My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

[rac3850]

Looks like the pictures didn't attach to my post?

 

[rac3850]

I'll try again, sorry for loading this up with newbie attempts at posting.

Corona 3

• rac3850
• Apr 16, 2020

Corona 2

• rac3850
• Apr 16, 2020

Corona 1

• rac3850
• Apr 16, 2020

 

[hawkbox]

Looks good.

Edit: This is how I did mine, I took the bottom half of the top bucket and used it to make a shroud to control the grain from flying everywhere.

 

[rac3850]

That's a great idea. Unfortunately, I threw out the cut off bottom of my bucket. The milling discs are about 1/2 into the upper bucket, so maybe I won't get much grain thrown out - but if I do I could just cut up another bucket - they're cheap on sale.

 

[hawkbox]

Yup, they are cheap enough, I found it made a hell of a mess without a lid of some type. My hopper is just an old plastic tube duct taped to the steel piece and is all kinds of janky but it works well enough.

Someday I'll buy a fancy mill, but this one has lasted me almost 3 years now and hundreds of pounds of grain.

 

[lowtones84]

My "shroud" is literally any clean paper bag I have around with a slit cut in it, wrapped around the area with the plates and the open end going into a bucket. Works pretty well, actually!

 

[NitrogenWidget]

my mill is deep enough into the bucket that I can put the lid on it and just have a hole for the hopper.
no dust.
though I'm just using one bucket right now.
Also, kids have an old picnic table they are too big for.
Think i'll cut a hole in it so the bucket sinks into the top.

It REALLY REALLY REALLY sucks if the bucket slips out of your hand while the drill is going.
the drill i'm using is an old steel encased jobber that puts holes in pressure treated 6x6's like butter and will take your hand off if the bit catches.
best $15 i spent on craigs list.

 

[rac3850]

the drill i'm using is an old steel encased jobber that puts holes in pressure treated 6x6's like butter and will take your hand off if the bit catches.
best $15 i spent on craigs list.

I've got one of those too -- weighs about 25 lbs, runs about 200 or so RPM, has a curved saddle you can sit on it, plus two handles to hold on for dear life. Unstoppable torque. It was my grandfather's. I don't think I need it for the corona mill though.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I've got one of those too -- weighs about 25 lbs, runs about 200 or so RPM, has a curved saddle you can sit on it, plus two handles to hold on for dear life. Unstoppable torque. It was my grandfather's. I don't think I need it for the corona mill though.

well, that's too big for this purpose.

mines about 10lbs 3 amps and 400ish RPMs.

I use it cause it does the job nicely.
if I hold onto the bucket.

I have my crush very tight for biab.
regular drill starts smoking at 5 or 6 lbs of crushed grain and cordless goes dead.

I was going to get the more powerful hammer drill from harbor freight but this works.

 

[QTikiBrew]

I used the two bucket plan, with a drill driver board inserted between the buckets. The upper bucket has a 1 x 6 inside to mount the mill, using six screws through the bucket to hold it in place. On the outside of the bucket I made a couple of "ears" to hold it in place when inserted into the drill driver board (screwed to the bucket from the inside).

rac3850 - is it possible to get a photo top-down on your upper bucket, to see how that 1x6 is mounted, or a closeup of the screw points? I'm pulling the trigger, so to speak, on a corona (multi-purpose for me - crushing, dehulling, and grinding for flour), but I want to come up with a good plan for a set up, and yours seems up my alley.

Thanks!

 

[rac3850]

QTikiBrew,

Hope these pictures of the mill mounting bucket help, one from the top, one from the bottom and one from the side. if not just reply with any other views you need.

 

[QTikiBrew]

QTikiBrew,

Hope these pictures of the mill mounting bucket help, one from the top, one from the bottom and one from the side. if not just reply with any other views you need.

Ok, so, looking at this, in theory I could just cut holes in the side of the bucket to slide a longer 1x6 through, pulling double duty as the mill mount and ears, yes? Of course, the holes would need to be slightly longer than the board is wide, to account for curvature . . .

 

[rac3850]

Ok, so, looking at this, in theory I could just cut holes in the side of the bucket to slide a longer 1x6 through, pulling double duty as the mill mount and ears, yes? Of course, the holes would need to be slightly longer than the board is wide, to account for curvature . . .

Yep, I think that would work too. Definitely more elegant from a design perspective, fewer parts. I think the board would need to be wide enough so that if the mill shifted towards one side or the other of the bucket, the opposite board end would not dis-engage (i.e., slip through and fall inside the bucket).

 

[QTikiBrew]

Yep, I think that would work too. Definitely more elegant from a design perspective, fewer parts. I think the board would need to be wide enough so that if the mill shifted towards one side or the other of the bucket, the opposite board end would not dis-engage (i.e., slip through and fall inside the bucket).

Right, although a spare c-clamp could help with that.

I've got time on my hands unemployed and waiting to restart grad school in the fall, so I'm focusing on putting together my brewery setup/stuff before small brewing assistant who still needs minimum 10 years aging before usefulness arrives ca 21 November.

Between brewing and running the garden . . . did I mention I have 459 sqft of winter barley growing in a suburban backyard, and I'm trying to consider how to build a hops trellis . . .

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'm uploading some pictures trying to show how cutting up one bucket to hold the Corona Grinder and using the bottom half to create Cover Shield...I'm able to interchange the bottom collection buckets, (these are unmolested buckets, and just change out) as these are ordinary 5 gallon stackable buckets. a bucket will hold roughly 20 lbs. of milled grains (depending on how fine they are ground) It's easy to just swap out the collection buckets when filled
View attachment 548812 View attachment 548813 View attachment 548814 View attachment 548815

@Stake, I really liked your bucket design. Copied it pretty much straight up.

Pin adjusted for rotor plate articulation. Washer stack added at bracket attachment for stability.

Milled a small batch of grain for BIAB. Rather consistent grind, plenty of flour. I'm happy with it. About $40 all told.

 

[Konstantianus]

Finished my Ugly Junk build and am very happy with how it turned out. All told the bill is around $40 and my grind is very fine... perhaps too fine?

We'll find out what the efficiency is after I do a test run with 1 Lb. of Pale Ale malt.

 

[Konstantianus]

Results are in and with 1 Lb. Ireks Pale Ale malt in 1 Gallon of water I was able to get a wort of 1.034. Very happy with that outcome

 

[DBhomebrew]

@Stake, I really liked your bucket design. Copied it pretty much straight up.

View attachment 688855

Pin adjusted for rotor plate articulation. Washer stack added at bracket attachment for stability.

View attachment 688856

Milled a small batch of grain for BIAB. Rather consistent grind, plenty of flour. I'm happy with it. About $40 all told.

View attachment 688857

With this mill set up as it is, no sparge, no twist, no squeeze BIAB, 1.040: 84% mash efficiency.

 

[QTikiBrew]

Finally got around to putting my Victoria mill together and figuring out how I was going to mount it.

Did it pretty much like DBhomebrew did his, with a few minor differences:

I used a homer bucket for the main body,and I cut out two rectangular holes in the side to side the board I'm using to mount the mill on; the board is just a piece of scrap from the last owner of the house

Then I cut the bucket in two to use the bottom half as a shroud

Cut a hole in that for the bottom collar of the hopper to fit through

Looked around my basement for something that could serve as an extended hopper - nixed the scrap round duct portions that are hanging in various place from where the last owner rigged his own overhead dust collection system, who knows what they've got in them . . .

And them I realized - the opening of my fermonster fits into the top of the hopper!

I'm not going to cut the bottom off, I'll just dump the whole grains into that, and tip it over onto the top of the mill.

I haven't yet purchased a bolt to serve as a drive shaft with one of my drills, I'm going to see how I do with my first recipe kit from MB when it arrives (will be my first time doing a 5 gallon AG batch, first time milling my own grain).

No pictures yet.

 

[Jhedrick83]

Time to necro this thread since it hopefully just saved me a ton of money. Nothing innovative here and I’ll probably tweak it more later but here’s my Ugly Junk:

Doing BIAB with this. Thoughts?

 

[hawkbox]

Looks toight like a toiger to me. Mine looks like that without the silver wrapping and it's going on 2+ years without issues.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Time to necro this thread since it hopefully just saved me a ton of money. Nothing innovative here and I’ll probably tweak it more later but here’s my Ugly Junk:
View attachment 722455View attachment 722456View attachment 722457
Doing BIAB with this. Thoughts?

I can't tell if you've added these washers. They'll allow you to tighten down the clamp so those screws don't loosen up on you.

 

[Jhedrick83]

I can't tell if you've added these washers. They'll allow you to tighten down the clamp so those screws don't loosen up on you.

View attachment 722460

well,I put them on the other side. I’ll flip them when I get home tonight to grind and brew.

did that level of crush look good?

 

[DBhomebrew]

did that level of crush look good

Looks pretty good to me. You can see mine in post #2145. I've opened it up some since then, maybe a 1/4 turn. Very small hit in efficiency barely 5%, but easier doughing in, no dough balls.

I do miss the smaller hull pieces when it comes to my spent grain bread. Oh, well. Beer first.

 

[hawkbox]

Worst case you just adjust it a few times while doing the next batch till you get happy with it.

 

[BrewHack]

Not a real corona mill, and not too ugly. Thought I'd share anyways. First time using it for my BIAB setup.
Lot of flour
Trusting the comments on this forum.

 

[Orval]

Look here about washers and so on... Corona Mill Mods for All Grain Brewing

 

[NitrogenWidget]

3rd year on my corona in a bucket mill.
I added a 6" to 8" galvanized heater pipe adaptor to make an easier time of dumping grain into it from my 5 gallon grain bucket.
it can hold 10lbs now.

I need to build a table to hold it and the drill so i can just let it grind away instead of holding it for 5 whole minutes.

 

[Jhedrick83]

Due to technical difficulties with a thermometer, I took advantage of the down time to add on the corona mill cover @LBussy was so kind to print for me. I’ll post a write up of it elsewhere in a few. I basically had to disassemble the mill to get it on and now I’m having to reset the crush without being able to see the two plates. So, which one looks better:
Crush A

Or Crush B:

Way more flour in B for sure. 1/4 turn difference between the two. I BIAB so the flour is ok with me but you can tell me milling plates are pretty tight and the drill torques the bucket a bit.

 

[LBussy]

Glad you got that on there. I've never done BIAB but I know #1 would be easier for my process.