Kegco Mill?

[augiedoggy]

Hey, I’m not bashing the mill, I’m happy with my purchase.

Im just stating, none of the official documentation states the rollers are heat treated or hardened, and my empirical evidence supports that.

We don’t need to get into a pissing match on metallurgy, but these are not heat treated rollers. A single pass with a file digs right in, hardly different than my barley crusher rollers. Cold rolling or working mild steel will increase its hardness, but it’s not the same as a higher carbon steel or tool steel that’s been heat treated.

With that said, the knurling is much more aggressive, and the 1.5” diameter rollers should improve the angle the grain pulls into the mill. This is a much better mill than the BC, and the steel hardness doesn’t concern me. Hardened rollers are likely overkill for a 1.5” 3roller mill in the home brew setting.

I just wanted to clear up the info for anyone trying to compare apples to apples pricing with a similar mill. I would not compare these to other ‘heat treated rollers’. But this mill is less than half the price of a 3 roller heat treated mill, so it sorta makes sense.

The amount of grain you’ve put through yours is impressive. That’s 500 batches at my scale, which would be like 20-30 years of brewing, so that’s fantastic news.

What do you have your gap set at?

Im not disagreeing with you I was simply stating actual work hardened or cold rolled is a form of hardening. Anyone who has accidentally work hardened the side of their brewing kettle while drilling the hole in the side can tell you that.

They do advertise cold rolled steel I think that and hardened cold rolled steel is all Ive seen some resellers advertise. The thing is the barley crusher advertises "1018" cold rolled steel rollers too and these are definitely harder than what they are using.

Are there any home brewing mills that you know of that state they have high carbon or tool steel rollers? I know MM stated theirs are cold rolled as well.

I actually have one, unfortunately despite the rollers being black carbon steel, the mill was very very poorly made so poorly made I demanded my money back and the seller didnt even want to pay for return shipping.

 

[scottland]

MM states theirs are heat treated 1144.

‘Cold rolled’ and ‘heat treated’ are typically not used interchangeably.

You’re absolutely correct, cold working steel increases tensile strength at the cost of ductility. But that is not the same heat treating and tempering.

 

[augiedoggy]

Good to know There are a few reports of monster mill owners claiming rollers wore out and they had to replace their Mills . they are far and few between and of course we are going on testimonials and assumptions. For all we know it could have been the bushings that wore out which are more likely.. I do have the mm 3 as well as the kegco I can try the file technique and see how it reacts
I know I know that I've had my Cerial killer for 6 years now and the roller still look new. I also know it's from the same manufacturer as the Keiko 3 roller which I've put all that green mentioned above through and those rollers still look new so whatever they're doing it's working.

 

[scottland]

If you do test your roller. Pull it out of the body, and test the corner of it. No needed to mess up some perfectly good knurling.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I just bought one of those.

Quality seems quite nice. The blue plastic came off pretty easy if I went nice and slow.

I can confirm, the rollers are definitely not hardened steel. I’m not sure where that notion came from, but they are definitely not. A file digs right into the roller. Files should skate across hardened steel.

With that said, I think it’s going to be just fine for what I hope to get out of it. My Barley Crusher lasted 10 years. If I can get 15 years out of this mill, I’ll call it a win.

The rollers definitely aren't anything special in my experience. The one I borrowed didn't have alot of miles on it but already couldn't feed/grip the grain at tighter gap settings however if your located in america for the price it's hard to beat . Occasionally the monster mills go on sale for similar pricing if your not in a hurry and prefer supporting american manufacturing but of course for some that's not a option. Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

MM states theirs are heat treated 1144.

‘Cold rolled’ and ‘heat treated’ are typically not used interchangeably.

You’re absolutely correct, cold working steel increases tensile strength at the cost of ductility. But that is not the same heat treating and tempering.

Just checked monster mills site myself.

The standard monster mill 3 mills use standard 1144 alloy steel thats NOT heat treated and they do not recommend using thier regular sub $300 mills for high volume or commercial use like Ive been using the kegco for myself for the last year.
Here is a quote from monster mills website..

"We DO NOT recommend this mill with our standard steel OR our 303 stainless steel rollers for ANY commercial application. We recommend our HEAT TREATED steel rollers available on our Pro series mills for all COMMERCIAL applications. Heat treated rollers last 10X as long as stainless, or our regular steel."
for the heat treated version you have to pony up $350 for the base without the hopper of crank or base plus shipping (and thats on sale right now with $40 off) and then to get the ball bearing upgrade like the kegco has standard your looking at $450 plus shipping plus $45 for the hopper and $30 for the crank handle to make the comparision more accurate between the kegco and the MM3

So in conclusion, $530 plus shipping from MM (for the MM3 pro PD) will get you the same features and accessories as the kegco offers for $150 shipped minus confirmation of any advantages of the unknown metalurgy of the "cold rolled" steel used on the kegco mill... I for one have no doubt after putting almost 10,000lbs of grain through mine that they are worth every penny of the $140 I paid on sale shipped.

and you just heard from that one person Ive ever heard report the rollers wore out on a kegco mill above... (on his friends) mill that he would never buy because the MM is only a couple bucks more and american made.

 

[day_trippr]

[questions that arose when my well-used BC had lost its grip in its original configuration]
Is there a process that allows post-tooled hardening of rollers?
Could one send their (new) steel rollers somewhere to have them hardened?
Would they have to send their first born child with the rollers?

Cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

Ok folks, things started getting personal here, and posts have been deleted. Keep your comments on-topic, and DO NOT question the motives of, nor denigrate other members.

doug293cz
HBT Moderator

 

[augiedoggy]

[questions that arose when my well-used BC had lost its grip in its original configuration]
Is there a process that allows post-tooled hardening of rollers?
Could one send their (new) steel rollers somewhere to have them hardened?
Would they have to send their first born child with the rollers?

Cheers!

I am curios about this as well... if it were as simple as heating them with a torch or stuffing them into a hot firepit Id be all over it.

 

[scottland]

[questions that arose when my well-used BC had lost its grip in its original configuration]
Is there a process that allows post-tooled hardening of rollers?
Could one send their (new) steel rollers somewhere to have them hardened?
Would they have to send their first born child with the rollers?

Cheers!

I’m not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze for a mill at this price point. Time will tell, but I think it’s going to last longer then I need it to.

 

[NCBeerMedic]

I love mine. Only a few pounds through so far, but it's worked great.

Kegco Mill

• NCBeerMedic
• Jan 11, 2020

Mill station

• NCBeerMedic
• Jan 11, 2020

all came from williamsbros.com Motor is amazing, good torque and quiet. No pulleys/belts.

 

[Pete S]

...Blue plastic was not difficult to remove, each section peeled off in one piece.

I got mine today. I ordered it from Beverage Factory. As far as I can tell, the components haven't changed from when you got yours. What was radically different from your description, was that the blue protective film was a royal PITA to remove from the aluminum, it left lots of sticky adhesive on the surface of the aluminum, and the adhesive is not water soluble. In addition to that, due to how the aluminum parts are stamped out, there were sharp raised burrs on the edges of one side of each aluminum part.

I haven't even assembled it yet. Assembly should be fairly easy, even though they don't supply printed instructions anymore. Removing the blue film from all of the parts took me over an hour, no kidding. After checking to see if all of the left behind adhesive is water soluble (it's not), I used a citrus oil based solvent to dissolve the adhesive, then washed the parts with soap and water in the sink, used a coarse diamond wetstone to knock down the worst of the burred edges, then washed the aluminum swarth away with soap and water again. A fine flat file would have been faster to remove the burrs, but I couldn't find mine. Total time so far is over two hours. Actual assembly should be 10-15 minutes. The quality of the heavy three roller portion, appears to be very good for the price.

It seems like most people are quite happy with theirs, and I'm guessing that I will be as well when it comes to actual long-term use of the mill, but the blue film, adhesive, and poor stamping quality of the aluminum hopper parts, was making me regret purchasing this. There's not a single mention of what I just described in the reviews on the Beverage Factory website and every single review is either 4 or 5 stars, so they must be only allowing the most favorable reviews to appear. Not to dissuade anyone from purchasing this mill, I think it will be very good in use, but I've already unsubscribed from Beverage Factory emails and I don't intend to order from them again, because their reviews can't be trusted.

 

[LittleRiver]

I've been using my Kegco 3 roller for about 4 years now.

I am very happy with it, because I have not had a single problem with it.

I adjusted the gap when I received it, and have not had to adjust it since. It just works, each and every time.

 

[RPh_Guy]

the blue film, adhesive, and poor stamping quality of the aluminum hopper parts, was making me regret purchasing this.

That's a bummer. Definitely wasn't the case with mine.

 

[Pete S]

Now that I have the parts cleaned up, I imagine that I will be very happy with it in the end, but what a PITA it was removing the blue film and adhesive. The blue film on mine looked just like that in previous photos, but maybe mine sat in a scorching hot warehouse for weeks? I don't know. I just wanted to add my experience, so others weren't surprised if they experienced the same thing.

Without having used it yet, or any other mills for that matter, would I choose it again? Maybe, but I guess I would factor in a couple hours of my time into the cost of the Kegco 3-roller mill compared to other mills. I'm not sure if anyone showed it in prior responses, but mine came with a black enameled steel plate that's designed to sit over a 5 gallon bucket, which the mill would attach to. I would happily give up the bucket mount in exchange for my two hours of time dealing with blue film and adhesive.

 

[day_trippr]

I have to laugh because the Cereal Killer mill I bought a year and a half ago is still sporting the blue plastic film on the base bin.
When it arrived I tried peeling a corner off the bin and the degree of resistance indicated I was facing a chore best avoided if possible.
I think it looks cool - like it's blue anodized

Cheers!

 

[augiedoggy]

Now that I have the parts cleaned up, I imagine that I will be very happy with it in the end, but what a PITA it was removing the blue film and adhesive. The blue film on mine looked just like that in previous photos, but maybe mine sat in a scorching hot warehouse for weeks? I don't know. I just wanted to add my experience, so others weren't surprised if they experienced the same thing.

Without having used it yet, or any other mills for that matter, would I choose it again? Maybe, but I guess I would factor in a couple hours of my time into the cost of the Kegco 3-roller mill compared to other mills. I'm not sure if anyone showed it in prior responses, but mine came with a black enameled steel plate that's designed to sit over a 5 gallon bucket, which the mill would attach to. I would happily give up the bucket mount in exchange for my two hours of time dealing with blue film and adhesive.

I dont know if the monster mills have the blue protective plastic over the aluminum but if you bought that mill with the hopper and handle for about $300 would you feel better about not having the inconvenience? Honestly for every person upset about the film theres another OCD person who would send the mill back for having scuffed aluminum if it wasnt there.. I found if you peel the film back instead of away mine came right off both my mills that had it.

 

[Pete S]

I dont know if the monster mills have the blue protective plastic over the aluminum but if you bought that mill with the hopper and handle for about $300 would you feel better about not having the inconvenience? Honestly for every person upset about the film theres another OCD person who would send the mill back for having scuffed aluminum if it wasnt there.. I found if you peel the film back instead of away mine came right off both my mills that had it.

No, I wouldn't spend $300 to get the same mill without the blue film on it, and I understand why they machine the aluminum with the blue film on it, but this this isn't a complicated piece of machinery to assembly, yet that blue plastic added roughly 2 hours to the process, unless I had just left it on, like they did in the assembly instructions. Something clearly is different between when I got mine and when other people did. The blue film was very hard to remove, regardless of how I tried to pull it off, 1/4 of the adhesive was left behind. I can't recall in all of my years ever having to spend so much time assembling something so simple.

I would have looked harder at other mills if 1) I knew how much of a PITA this one would be due to the adhesive problem 2) if I had known that Beverage Factory was filtering out negative reviews. Maybe I still would have ended up with this mill, but I haven't been impressed with the "unboxing" part of it. Ironically, I now have light scuff marks all over the aluminum, from the process of removing all of that adhesive. I could care less about the light marks from a Scotch-brite pad, but sticky adhesive all over it, I wasn't loving that.

 

[mikehoover]

To remove the blue plastic, use a dowel of appropriate length and thickness (pencil?). Get the edge started and the rest is made easier.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

How is the Kegco mill different than the Keg King mill? Seem the same to me. Why then do homebrewers like their Kegco mill when I've had numerous frustrations with my Keg King?

See thread

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/keg-king-malt-muncher-3-frustrations.680921/

 

[augiedoggy]

How is the Kegco mill different than the Keg King mill? Seem the same to me. Why then do homebrewers like their Kegco mill when I've had numerous frustrations with my Keg King?

See thread

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/keg-king-malt-muncher-3-frustrations.680921/

You might have a defective mill or you might not be doing something right. No way to know from here. Dland got a defective one with an out of round roller a few months ago that morebeer had to exchange. and about a year ago a few people got mills from monster that had dective knurling on the rollers... It happens.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

You might have a defective mill or you might not be doing something right. No way to know from here. Dland got a defective one with an out of round roller a few months ago that morebeer had to exchange. and about a year ago a few people got mills from monster that had dective knurling on the rollers... It happens.

I've read every post from everywhere I found on the net about setting the mill. I've watched videos on setting the mill. My mill is correctly assembled and gapped.

 

[Bago-0]

Just got mine last week and the Blue coating does not seem to want to come off easy. Is there really any problem just leaving it on?

 

[augiedoggy]

Just got mine last week and the Blue coating does not seem to want to come off easy. Is there really any problem just leaving it on?

No its just a plastic protective coating... lot of people seem to leave it on judging by pics shared in the motorized mill threads.

 

[augiedoggy]

I've read every post from everywhere I found on the net about setting the mill. I've watched videos on setting the mill. My mill is correctly assembled and gapped.

Sounds like you answered your own question and your mills defective then. Thats the only possible outcome if your correct in your assement of the mill being correctly assembled and gapped.
If the issue was the design of the mill everyone would be having the same complaint as you and their wouldn't be multiple manufacturers pumping out this same design for years. Im sure you have done a search and seen that there are multiple complaint threads of the same issue as you have with mills of this design, but those appeared to be assembly or rollers adjusted incorrectly in most cases and in a few others the mill was defective.

Sorry I know im coming across as being argumentative but its not my true intent... Its just You have started multiple threads about your issues with your mill and from what you have said you seem to believe the non geared design is the fault but you could very well just be making this assessment based on a defective mill and fighting a futile battle for months if thats the case.