Motorized Grain Mills: Time to show them off!

[SAMPLER]

I'm building my first DIY motorized grain mill this weekend and I'm looking for some inspiration. I have a Barley Crusher, 1750 RPM motor and some pulleys. I'm ready to get started, so show me what you got.

Thanks for sharing

 

[ScubaSteve]

Here's mine, and how I built it:http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/hawkie333/HOMEBREWING/MILLING%20STATION/

 

[keiths]

Heres mine.

 

[kmack747]

And mine

 

[SAMPLER]

I have a 10 inch pulley for the Barley Crusher pulley but it is cast iron. I was wondering if there would is a need for concern that the weight of the pulley would or cold effect the performance and life of the mill itself?

What materials are people using for their pulleys?

 

[mdv638]

PTO

 

[davefj40]

nice 40, more pics of that

 

[jordanpace]

My new grainmill that I just built here in Argentina, its huge!

My grainmill in Texas

 

[DubbelDach]

Right after I built it:



And the first real crush:



Great thread!

 

[SAMPLER]

Starting the assembly today, any idea about the weight of the pulley/sheave? If I was to guess I would say that the pulley weighs in about 3.5#.

 

[user 29649]

Here's a couple pics.

1 1/2" motor sheave, 12" on the mill

It runs approx. 180 rpm

 

[ol' rummie]

This is mine, I've since moved the motor from under the mill.

 

[SAMPLER]

Here is some of the progress I made today. Still concerned about the weight of the pulley but otherwise things are looking good.

 

[SAMPLER]

It looks like you have enough flywheel mass with that large iron pulley.
The SWMBO know a hunk of her kitchen counter is missing?
That had me thinking about the couple of granite slabs I have laying around
I can put to use.

LOL... so far I have acquired no cost in the build. The motor I had lying around in the garage, cabinet and counter top came out of my buddies kitchen, and the pulley was given to me by neighbor.

I figured I would give it a shot and if the pulley starts to cause issues I'll spend the $24 for a zinc die cast 10". But so far so good.
Not bad for nearly FREE.

 

[DavidP]

http://www.tracezero.net/Beer/gadgets/motorized-grain-mill/

If I was doing this over again I'd go with a direct drive & gear motor. But otherwise this mill has worked great for the last few years. I do like how it folds up for storage and is kept simple by using the bucket for support.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Here's the mill I made entirely from scratch:

And here's what I'm currently using. 12" rollers were fun for a while, but it takes a ton of power to turn them, and a full hopper would easily stall motors up to 1/2 HP. Rather than redesigning and re-machining, I broke down and bought a 3 roller Monster Mill.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I like the MM better in almost every way. I use a trash can for grain collection. It nearly surrounds the mill.

 

[rico567]

I like the current rig of "Yuri Rage" a lot. It could also be easily adapted for a non-furniture (something that doesn't occupy permanent floor space) configuration. I definitely wouldn't have any of the belt drive units I've seen. No guard = accident waiting to happen, and more difficult to adapt to a non "furniture" install.

 

[merlSr]

These are all really cool. Ive probably got most of this stuff just laying around, except for the "rollers" (?). Where could I find? Could I make?

 

[lehr]

Mine but I have since changed motors.

 

[Shay]

Here is mine. It is a monster mill 2.0 3 roller.

 

[SAMPLER]

Here is mine. It is a monster mill 2.0 3 roller.

/

Can you show me hope you hooked up the on/off and forward/reverse swithces?

 

[MrH]

I built mine back in 1994 or '95 and finally got around to building a dedicated cabinet for it last year to help contain the dust from milling. The mill is mahogany and white oak body with white oak roller support slider for gap adjustment. Mahogany plywood hopper. 2" x 8" hardened tool steel rollers powered by a 200rpm gear motor. The torque on the motor is unreal. I'd like a bigger hopper, but it mills as fast as I can pour the grain in, so it's not that big of a deal for me.

 

[WPStrassburg]

Here's V2.0 of my former Valley Mill. Paint and wiring in the switch comes tomorrow.
I heated the bottle neck up and narrowed it up in the vice and made it twice as wide. Not brewing till next weekend, so we'll see how it goes then.

The last hopper wasn't steep enough and didn't distribute the grain along the roller very good.

 

[Hang Glider]

Bodine gearmotor off e-bay, DC, converted to AC. A lovejoy and a right-angle attachment for a power drill - sits on the bucket, goes anywhere, doesn't take up much space. The rpm is low, torque is high, bet it would crush rocks.

the DC to AC converter box I built (with a little help from an electronics forum)

 

[Sherpa FE]

Here is one that I built

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-grain-mill-cabinet-pics-124495/

 

[cascadia]

Question for the group. Is there a point where mill speed becomes too slow?

Other than the obvious of taking more time. I have a dayton motor and some sheaves. According to my math I will get 132 rpm with 47 in/lbs of torque on the mill shaft. Acceptable?

 

[nickpgoodman]

Here's mine. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic.

JSP Malt Mill. 1/2hp motor. Taken right before I cut the hole for the hopper.

 

[Catt22]

Question for the group. Is there a point where mill speed becomes too slow?

Other than the obvious of taking more time. I have a dayton motor and some sheaves. According to my math I will get 132 rpm with 47 in/lbs of torque on the mill shaft. Acceptable?

Yes, perfectly acceptable. Lower mill speeds generate less dust. I'm running mine at only 115 rpm. Plenty fast enough for me.

 

[Hang Glider]

Mine's turning at 62. Of course if I go pro, that will be too slow...

you should be fine.