My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

[wilserbrewer]

Cut part of an oak stair tread and then mortised a big rectangle in it....

Let me know what you guys think

Looks nice...well made! Where did you use the mortar? Will that stick to wood / plastic?


This is the Ugly Junk thread, fancy words like "mortise" might not belong here....cheers!


Haha, yea I laugh at my own jokes sometimes!

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

Looks nice...well made! Where did you use the mortar? Will that stick to wood / plastic?

This is the Ugly Junk thread, fancy words like "mortise" might not belong here....cheers!

Haha, yea I laugh at my own jokes sometimes!

No mortar in it, just wood and some trim glue, I currently do carpentry as my living so I did fancy it up a bit.

 

[TNGabe]

Need a little basic help with my ugly mill. I went to the hard wear store and got a screw to put where the handle was. Sawed off the end and attached my drill. But the screw/end of the moll is not straight. So the drill wobbles when I use it.

Any suggestions?

Mine is way off center. I've been using a smaller drill and just toughing it out, but it's way harder on the drill and my wrist. I bought a big honkin low rpm chinese POS from Harbor and I'm pretty sure it will rip my arm off if I don't do something. Some sort of universal joint socket adapter, probably for an impact wrench, sounds like the best bet to me.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

Mine is way off center. I've been using a smaller drill and just toughing it out, but it's way harder on the drill and my wrist. I bought a big honkin low rpm chinese POS from Harbor and I'm pretty sure it will rip my arm off if I don't do something. Some sort of universal joint socket adapter, probably for an impact wrench, sounds like the best bet to me.

That would work great, I know sears sells a u juint in 3/8 size. It would go like this

Drill-socket adaptor-u joint-socket

 

[wilserbrewer]

Mine is way off center. I've been using a smaller drill and just toughing it out, but it's way harder on the drill and my wrist. I bought a big honkin low rpm chinese POS from Harbor and I'm pretty sure it will rip my arm off if I don't do something. Some sort of universal joint socket adapter, probably for an impact wrench, sounds like the best bet to me.

I woud be tempted to see if I could get the seller to replace the unit...this is crap, they should stand behind their product at least a little bit IMHO...since they buy these things cheap by the ton, maybe they have some room for replacement?

 

[pvtschultz]

I woud be tempted to see if I could get the seller to replace the unit...this is crap, they should stand behind their product at least a little bit IMHO...since they buy these things cheap by the ton, maybe they have some room for replacement?

Except that they are designed and made to be driven by hand where the hole location is much less important. My local Ace Hardware also has the universal joints. It would be better to use two sets of u-joints.

 

[Fordzilla]

Has anyone actually used one of the u-joints with their corona station yet? I would be interested to hear how it works out.

Also, how did you guys cut your water cooler jugs? I was able to cut up two plastic buckets with my xacto knife but this thing is some kind of crazy hard plastic.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Also, how did you guys cut your water cooler jugs?

Circular saw.

 

[hungry4hops]

[QUOTE="Also, how did you guys cut your water cooler jugs? I was able to cut up two plastic buckets with my xacto knife but this thing is some kind of crazy hard plastic.[/QUOTE]


I used a razorblade!

 

[Fordzilla]

Circular saw.

That sounds dangerous and slightly insane. I think I will try a hacksaw tonight.

 

[NRF]

Mine too is drilled way off center. I have not tried it yet, but my thought was to chuck up a rod, bolt, whatever... into the drill then find HD rubber hose to fit the rod and the mill shaft bolt and clamp them secure. Hopefully it will dampen the wiggle enough. We shall see...

 

[wilserbrewer]

That sounds dangerous and slightly insane. I think I will try a hacksaw tonight.

I "represent" that remark, have fun w/ the hack saw, be sane and be careful...cheers!

I have a small 5 1/4" circular saw, set the blade with about a 1/4" reveal and zip it...it is not that difficult or dangerous if you are familiar w/ using the tool IMHO.

 

[Fordzilla]

After cutting mine with a hack saw your method makes a lot more sense. My circular saw is quite a bit bigger and not adjustable. The hack saw took a long time and the cuts are uneven and ugly.

 

[wilserbrewer]

After cutting mine with a hack saw your method makes a lot more sense. My circular saw is quite a bit bigger and not adjustable. The hack saw took a long time and the cuts are uneven and ugly.

Ya sure your circular saw is not adjustable...most have an adjustment to set blade depth, as in the platform that the saw rides on has a wingnut to adjust cutting depth...the 7" saw will work well, just be careful w/ a firm grip on the tool...ok haha cheers.

 

[Fordzilla]

Here's my ugly junk. Thanks to wilserbrewer, revvy, and everyone else in this thread who I drew inspiration from. The corona mill is attached to the orange 5 gallon bucket, which has no bottom. The grain falls into the white 7 gallon bucket.

 

[Helly]

I just got mine delivered today from discount Tommy's eBay site. First glance it looks good but I haven't had time to play with it yet.

 

[hungry4hops]

Here's my ugly junk! I've been using a bolt and socket for my off center hole it works pretty well!

 

[Vellum]

Here's my ugly junk! I've been using a bolt and socket for my off center hole it works pretty well!

What are those hooks to hold the upper bucket above the lower one?

 

[hungry4hops]

Coat hangers there like 99 cents at home depot, I can take a better pic when I get home!

 

[hungry4hops]

What are those hooks to hold the upper bucket above the lower one?

Here's a better picture of them

 

[wilserbrewer]

Here's my ugly junk! I've been using a bolt and socket for my off center hole it works pretty well!

The longer the bolt the more off center it will be...if you care to, try a bolt that is very short and hardly protrudes the mill shaft.

 

[Vellum]

Here's a better picture of them

Perfect. Going to pick up a few of those today. I was using a bucket lid with only the rim attached to hold the top bucket up. I like your set up better.

 

[the_axis]

I had the same problem with the tapped hole for the crank retaining bolt being off center and at a pretty bad angle. This is a link to a very short video showing my solution to the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76AJTwnWp2Y

 

[rico567]

I had the same problem with the tapped hole for the crank retaining bolt being off center and at a pretty bad angle. This is a link to a very short video showing my solution to the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76AJTwnWp2Y

Simple, ugly, works. Pure genius!

 

[benbradford]

Picked this one up on craigslist... I actally sold my crankenstein for this instead!

Someone put some nice engineering into it, and other than adjusting the crush for my efficiency desires, I love it

 

[wilserbrewer]

... I actally sold my crankenstein for this instead!

What I'm sorry, not sure I heard you properly???

 

[benbradford]

Ya! Mill with motor, hopper, stand, switch for $75 vs. base crankenstein with bucket and drill? Happy man

 

[wilserbrewer]

So the 64000 Question. How does the crush compare corona vs CS roller mill?

 

[benbradford]

Playing with the adjustment of the grist, and it easily crushes a finer grain. It is slower, but with the motor, hands free. I was getting 77% efficiency before, and 75% or lower now with one stuck sparge. I feel like when I have it adjusted correctly it will be better. I like it mainly because it was from a guy that brewed for 30 years that was head of the boulder beer club and friends with Michael Jackson the malt genius kind of a piece of brewing history

 

[wilserbrewer]

Nice Ben. That thing is a testament to how long these mills last as there is not much that can wear out. I like the pillow block on the far side of the drive pulley.

You have a nice head start towards a brewing museum with those Hoff Stevens kegs in the background. What are your plans for them if you don't mind me asking?