I've read several project descriptions from brewers that built grain mills - and thanks to all those that worked out some of the details before me. I decided to build my own as a winter project. I had a few goals - 1) functional, 2) low cost, 3) simple.
I started with a Cereal Crusher mill. It came with a hopper that holds about 7# of grain and on sale was under $100. Next, I looked around to find what I already had - some 5/8" plywood, and some 2X4 and 2X6 leftovers. I used these to make my cabinet. The plywood leftover was 28" wide, to that was the dimension I used as the length of my cabinet. I measured the height of a 6 gallon plastic bucket sitting on my platform scale and added a couple inches for clearance. That determined the height of the cabinet. The width was determined by how much plywood I had left. I had some casters from an earlier project I didn't get to, so they went on the bottom.
To power the mill, I used a 1/2" heavy duty low speed drill I got on sale from HF Tools for about $40. There are several things that made using this drill a good solution for me; 1) it's designed as a low speed drill and is variable speed - I can adjust the speed without changing any pulleys, 2) it has lot's of torque - plenty of power, 3) it's reversible - with the flip of a switch, 4) it attaches to the shaft on my mill with ease - just tighten the chuck, 5) the trigger locks on - I don't have to hold it. I aligned the drill and the shaft on the mill (which required some shimming of the drill to get it to the right level), and then held it in place with a couple of stainless hose clamps.
I used an extension cord through a light switch to turn it on and off - strip a little insulation, cut the white wire, and attach to the switch terminals. I also use a foot switch so I don't have to reach for anything to turn the mill on and off.
I have my platform scale inside with the display mounted out where I can see it. This allows me to know how much grain I've added and how much more to add to fill my grain bill. I've used it several times and running 20# through it was a piece of cake. I did make a simple hopper extension out of some 1/2" MDF I had on hand which allows me to put 20# in the hopper all at once. It just slides in and out of the factory hopper when I need to use it.
Here's my new mill:
I started with a Cereal Crusher mill. It came with a hopper that holds about 7# of grain and on sale was under $100. Next, I looked around to find what I already had - some 5/8" plywood, and some 2X4 and 2X6 leftovers. I used these to make my cabinet. The plywood leftover was 28" wide, to that was the dimension I used as the length of my cabinet. I measured the height of a 6 gallon plastic bucket sitting on my platform scale and added a couple inches for clearance. That determined the height of the cabinet. The width was determined by how much plywood I had left. I had some casters from an earlier project I didn't get to, so they went on the bottom.
To power the mill, I used a 1/2" heavy duty low speed drill I got on sale from HF Tools for about $40. There are several things that made using this drill a good solution for me; 1) it's designed as a low speed drill and is variable speed - I can adjust the speed without changing any pulleys, 2) it has lot's of torque - plenty of power, 3) it's reversible - with the flip of a switch, 4) it attaches to the shaft on my mill with ease - just tighten the chuck, 5) the trigger locks on - I don't have to hold it. I aligned the drill and the shaft on the mill (which required some shimming of the drill to get it to the right level), and then held it in place with a couple of stainless hose clamps.
I used an extension cord through a light switch to turn it on and off - strip a little insulation, cut the white wire, and attach to the switch terminals. I also use a foot switch so I don't have to reach for anything to turn the mill on and off.
I have my platform scale inside with the display mounted out where I can see it. This allows me to know how much grain I've added and how much more to add to fill my grain bill. I've used it several times and running 20# through it was a piece of cake. I did make a simple hopper extension out of some 1/2" MDF I had on hand which allows me to put 20# in the hopper all at once. It just slides in and out of the factory hopper when I need to use it.
Here's my new mill:
