Mill base questions

[magno]

I am building the base for my new Crankandstein. I have a slot in the wood for the grains to fall through, and four holes for the mounting bolts. When I attach the mill, the powered roller does not want to turn by hand, and the other roller turns freely. The stuck roller does not appear to be rubbing on anything.

Is this normal, or are my holes slightly off, or is there some other problem?

- magno

 

[pjj2ba]

It is very likely that the holes are off. Unmount it and see if it make a difference. The powered roller should rotate smoothly and the OTHER one should be little stiff. You might make a pattern for your holes. Turn the mill upside down and take a pieice of paper and put it over it and using the edge of a pencil lead, rub back and forth over where the holes are. Carefully hold the paper (or tape it) while doing this. This should give you a nice pattern. Tape this onto your board and drill away.

 

[the teacher]

I have the same mill and had the same problem. It's the alignment of the holes. It was a real pain to get everything working just right. That's why the instructions say to drill a hole slightly larger than the bolt, so there's room to adjust the thing. Tighten everything down just a little at a time to make sure it's all even.
BTW it's the driven roller that spun less easy on mine as well.