Motorized Grain Mills: Time to show them off!

[biertourist]

Here's a placeholder photo for mine, until I get it fully finished:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154065719976929&l=d893707f92


It's an Ikea Stenstorp kitchen cart I bought off of CraigsList ($100) and hacked by removing the middle shelf and front-bar, cut a hole in the butcherblock top, repainted it flat black with a rattle can as it had quite a few scuffs, and then added my existing Monster Mill MM2.0 with hopper extension and American Ale Works PowerGrinder. A buddy built the collar because I don't have the tools nor the skills.

I finished wiring up a forward and reversible drum switch last weekend but still have my special solution for avoiding dust that I need to add and document.

I'll come back to this post when I'm done and update it with the final photos and descriptions.



Adam

 

[FredTheNuke]

those Aleworks direct drive motors are nice BUT at 400 watts that only 1/2 hp. If you use an 2 roller mill you should be fine. For an MM3-2.0 you really need a full 1 hp motor - too bad they don't offer one. I would have snagged it. I have a reducer but haven't gotten off my lazy ass to install it - still running on 2 pulleys which works just fine but sometimes the belt slips. Especially when hitting it with wheat....

 

[biertourist]

those Aleworks direct drive motors are nice BUT at 400 watts that only 1/2 hp. If you use an 2 roller mill you should be fine. For an MM3-2.0 you really need a full 1 hp motor - too bad they don't offer one. I would have snagged it. I have a reducer but haven't gotten off my lazy ass to install it - still running on 2 pulleys which works just fine but sometimes the belt slips. Especially when hitting it with wheat....

It is 1/2 hp and capacitor start; luckily I have a 2 roller mill.

I'd be curious to see the torque #'s for the 180 RPM model.



Adam

 

[Hunky]

Aleworks does insist they work with the 3 roller MM. I have one of those mills so contacted the owner and he said people use his motor with the 3 roller mill. (Unless he or I totally misunderstood the other). Would like to know real world use from somebody. /jd

 

[jammin]

Aleworks does insist they work with the 3 roller MM. I have one of those mills so contacted the owner and he said people use his motor with the 3 roller mill. (Unless he or I totally misunderstood the other). Would like to know real world use from somebody. /jd

I use a Dayton 1/2hp & a 15:1 RA gear reducer. I get 117rpm's that can start 40lbs of grain from a dead stop. I hear 117rpm is in a very beneficial gear range. Slow RPM is supposed to be conducive to husk integrity. Good husk integrity leads to good efficiency, especially with constant recirculation systems. Hassle free sparges are another benefit and cut down on the need for rice hulls when using roasted, flaked or Rye malts. Reducing rice hulls can make more room fermentable grains (in the mash run) by improving efficiency. All of the above can allow your system to increase batch size and SG of a beer

 

[biertourist]

I use a Dayton 1/2hp & a 15:1 RA gear reducer. I get 117rpm's that can start 40lbs of grain from a dead stop. I hear 117rpm is in a very beneficial gear range. Slow RPM is supposed to be conducive to husk integrity. Good husk integrity leads to good efficiency, especially with constant recirculation systems. Hassle free sparges are another benefit and cut down on the need for rice hulls when using roasted, flaked or Rye malts. Reducing rice hulls can make more room fermentable grains (in the mash run) by improving efficiency. All of the above can allow your system to increase batch size and SG of a beer

The slower the RPM the more torque you get per HP (note, I don't actually understand why that is, but it's been repeated on HBT so many times it's got to be true, right?). Personally, I think the motor guidance from Monster is overly conservative. It's my understanding that TORQUE is more important than total HP. -The startup torque is also super important and it's why you normally see capacitor start motors.

The thing that drives increased husk integrity (which I agree is super important in milling) is the shearing force put on the grain husk -if you're dealing with 2 roller where only one is driven by the motor the friction between the first roller, the husk and the 2nd roller is what will shred husks. The slower the speed the lower this shearing / tearing force. This is why, IMHO, we should see more malt mills that are geared so that both gears (or the first 2 gears in a 3 roller mill) are both powered and operate at the same speed. -If you have a geared malt mill the shearing force on the malt husks is far less at any speed than a 2 roller mill where only one roller is powered. (This is one of the parameters that you can set on the gigantic mega $$ 6 roller multinational lager brewery malt mills- they can adjust the speed of each roller independently to create more or less sheering force (control crushing the malt into smaller pieces vs. leaving a more intact husk).)

As has been mentioned husk integrity is important for quick easy lautering / avoiding a stuck recirculation mash / sparge, but it's also important in preventing the extraction of harsh tannins from the grain husk- intact husks will leach tannins slower. If you have hard water or fly sparge and brew low or normal gravity beers it's even more important.


Malt conditioning can also help with preventing husks from shredding AND then allows you to run your mill a bit faster without shredding husks as much.
-I've always malt conditioned but over Christmas my wife bought me the American Ale Works power grinder and they were out of the 180 RPM model and didn't even clearly state that the model being automatically added to the cart was the 240 RPM model, so I've got a 240 RPM power grinder, unfortuantely. -Again still plenty powerful to run an MM 2.0, but I would've preferred a more gentle and higher torque 180 RPM, for sure.



Adam

 

[govner1]

Use a permanent marker to show your setting(s) on both sides of the mill. That will let you readjust if you need to do so.

 

[jleiii]

I use a Dayton 1/2hp & a 15:1 RA gear reducer. I get 117rpm's that can start 40lbs of grain from a dead stop. I hear 117rpm is in a very beneficial gear range. Slow RPM is supposed to be conducive to husk integrity. Good husk integrity leads to good efficiency, especially with constant recirculation systems. Hassle free sparges are another benefit and cut down on the need for rice hulls when using roasted, flaked or Rye malts. Reducing rice hulls can make more room fermentable grains (in the mash run) by improving efficiency. All of the above can allow your system to increase batch size and SG of a beer

I have a 1/2 HP garage door opener that runs at a similar speed, and have yet to have any issues, except when a piece of metal got in it from a fresh batch of grain. Stopped it dead and jammed the rollers so tight I had to take it apart to free it. Fortunately it did not damage the motor/plastic gears or the rollers. I have it mounted under the table and use a chain & sprocket drive. At this speed it's pretty slow, even with 6" long rollers.
I'm very pleased with the husk integrity. I still can't properly gauge my efficiency, but it's not bad.

 

[govner1]

Aleworks does insist they work with the 3 roller MM. I have one of those mills so contacted the owner and he said people use his motor with the 3 roller mill. (Unless he or I totally misunderstood the other). Would like to know real world use from somebody. /jd

Ive been using an Aleworks motor w/ my 3 roller MM for over two years w/ an avg of 2 brews a month. No problems whatsoever.

 

[Hunky]

I have a 1/2 HP garage door opener that runs at a similar speed, and have yet to have any issues, except when a piece of metal got in it from a fresh batch of grain.

I thought I was being pretty cheap when I took a garage door opener and hooked it up after having used a wood lathe motor (cheap) for a couple grinds (pain to set up). But I dumped a bunch of grain in it and went to fire up the HLT. When I came back I smelled smoke - I had melted down the nylon (or plastic) gears and it was trying to start a fire by rubbing itself pretty hard. Made smoke, anyway. So I abandoned that idea. Still have the motor, but don't trust the plastic gears. Here's pics:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6759626&postcount=132

 

[jleiii]

I thought I was being pretty cheap when I took a garage door opener and hooked it up after having used a wood lathe motor (cheap) for a couple grinds (pain to set up). But I dumped a bunch of grain in it and went to fire up the HLT. When I came back I smelled smoke - I had melted down the nylon (or plastic) gears and it was trying to start a fire by rubbing itself pretty hard. Made smoke, anyway. So I abandoned that idea. Still have the motor, but don't trust the plastic gears. Here's pics:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6759626&postcount=132

Here's mine.

I had some sprocket/chain issue, and it jumped off and jammed. That snapped off all 4 mounting posts for the plastic gear housing making it unusable on brew day. I put my battery drill on it, and continued while lamenting over the break. It was only the 2nd use.
Rather than scrap it and start over I took it apart and welded on a bracket, added a real bearing to the end of the motor shaft, made a new drive shaft to use a better sprocket, and a bearing where it exits.
These changes made it really solid and allowed it to stand up to the roller jam I noted earlier. I'm really surprised it did not break a gear tooth on either jam.

 

[bigken462]

I don't really want to start a new thread just for this quick question. This is my first time using a mill. I have it set to .040" how does it look?

I was kinda disappointed. I've looked forward to milling my own grain for so long and it was over with in less than a few minutes for both batches.

Girlfriend looked at me and smiled, now you know how I feel. Lol

View attachment 1457147943004.jpg

View attachment 1457147960075.jpg

View attachment 1457148001569.jpg

 

[Saboral]

Looks pretty good, I run my MM3 at a .040 and my efficiency went up!

 

[jbb3]

I don't really want to start a new thread just for this quick question. This is my first time using a mill. I have it set to .040" how does it look?

I was kinda disappointed. I've looked forward to milling my own grain for so long and it was over with in less than a few minutes for both batches.

Girlfriend looked at me and smiled, now you know how I feel. Lol

Photos are difficult to tell sometimes but I'm not seeing a lot of intact husks and quite a bit of fine material. Looks a little too fine to me?? Let us know how the mash goes/went.

BTW, Does you love how the significant other with bring you back to earth...

 

[bigken462]

I thought it looked a lil too fine also, but on two of the three 60 min mashes, I still came in under gravity by a few points. I expected it to go the other way, not under.

I had some extra DME to get me back on track and all went well with the brew day. Unlike any in the past, I added some new toys. A grain mill, a extra propane burner and a pump for my chiller.

It was awesome to be able to mash in a new batch during mid boil of the previous batch. By the time I got #1 chilled down, #2 was ready to sparge and so on. Was able to do 3 batches in a single day which is a big jump from my normal.

 

[The_Bishop]

Slow down your drill. You'll get shattered husks and a lot of flour if you spin the mill too fast.

 

[Hang Glider]

also - you can condition your grain before milling - I put about 2 oz of water in a spray bottle, and tumble the grain by hand while adding a squirt at a time until the water is gone. It changes the feel from dry to 'leathery' and the husks stay intact better.

 

[bigken462]

In regards to speed, I actually thought I was going slow, but still with 10-11 lbs, it seemed to chop it up pretty fast. I had the drill handle about a 1/4 of the way in. I think it may have took me a lil less than 45 seconds to a minute to do the whole hopper full. This being my first time to use the mill, I don't really have anything to judge by on what I should be doing.

So that being said, when using a 1/2" chuck drill. (Amp and all that unknown, but it's the Harbor Freight one that many people choose to use here.) How long should a typical grind take me for 10-11lbs or so?

The next batch I do in a cpl weeks, I'll record the numbers and post back to this thread for feedback.

 

[lpdjshaw]

In regards to speed, I actually thought I was going slow, but still with 10-11 lbs, it seemed to chop it up pretty fast. I had the drill handle about a 1/4 of the way in. I think it may have took me a lil less than 45 seconds to a minute to do the whole hopper full. This being my first time to use the mill, I don't really have anything to judge by on what I should be doing.

So that being said, when using a 1/2" chuck drill. (Amp and all that unknown, but it's the Harbor Freight one that many people choose to use here.) How long should a typical grind take me for 10-11lbs or so?

The next batch I do in a cpl weeks, I'll record the numbers and post back to this thread for feedback.

My mill runs at around 185 rpm and it takes 5 or 6 minutes to go through 12 or so lbs

 

[blankaj]

Just finished my motorized mill today.
The mill is a Monster Mill 2 stainless roller which I've been using with a drill until now. A bit under $200
The motor is out of a leaking GE washing machine 1/2 HP and runs at 1050 RPM (wired it in low speed) $0
The pulley ratio is 8:1 giving me about 130 RPM. Pulleys and belts under $40.
I just picked up the cabinet at Habitat for Humanity for $15
I used a vent boot adapter to create a funnel into my bucket. $8
I wired it all up with help from Physics Forum https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/trying-to-wire-a-washing-motor-to-power-a-grain-mill.833300/
The motor is mounted to a steel plate I fabricated from a chunk I found in a steel recycle bin. Then I mounted it to the board on slotted holes for tension adjustment. The tensioner I made was also found in the recycle bin and a couple machine screws to adjust the tension.
Let me know what you think!

 

[AAAW]

You might want to consider something MUCH safer, less expensive, and less complicated...

 

[blankaj]

You might want to consider something MUCH safer, less expensive, and less complicated...

I have no issues with the safety aspect of pulleys (I am currently working on a guard to make it even safer), and if you want to talk about less expensive, I have seen your site, while your motors and couplers look nice, they are far from inexpensive. I am quite happy with my setup.

 

[govner1]

Just finished my motorized mill today.

The mill is a Monster Mill 2 stainless roller which I've been using with a drill until now. A bit under $200

The motor is out of a leaking GE washing machine 1/2 HP and runs at 1050 RPM (wired it in low speed) $0

The pulley ratio is 8:1 giving me about 130 RPM. Pulleys and belts under $40.

I just picked up the cabinet at Habitat for Humanity for $15

I used a vent boot adapter to create a funnel into my bucket. $8

I wired it all up with help from Physics Forum https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/trying-to-wire-a-washing-motor-to-power-a-grain-mill.833300/

The motor is mounted to a steel plate I fabricated from a chunk I found in a steel recycle bin. Then I mounted it to the board on slotted holes for tension adjustment. The tensioner I made was also found in the recycle bin and a couple machine screws to adjust the tension.

Let me know what you think!

Nice build!

 

[rabeb25]

 

[blankaj]

That setup is nice! Looks like your brewery is pretty sweet too!

 

[ITV]

What motor setup are you using with your Captain Crush?

 

[beaksnbeer]

Just finished my motorized mill today.

The mill is a Monster Mill 2 stainless roller which I've been using with a drill until now. A bit under $200

The motor is out of a leaking GE washing machine 1/2 HP and runs at 1050 RPM (wired it in low speed) $0

The pulley ratio is 8:1 giving me about 130 RPM. Pulleys and belts under $40.

I just picked up the cabinet at Habitat for Humanity for $15

I used a vent boot adapter to create a funnel into my bucket. $8

I wired it all up with help from Physics Forum https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/trying-to-wire-a-washing-motor-to-power-a-grain-mill.833300/

The motor is mounted to a steel plate I fabricated from a chunk I found in a steel recycle bin. Then I mounted it to the board on slotted holes for tension adjustment. The tensioner I made was also found in the recycle bin and a couple machine screws to adjust the tension.

Let me know what you think!

Nice, I'd invest in an AX series belt it will hold up better on that small of a driver

 

[Saboral]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465530377.631864.jpg

 

[ITV]

My grain mill setup sitting on a Craigslist buffet cart with room for my digital scale.

 

[beergolf]

It was long past due for a mill upgrade. I got tired of messing with the POS (name withheld) mill I had and decided to get something that will last me a long time. I got the Monster Mill MM-2 2.0 pro and the All American Ale Works motor. Definitely an awesome set up. I think it would grind rocks if you put them in the hopper.

Built a cabinet that had room for a scale up top and some grain storage for the grains I use most. Even sprung for a new scale.