My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

[sethlovex]

I got my mill second hand and the guy had already replaced the hand crank with a bolt for drilling. I wanted to dial in the crush without spraying grain everywhere so I put the hand crank back on...well, I liked it so much that I never went back to the drill. I can grind 5 lbs in about 10 minutes working at a nice, easy pace. Not saying its better than a drill, but you should at least try it once before you go to the drill...plus you get to tone your pipes. And you still have one hand free for a Homebrew!

 

[Mojzis]

I've done several batches by hand. Hell of a lot of work. Too lazy for that non-sense

 

[camiller]

Thanks for the links. It would be nice if HF included an RPM value, but I have come not to expect too much from them haha. It would be great if I could pick up a drill that maxes out at an optimal grind speed. I will stop by HF and check out those drills for sure. My Craftsman drill has been great up until now, I would hate to kill it.

Sometimes you have to look in the manual (downloadable as a PDF from the individual product page). From BeardedIdiot's links the spade handle drill is 0-550 RPM and the other one he linked to is 0-1,000 RPM.

 

[tre9er]

Thanks for the links. It would be nice if HF included an RPM value, but I have come not to expect too much from them haha. It would be great if I could pick up a drill that maxes out at an optimal grind speed. I will stop by HF and check out those drills for sure. My Craftsman drill has been great up until now, I would hate to kill it.

I have the HF D-Handle drill with removable t-grip as well. I believe it goes up to 500RPM. I find that I need to run it just above the minimum or the drill seems to be struggling a bit. I'm consistent with efficiency, although my runoffs get slow at times. It's one of those "is it broke? Should I fix it?" type of deals for me.

 

[Euphist]

Yeah. I like DIY but I have a limited set of tools, both physical and mental. The only issue with the corona mill I forsee is building a hopper/base set up that is contained and easily stored.

There was a mill on here somewhere that was attached tot he top of a rubbermaid bin and it closed up all nice and looked clean. I would like to achieve that with the corona mill... but howww...

The two bucket system works really well, is easy to do, and if you can get buckets from your grocery store bakery, almost free!

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

My top I made out of wood was really easy for me to make, took less than 15 min and looks nice (not the goal of this thread).

 

[daveb1]

Thanks for the tips... Plan on using mine soon.

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[tony579]

Got my discount Tommy mill via an amazon gift card with free shipping. Couldn't wait to use it, so I ground the grains for Revvy's Kiss Your Cousin. Took 15 min. by hand and that was with my 4 yr old helping. I figure without the help I could get it down to 10. I love this ugly junk!

 

[Revvy]

Got my discount Tommy mill via an amazon gift card with free shipping. Couldn't wait to use it, so I ground the grains for Revvy's Kiss Your Cousin. Took 15 min. by hand and that was with my 4 yr old helping. I figure without the help I could get it down to 10. I love this ugly junk!

Wow you're killing two thread with one ugly junk or something.

 

[tony579]

Hit 77% with my first crack at using the corona. I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective. Thanks for all the info from this thread.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective.

Well, 1390 posts would be a rather long lie...cheers and glad it worked for you!

 

[tre9er]

Hit 77% with my first crack at using the corona. I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective. Thanks for all the info from this thread.

80% consistently in my mash tun, 72% BIAB-dunk-sparge last night. It works.

 

[tony579]

Well, 1390 posts would be a rather long lie...cheers and glad it worked for you!

True enough, but I always operate under the assumption that I will be the exception to the rule. Thanks again for all the help/advice in this thread, it certainly would not have been this easy without it!

 

[sicklesr]

My ugly junk!


Mill is on my craftsman work station, and yup, thats a 5 gallon water bottle. Cut a flap in the side of the bottle big enough to get the grinding wheels into, then "sealed" it with some cardboard and tape.

Keeps all the flying grain going into the bucket. I hardly have to sweep when im done!

My crappy hand-me-down drill is not powerful enough, so i use my very manly muscles. The crush came out great for my eBIAB system!

 

[JoeyChopps]

My ugly junk!

Mill is on my craftsman work station, and yup, thats a 5 gallon water bottle. Cut a flap in the side of the bottle big enough to get the grinding wheels into, then "sealed" it with some cardboard and tape.

Keeps all the flying grain going into the bucket. I hardly have to sweep when im done!

My crappy hand-me-down drill is not powerful enough, so i use my very manly muscles. The crush came out great for my eBIAB system!

Hooray another hand cranker among us. I have hand cranked my grain for the past few years. I really don't mind doing it by hand and it saves me money on a drill. Your mill look great.

 

[Revvy]

Hit 77% with my first crack at using the corona. I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective. Thanks for all the info from this thread.

People forget that this WAS state of the art before rollermills.

 

[dtfleming]

Here's mine. I did the bucket inside of a bucket. Still need to make a water bottle hopper to be able to use it with the lid on.

 

[Vellum]

Hooray another hand cranker among us. I have hand cranked my grain for the past few years. I really don't mind doing it by hand and it saves me money on a drill. Your mill look great.

How many hand crankers do you think are out there? I hand crank mainly because my drill can't handle the starting torque. I kind of enjoy it now and tend to grind my grain the night before brew day or while my mash water heats up. Makes it feel very official and hand made.

 

[JoeyChopps]

Agreed I don't think that many people are hand crankers. What's funny to me is people on this thread and others spend lots of time money and effort to replicate the speed of hand cranking the mill. I also usually crank my grain the night before and my wife helps so we get to spend more time together.

 

[Vellum]

Exactly, my wife thinks I'm funny when I crank the grain during commercial breaks.

 

[WesleyS]

I hand crank as well. I don't mind it. I just crush the grain the day before.

 

[tony579]

Just hand cranked my second batch. Gonna do a 3 gallon ordinary bitter in the A.M.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

I hand cranked maybe a lb if that, realized doing 15 lbs was going to suck and chucked up my Milwaukee drill to it. I'm done milling in less than 5 minutes now

 

[mb82]

I enjoy hand cranking. I have a 1/2in D handle HF drill even sitting in my garage, with no plans to hook it up.

 

[autobaun70]

I hand cranked maybe a lb if that, realized doing 15 lbs was going to suck and chucked up my Milwaukee drill to it. I'm done milling in less than 5 minutes now

I think I am picking up on a theme here. Most of the hand crankers appear to be 5 gallon batch brewers. Most of my batches require 20-25 lbs of grain, no way I am cranking that much.

 

[JoeyChopps]

I've hand cranker 20 pounds before. You just need to take breaks and drink beer during said breaks. It's not so bad plus you get some excersie.

 

[Helly]

Here's mine that I worked on this weekend. Set up to had crank, at least at first. Still planning on expanding the hopper using a water bottle or small bucket.

 

[Varmintman]

Sheesh I am a wuss I guess. 9 pounds and I use a drill

 

[WesleyS]

I think I am picking up on a theme here. Most of the hand crankers appear to be 5 gallon batch brewers. Most of my batches require 20-25 lbs of grain, no way I am cranking that much.

My last grain bill was about 24 lbs. Beer and HBT breaks make hand cranking easier.

 

[JoeyChopps]

My last grain bill was about 24 lbs. Beer and HBT breaks make hand cranking easier.

Hell yeah in my mind I instantly heard " real American heros"