My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

[divrguy]

Remove the cotter pin and try a screw or something else in there. Or a larger cotter pit. First try to rotate the cotter pin in the hole, it might seat it right.

You could also go seriously had core and jb weld it to the driver screw but you have to be careful because if you don't have it perfect before it dries, you're hosed.

I show that here.

Many opinions on this...I used JB weld to eliminate the wobble, but had to do it twice as the fisrt try was bad! Now I think that wobble or letting the mill plate float might not be a bad thing. You could try a new straight cotter pin...or open up the holes a little bit so the mill plate has a nice range of motion and not wobbling. If the mill plate is free to move the grain will likely center it.

At the end of the day, it's all in the crush...just check that you have NO whole pieces.

Revvy and Wilser, thanks for the replies. I will try the cotter pin or screw first. That makes sense. I guess you're right Wilser, when it really comes down to it, repeatability is the key and making sure the grain is crushed. 77% is pretty good first go at it and it will only get a little better as i tweak it a bit. I do know that it sure was worth the money i spent on it!

 

[wilserbrewer]

I do know that it sure was worth the money i spent on it!

Worth the 12 bucks...oh and about another 12 for shipping, more or less. The fact that these heavy cast iron junks "ship free" just tickles me! As we all know, nothing is really free!

 

[Haputanlas]

The plates on my mill station are not completely flat. I'm getting VERY uneven crushes (1/3 flour, 1/3 perfect, and 1/3 uncrushed). Soooo... I'm going to try using a torch to heat up the cast iron and hopefully bend it straight. Never done anything like this, but hopefully I won't ruin it.

Anyone have this problem too?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Cast iron is CAST...trying to heat it and bend it is a bad idea IMHO! Try to fiddle it so the grinding plate is "looser" and will follow the stationary plate. Or simply tighten the mill to you have no uncrushed.

 

[deadfall]

I got my mill about a week ago and it was pretty far off. I started by changing the cotterpin with an 8/32 bolt. That helped but it was still off so I decided to file the auger end til it fit the plate better. The casting was the problem so once it was straight the plate fit alot better. I'd say 40-50 file strokes. I also used a two paper gasket made from gasket stock to help keep the pate and the auger tight to the 8/32 bolt. i put one between the auger and the plate and one between the plate and the collar with the cotterpin in it. It only took about 30 minutes and the thing was perfect. I did have to add the washers between the carriage bolts on both sides.

 

[Eshorebrewer]

Here's my ugly junk totem pole...

 

[Haputanlas]

Cast iron is CAST...trying to heat it and bend it is a bad idea IMHO! Try to fiddle it so the grinding plate is "looser" and will follow the stationary plate. Or simply tighten the mill to you have no uncrushed.

??

Isn't cast just another way of saying that it is molded?

I'm worried that if I tighten it anymore, I'll have more than 50% flour.

 

[Whattawort]

I should put a pic up of my ugly, dusty corona mill. I love that thing, but it's fuglier than Paris Hilton on a bender. I get perfect mixture of medium/fine crush with the exception of Carapils. I swear that grain is blended with cement. I still use the hand crank, so I have to give it the ole heave to bust through the initial crank. Everyone needs a good workout.

 

[beernut70]

??

Isn't cast just another way of saying that it is molded?

I'm worried that if I tighten it anymore, I'll have more than 50% flour.

Cast iron is brittle not malleable. Chances are if you try to make it bend it will just break.

 

[Haputanlas]

Cast iron is brittle not malleable. Chances are if you try to make it bend it will just break.

Damn, I'll keep tweaking. Thanks.

 

[philber]

I finally got to taking a photo of mine in action. This is the 7th and 8th batch I have used it on.

 

[atimmerman88]

I present my ugly junk!


1st time I used my mill I made a royal mess.

Hopefully the next time with my setup it'll be smooth and easy.

Ill find out this weekend

 

[JoeyChopps]

Hooray another hand cranker ( wow sounded better in my head)

 

[atimmerman88]

Hand crank is just a back up, cordless drill for the heavy crushing

 

[philber]

Hand crank is just a back up, cordless drill for the heavy crushing

The plexi almost makes it look too professional. Can you add some duct tape to the edges?

I wish mine had that little cover over the crush end. Grains go flying in all directions when I used the drill, that's why I'm a hand cranker.

 

[atimmerman88]

I think it's fitting as junk as all materials were all drop off pieces from work. Repurposing at its finest

 

[atimmerman88]

Can't complain at all about my mill, finally got it dialed in an hit 82% efficiency. Feels so good to get over the hump of having serval down around 50%.

Hip Hip Hooray for Cheapo Mills

 

[mforsman]

After reading through almost this whole thread I finally searched for "DiscountTommy" and managed to get one from that site at $25 shipped. Thanks for doing all of the leg work! A trip to home depot / some work and I'll hopefully be done with the 60% efficiently club.

 

[tre9er]

The plexi almost makes it look too professional. Can you add some duct tape to the edges?

I wish mine had that little cover over the crush end. Grains go flying in all directions when I used the drill, that's why I'm a hand cranker.

Put milk jug over plates. I inverted one, cut larger opening below original mouth, and slit halfway down center. Channels grain downward. See my pics

 

[mforsman]

Can't complain at all about my mill, finally got it dialed in an hit 82% efficiency. Feels so good to get over the hump of having serval down around 50%.

Hip Hip Hooray for Cheapo Mills

This is what I'm hoping for!

 

[BeardedIdiot]

I've done two batches so far using my Corona. I got 75% efficiency on the first batch, and it looks like about 72% efficiency on the second batch. I think I need to work on the rotating grind plate some though, it is REALLY wobbly, and isn't keeping a consistent distance from the static plate at all. I'm ending up with some near whole or whole grains at some points and flour at others.

 

[kinison_fan]

I got my discount tommy mill mounted and put through its first batch last week. Looks like I got 75-77 pct, so I'm thrilled with that.
Will be brewing again this weekend, then plan on buying a 50 lb sack of base grain.
Thanks for all the input here!

 

[Odin_Brews]

I've done two batches so far using my Corona. I got 75% efficiency on the first batch, and it looks like about 72% efficiency on the second batch. I think I need to work on the rotating grind plate some though, it is REALLY wobbly, and isn't keeping a consistent distance from the static plate at all. I'm ending up with some near whole or whole grains at some points and flour at others.

I have the same issue as you! If you find a solution let me know what it is please

Cancel that, check page 8 of this thread.

 

[tre9er]

I've found that even though the plate is wobbly, if you go for no whole grains (tighten until this happens) you'll be golden. I get a lot of flour but also a fair amount of husk pieces so it's fine. You need just enough husks/pieces to create a filter bed. In fact, one side of my mill spits out more flour and the other side spits out more husks and pieces. It averages out, 80% every time, no off flavors.

 

[MMJfan]

I've found that even though the plate is wobbly, if you go for no whole grains (tighten until this happens) you'll be golden. I get a lot of flour but also a fair amount of husk pieces so it's fine. You need just enough husks/pieces to create a filter bed. In fact, one side of my mill spits out more flour and the other side spits out more husks and pieces. It averages out, 80% every time, no off flavors.

I'm getting similar results with mine. I get some flour but I also get a lot of husk pieces and I'm hitting 80-85% each batch...

 

[Haputanlas]

I've found that even though the plate is wobbly, if you go for no whole grains (tighten until this happens) you'll be golden. I get a lot of flour but also a fair amount of husk pieces so it's fine. You need just enough husks/pieces to create a filter bed. In fact, one side of my mill spits out more flour and the other side spits out more husks and pieces. It averages out, 80% every time, no off flavors.

I'm going to have to try this. I've been worried about too much flour, however I'm getting too many batches in the 50ish percentage range.

Thanks for the update.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

My first batch was with straight American 2-Row. The second batch was straight American Vienna. I think maybe the vienna grains were slightly smaller than the 2-row, because I had more issues with whole grains in the vienna than the 2-row, and I didn't change anything on the mill between batches.

I also am going to have to pick up either a harbor freight drill to run this, or else pick up a couple of v-belt pulley's to use with my 1,725 rpm motor. I nearly burnt out my poor Dewalt corded drill doing 8.5 pounds of 2-row, and almost burnt out a heavier duty adjustable corded drill from work doing 10.23 pounds of vienna.

 

[Huaco]

About these corona mills... Can they be used to make flour at home? My wife is wanting something to crack flax seeds and also wants to grind her own flour.

 

[JoeyChopps]

About these corona mills... Can they be used to make flour at home? My wife is wanting something to crack flax seeds and also wants to grind her own flour.

I imagine so there original purpose is a flour grinder.

 

[wilserbrewer]

About these corona mills... Can they be used to make flour at home? My wife is wanting something to crack flax seeds and also wants to grind her own flour.

Corona mills are really corn grinders, not grain mills...I think you can make corn tortillas, but "gold medal" type flour is doubtful. Flour mills usually use a stone for a very fine grind.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18963/corona-mill-and-tortillas