Want to repair a Schmedling unadjustable Maltmill

[bracconiere]

haha, not quite. I've put a LOT of grain through it... and I bought it in 2009, used, from a homebrew shop, where it was the only mill. It's still ticking.

think i got mine in '07...but i am an abusive user....the reason mine has duct tape in it is when i tried to run hot wet malt through it......melted the plastic, think the side panels i just lost the screws, or that problem with one side getting wider, ripped the screw out....at any rate it still works.....


and i lost that particle board base plate trying to wash it after something like the wet malt experiment.......

 

[w8av]

JSP officially shut down a while back. I think there was a fire.

Yes, there was a fire that completely destroyed his shop and equipment several years ago. I had contacted Jack about getting a new Malt Mill since mine was also pretty worn out after about 25 years of use by me and the homebrew shop I bought it from. I had it for at least 23 of those years. Jack told me that he was not going to rebuild his business. He made a good product and a lot of us out here used them!

You might find a local metal working outfit that could re-score the rollers to sharpen them up. However, it might just be more cost effective to replace the mill with one of the others that are on the market. I bought a Crankandstein a year or so ago and love it. It is a bit more expensive than others but it does the job for me and my efficiencies went up about 5% when I got it dialed in.

 

[VikeMan]

You might find a local metal working outfit that could re-score the rollers to sharpen them up.

OP's mill does not have an adjustable gap. So I don't think removing material from the rollers would help.

 

[michaeltrego]

Motorized with a clothes dryer motor and added a hopper that holds 15 lbs of grain.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Clever use of a mailbox!

 

[beernutz]

Update! I bought 3 new O-rings (size 124) at my local Ace Hardware for about a buck each and put them all on one of the rollers, then reassembled the mill. It only had 1 O-ring originally but I figured I would add some fault tolerance by using all 3 of them.

I didn't replace the bushings as they didn't seem that worn even after 20 years and probably 2 tons of grain (200+ batches at 20+ lbs of grain each).

I double crushed 24 lbs of grain last weekend and it ran great so like a cat with 9 lives Maltmill lives on another day. A small part of me wanted it not to work so I'd have an excuse to upgrade to an adjustable mill but I'm loyal if nothing else so as long as Maltmill doesn't give up on me I won't give up on it.

 

[homebrudoc]

First brew kit 1994. HBD since 1995. Schmidling MaltMill very soon thereafter, still going strong.
homebrudoc

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Update! I bought 3 new O-rings (size 124) at my local Ace Hardware for about a buck each and put them all on one of the rollers, then reassembled the mill. It only had 1 O-ring originally but I figured I would add some fault tolerance by using all 3 of them.

I didn't replace the bushings as they didn't seem that worn even after 20 years and probably 2 tons of grain (200+ batches at 20+ lbs of grain each).

I double crushed 24 lbs of grain last weekend and it ran great so like a cat with 9 lives Maltmill lives on another day. A small part of me wanted it not to work so I'd have an excuse to upgrade to an adjustable mill but I'm loyal if nothing else so as long as Maltmill doesn't give up on me I won't give up on it.

Thanks! Perhaps time for me to rescue my Schmidling malt mill.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Possible to post an Ace Hardware link? There are LOTs of o rings at their website. Thanks.

 

[beernutz]

Possible to post an Ace Hardware link? There are LOTs of o rings at their website. Thanks.

I went an Ace hardware store and looked through the multi-drawer box containing O-rings to find the #124 ones. At first it didn't appear they had any but persistence paid off.

Amazon has them for a buck apiece if you buy 10:
https://www.amazon.com/Viton-Ring-D...eywords=#124+oring&qid=1606781175&sr=8-1&th=1

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

beernutz... thanks for your deligence to the homebrewing hobby!

 

[bracconiere]

My JSP i've been using for 15 years, that stupid o-ring broke first use. all i need to do to get it too engage though is get my drill running which has a speed lock trigger, and permentaly attached. i use a pairing knife to just move the free roller. i'd imagine you could take that sides particle board off, and use a hax saw blade to keep it aligned as i had to anyway....then just use your finger to turn the free roller to get it to catch?

 

[dwhite60]

My old Valley Mill has only one driven roller. The other turns from grain getting pinched between it and the driven roller.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I do believe the O ring helps the rollers to turn.

 

[day_trippr]

It may, though it would clearly be a crutch of sorts, and would likely end up in a mash eventually.

fwiw, my Barley Crusher came with an o-ring on the passive roller. The manufacturer stated it was there only for post-assembly tuning and not an otherwise functional part. It fell off on the second batch. I milled well over 2000 pounds of grain over ten years without it...

Cheers!

 

[VikeMan]

fwiw, my Barley Crusher came with an o-ring on the passive roller. The manufacturer stated it was there only for post-assembly tuning and not an otherwise functional part. It fell off on the second batch.

Yep. A little history... O-rings on homebrew grain mill rollers became a thing way back in the early Schmidling malt mill days, when the roller knurling design was less effective. In those days, the O-ring was actually pretty much necessary. After the knurl design changed, the O-ring was still installed, since it allows the rollers/bearings to be tested without crushing grains. Barley Crusher and perhaps others followed suit.

IIRC, the original O-ring on my ancient Schmidling mill fell off during batch 2 or 3.

 

[michaeltrego]

Spartan, here is the link to the exact bushings I used, They are a step above the ones that came in the mill and so far have been great. Good luck!

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/6952K64

Thanks for the tip! I just replaced the original bushings with these and it sounds so much better.

 

[eimale]

I recently replaced the bushings on my JSP fixed setting malt mill. It gave it a new life. My efficiency had dropped down to lower than 70%. After I replaced the bushings and cleaned up the roller ends, etcetera, it brought me back up over 75% which to me is acceptable. Take it apart, clean it up, and replace the bushings and you will have a new mill. I got the bushings at McMaster Carr. They are oil impregnated bronze bushings 1/2 X 1/2 X 3/8.

Hey! I need to rebuild my 25yr old JSP. It's been reliable, but my efficiency is near 60%. Is the shaft 1/2 or 3/8? I'd love to get new bushing for my JSP! Also, did you upgrade your hooper? I'd love to find way to get a 10# hopper on here.

 

[eimale]

Hey! I need to rebuild my 25yr old JSP. It's been reliable, but my efficiency is near 60%. Is the shaft 1/2 or 3/8? I'd love to get new bushing for my JSP! Also, did you upgrade your hooper? I'd love to find way to get a 10# hopper on here.

I just went back through this thread and found your link...Sorry.

 

[bwible]

deleted

 

[bwible]

Schmidling seems like a renaissance man. He made all sorts of stuff in his barn.

He's been doing the beer thing for a long time. Click this link and you can see him discussing brewing in the venerable homebrew digest, the predecessor to this forum (but it's the post 3 above his that you should look at carefully, and be prepared for a bit of fun history I guess it's only interesting if you know who John Palmer is)

http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/1192.html#1192-9

I bought his geared version back in 2003 or 2004. Its still going strong, about like new. I don’t put the wear on it that many others do, I brew 3 gallon batches and am typically grinding 6-8 lbs of grain at a time. I might fill that 2 lb hopper 3 1/2 times.

Was he the one also making the Phil’s Philler? Thats the thing I would love to get another one of.

 

[bwible]

My old Valley Mill has only one driven roller. The other turns from grain getting pinched between it and the driven roller.

I haven’t seen a Valley Mill in 20 years. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bwible]

I also have an original Phil Mill. The one you were supposed to cut the bottom off of a 2 liter soda bottle and stick the neck in the hole and secure it with a wood screw. Haven’t used it since forever, but I still have it. That was my first grain mill

 

[passedpawn]

I bought his geared version back in 2003 or 2004. Its still going strong, about like new. I don’t put the wear on it that many others do, I brew 3 gallon batches and am typically grinding 6-8 lbs of grain at a time. I might fill that 2 lb hopper 3 1/2 times.

Was he the one also making the Phil’s Philler? Thats the thing I would love to get another one of.

No idea. I've brewed a lot over the years since I bought that schmidling from my local homebrew shop.

The new one though is way more better!!! Get with the living yo.

 

[PCABrewing]

I also have an original Phil Mill. The one you were supposed to cut the bottom off of a 2 liter soda bottle and stick the neck in the hole and secure it with a wood screw. Haven’t used it since forever, but I still have it. That was my first grain mill

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I too started with a Phils Mill.
I worked pretty well for its simplicity, and it had "tool-less" adjustment.
I gave it to a work colleague who was just getting started.
I also gave him a Phalse Bottom and a Phil's filler.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

My first mill was the Barley Crusher. It worked fine for many years then started to act up, not pulling the grain through all of the time. Cleaning the rollers which helped a little but then I contacted the manufacture who had me go through the same cleaning process I had already done. So tried again but then sent it in for a rebuild. I'm not sure what he rebuilt but it didn't work much better. I paid to ship it and the return shipping, so I wasn't about to send it back.

I had an old JSP mill in a box I dug out and put to use. That thing works great. No idea how old it is but I'll run it until it's death and maybe replace it with a Monster mil.

 

[bwible]

The new one though is way more better!!! Get with the living yo.

Like I said I’m brewing 3 gallon batches and my typical grain bill is 6-8 lbs total, depending on what I’m brewing. I have the Anvil Foundry 6.5, the thing only has an 8 lb grain capacity. That can get me to about 1.058-1.060. Then if I want to go higher I have to supplement with extract. So this old JSP is fine, probably more than I need and it will probably outlive me. I don’t see a need to replace it to grind a few pounds of grain.

The Phils Philler I spoke of was a stainless steel bottling wand they used to make. It was cool because the valve to work it was at the top. It never leaked, could be sanitized better and even boiled if you had to. I had one and then I stopped bottling for a few years when I got my keg setup. It disappeared, I don’t know what happened to it. But I would love to have another one of those. The Phil Mill says Listerman so I’m guessing the Phil’s Philler was too.

 

[passedpawn]

Like I said I’m brewing 3 gallon batches and my typical grain bill is 6-8 lbs total, depending on what I’m brewing. I have the Anvil Foundry 6.5, the thing only has an 8 lb grain capacity. That can get me to about 1.058-1.060. Then if I want to go higher I have to supplement with extract. So this old JSP is fine, probably more than I need and it will probably outlive me. I don’t see a need to replace it to grind a few pounds of grain.

The Phils Philler I spoke of was a stainless steel bottling wand they used to make. It was cool because the valve to work it was at the top. It never leaked, could be sanitized better and even boiled if you had to. I had one and then I stopped bottling for a few years when I got my keg setup. It disappeared, I don’t know what happened to it. But I would love to have another one of those. The Phil Mill says Listerman so I’m guessing the Phil’s Philler was too.

To be honest, I stretched out my JSP for a long time. When it wouldn't grab the grain anymore, I flipped the rollers and ran it backwards - or some nonsense like that.