old_mil_guy said:
I thought that was obvious in my post. You can buy eccentric and bronze bushings, rollers etc. They have the alum to make a base. inserts, stainless hardware. If you really wanted to assemble a mill, you could do it for about the same price but you would have to want to build a mill not justify the time you'd have in it.
Click to expand...

Go for it. And post the pics ;)

Cheers!
 
SaevaVeritas said:
I was looking at these on amazon and they are not highly rated. However I have only heard good things on HBT should I not get it off amazon or are people too picky?
Click to expand...

Most of the complaints on Amazon are from people trying to mill flour. That is NOT what these mills were designed to do. My understanding is that they were originally intended to mill corn meal. Loosen it up a bit and it makes a great malt crusher! :D
 
jhorgan1 said:
I think I've seen some threads where people take this kind of grinder:
http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=225634958&sellerid=22540558
and hook up a power drill too it and use it as a mill. It might have been a different mill though. I'm not sure. Anyone have any thoughts on this mill? It's pretty damn cheap
Click to expand...

Spunkmeyer said:
Says the link you provided is expired... :confused:
Click to expand...

The reason the "expired" link is happening is the way this site handles links. Any link posted to this site goes through commission junction to assign the click to any applicable affiliate program that will generate income for the administrator of this site.

If commission junction worked as it should, this process would be transparent. Unfortunately, commission junction does not work as it should, so this process is not transparent. CJ breaks a lot of links.

The administrator (TXbrew) has been alerted of this problem. Copying and pasting the text of the link will take you to the originally linked page.
 
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