New Crankandstein cleaning

[Sean]

I just got a crankandstein for my birthday from my lovely bride.

Anyone who has bought one new: did just a few handfulls of grain clean the oily metal off as the instructions suggest?

It looks like it is going to take a bit of work to get it clean enough to use.

What has been your experience?

Thanks

 

[dogtailale]

boil it

 

[Sean]

Well, I think I probably won't do that. But thanks.

 

[Duckfoot]

I threw a couple pounds of grain through mine while setting up my stand... Doesn't seem to have any issues now...

 

[iaefebs]

I have a 5 year old Crankandstein. Just do like the instructions say.. run a couple of handfuls of grain through it a few times. Enjoy your mill. Mine still works great.

 

[Sean]

The mill seems well built but it is caked in metal grinding dust. Perhaps I am being too picky, but as I am paying full price for a brand new product, I think it should be clean of industrial debris.

It states in the instructions that it will be tight at first. How tight is normal? Mine is very hard to turn.

The free roller rolls fine, spins and has a bit of side to side room for movement as instructed. I have farely strong hands and have a hard time moving the drive roller by turning the shaft. I can move it by reaching under and grabing the roller and turning it. The powerdrill will turn it, but I don't think the dewalt cordless drill will.

Is this normal?

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Perhaps I am being too picky, but as I am paying full price for a brand new product, I think it should be clean of industrial debris.

I think the problem is that a lot of the popular mills are handmade in small shops. Even though you are paying a premium price, you are still receiving a hand made product (my new Barley Crusher had a handle that looks like they didn't have a saw so they chewed the end off).

Do you have any pictures of the metal dust? Mine had a pretty good amount, and as stated above it easily came off with a few handfuls of grain (I didn't have any extra grain with my order, so I just used some old rice I had lying around).

If the mill is hard to turn empty, that seems like a bad sign. My Barley Crusher can be turned with 1 finger empty. If you are having problems when it is full try cranking backwards just a bit to dislodge the grain, and then run it forwards again.

 

[KCBrewer]

How is it mounted? I just made a mount for a monster mill and it was a bit touchy as far as alignment. The first mounting holes I drilled were only 9/32, and while the bolts fit through them easily, and the rollers would turn very easily with the mounting bolts finger tight, once I tightened the bolts one roller or the other would bind up like you describe. I redrilled my holes to 3/8 and it worked great. Both rollers can be spun very easily with a finger.

 

[Sean]

Thanks for the replies, I drilled the holes 3/8. I loosly tightened the bolts then shook the whole frame and mill to make sure it was not too tight.

Before tightening all the way, I put a square on it to make sure the ends were aligned, made sure there was a bit of space between the rollers and the frames. Then tightened it up. The free roller rolls very easily. The drive roller does not.

 

[brewingkitty]

i would take it apart and see.... tomorrow i expect my monster mill 2 to arrive and it will be getting a disassembly and inspection/cleaning before use.

 

[Sean]

I should have mentioned it was hard to turn before attached to the mounting, but I thought once I hooked the drill up to it it would loosen.

 

[zymurgy101]

Have you called the mfr to check their recommendations on your specific situation (i.e., a good amount of metal filings and very hard to turn)? I've found mfr's often have good tidbits of additional info not present in the manuals. Worth a shot anyway.

It would seem to be easier to clean the metal filings from the parts before they were assembled. Understood it is more effort and maybe cost, but that has to happen either from the mfr or the consumer. Moreover, I don't see it increasing cost that much to wash\blow\spray the metal parts before assembly. If it is caked in grinding dust, it could have also get into the bushings or bearings (thinking out loud).

 

[Sean]

I did contact the mfg. he responded quickly and:


"It sounds okay. Cordless drills have a hard time anyway since they just don't have the sustained power. The bearings will loosen eventually. The tightness is minimal compared to what it takes to crush the grain."

I agree on the cordless drill but have a hard time with the tightness is minimal comment. So, I'll run some rice and grains through it, and hook up the 1/2 inch drill. I have grains comming this week. I'll give it a shot, and report back after a few batches as well as review in the reviews section.

On the positive: the mill seems very solid (perhaps too solid?), the rollers are quite nice and the housing looks like it will last. The free spinning roller rolls very nicely.

 

[lemmylou]

I have had my mill for 5+ years. Just did what directions said and have never had a problem until this weekend. Tried to moisten the grains prior to grinding. Big mistake. Actually screwed up some spots on it. I had added 10% by weight as water and this was way too much. My mill has worked fine the entire time until I did this.

 

[KCBrewer]

I would have to agree that the tightness is minimal compared to what it takes to crush the grain. My rollers spin very freely with the mill empty, and I had to put an 18v DeWalt in 1st gear to get it going once there was grain in it and set at .040".

Afterwards I had a few (6-8) grains left over which I tried to grind through the mill turning the shaft by hand. It didn't happen. It really does take quite a bit of torque to turn those rollers with grain in it.

I'd say if you've notified them of the concern from the beginning, then there shouldn't be a problem getting it repaired if it does turn out to be an issue.

 

[johnnyc]

I've got a Crankandstein and I had the rollers refurbished since the knurls had worn down. It was full of metal filings too. I pulled it apart and cleaned it w/ an old toothbrush and dish soap. All shiny and clean. Blew it all dry w/ compressed air then reassembled and ran a couple handfuls through it. No problem since.

 

[Ichthy]

I've got a Crankandstein and I had the rollers refurbished since the knurls had worn down. It was full of metal filings too. I pulled it apart and cleaned it w/ an old toothbrush and dish soap. All shiny and clean. Blew it all dry w/ compressed air then reassembled and ran a couple handfuls through it. No problem since.

+1 soap and water. A good drying and then toss in a half pound of rice and mill it several times.

 

[Sean]

I ran some rice through it about 4 times. It loosened but even though I brushed it with a brass brush, I am not sure if it is clean under the rice residue. I am definately being tooo picky. Pics: https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40591&limit=recent

I want the hopper to be un-connected, so it is a bit ugly. That and I used scrap wood.

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40590&cat=recent&limit=recent
Definately works better with the big drill. The small one got bogged down with the rice, though grain is probably easier.

 

[Sean]

OK one more inside the hopper: I dont know how to put the pics in the mssg.

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40592

 

[BrewBeemer]

Sean,
I bet Don at Crank like any machinest when doing knurling used a light coating of oil, the knurling process produces fine flakes of metal off the knurling process that gets impacted into the knurling.
Production shops can not fully clean and assemble parts to spotless conditions besides the oil protects the rollers from rusting during shipping.
Take the rollers out, place the end plates with oilite bushing aside.
With the rollers only use some Comet with a stiff nylon brush and scrub the knurling in the direction of the knurling cleaning out the knurling roots then clean again with non abrasive dish soap then a hot water rinse.
Lube bushings lightly, assemble and mount on a good solid base squared up before tightening. You should have smooth free turning rollers.
Suggestion, mount the mill onto a 3/8" to 1/2" thick aluminum plate with a center grain discharge slot this for a solid mounted mill holding perfect bushing alignment for their long and happy service.

 

[BrewBeemer]

I've got a Crankandstein and I had the rollers refurbished since the knurls had worn down.

This with the standard steel or stainless roller mill plus how many tons did you run thru it to wear down the knurling? You running a lot of dirty grain thru it, seems like a lot of abrasive action going on?