# Crankandstein 2d Mill Hopper



## husky (15/10/10)

Just though I would throw a few pics up of the hopper I have finally made after having the mill sitting around for a month or so now(from the GB recently).
Design parameters were a hopper that could hold 6kg grain and pack down small enough for storage. I worked with a 300x300 opening and a height of 300mm. I read here somewhere that the density of grain un milled is 1.7cubic metres per 1000kg so this hopper should hole 6.5kg grain.
I based it on the Monster mill hopper but with a couple less parts. The opening at the bottom is 20mm x 100mm. Smaller than most seem to make theirs but will see how it goes. The 100mm width also gives even the poorest battery drill a fighting chance at the expense of taking a few extra minutes perhaps.
As you can see in the pics theres just enough gap at the bottom to fit a slide if the drill struggles to start with the hopper full of grain.
Just needs two small tags to be folded to cover the end gaps to prevent dust escaping and a general tidy up. Hoping to get a trial run in next week.


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## beerbog (15/10/10)

Looks great, well done.... :beerbang:


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## felten (15/10/10)

sexy, beats the hell out of my water diverter


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## vykuza (15/10/10)

Great stuff! Looks like a bought one. Want to make one for me? ;-)


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## husky (15/10/10)

happy to send through the drawing templates if you want to have a crack yourself or get someone local fo fold them up for you.


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## Jord (25/10/10)

Nice work there Husky. Looks bombproof! Have you had a chance to give it a run yet? 
I folded up a flimsier looking hopper for my 2D over the weekend with a similar sized bottom opening of 120mm x 20mm. I put a grain bill through it yesterday arvo for a weizen, and had a prick of a time with the rollers choking on the grain and jamming up. Ended up having to trickle it in slowly from a bowl with the drill going flat stick. Pour too quickly and it would jam, completely defeats the purpose of the hopper <_< 
I decided that I had made my bottom opening too long allowing too much grain to get to the rollers at once, but from the reading I have done this morning this doesn't seem to be an issue for anyone else. So I am extremely curious as to whether you experienced any problems like this with your setup. 

Cheers

Jord


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## QldKev (25/10/10)

Jord said:


> Nice work there Husky. Looks bombproof! Have you had a chance to give it a run yet?
> I folded up a flimsier looking hopper for my 2D over the weekend with a similar sized bottom opening of 120mm x 20mm. I put a grain bill through it yesterday arvo for a weizen, and had a prick of a time with the rollers choking on the grain and jamming up. Ended up having to trickle it in slowly from a bowl with the drill going flat stick. Pour too quickly and it would jam, completely defeats the purpose of the hopper <_<
> I decided that I had made my bottom opening too long allowing too much grain to get to the rollers at once, but from the reading I have done this morning this doesn't seem to be an issue for anyone else. So I am extremely curious as to whether you experienced any problems like this with your setup.
> 
> ...



I think you will find the size of the opening is relative to the torque required. So depending on the torue of the motor driving your mill you may get away with the large opening. I found my 18v cordless drill was ok crushing unless I had a high volume of wheat mixed in; as in the case of a weizen. My feed is 33mm wide, and I had to reduce it to just 40mm long to take some load of the drill. Even at this size I was supprised at how quickly it still got through a batch of grain. 

so
mine 40 x 33 = 1320mm2
OP 100 x 20 = 2000mm2
your 120 x 20 = 2400mm2

I do plan on making is skinnier, but longer soon. I will be aiming for 100 x 15mm = 1500mm2

QldKev


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## Jord (25/10/10)

Kev,

Nice point with the comparison of the opening areas! When you put it like that, I may simply be expecting too much from the drill. It is only a 500W cheapy, so definitely not at the big end of the scale for torque. Will reduce the gap and see how it performs. 

Thanks for the advice.

Jord


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## yardy (25/10/10)

I think it was* raven *who has an adjustable feed gap on his hopper, maybe search his gallery for ideas there.

my feed gap on the MM2 is 35 X 160, it's a gutsy drill so no real problem with stalling.

cheers


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## big78sam (25/10/10)

husky said:


> happy to send through the drawing templates if you want to have a crack yourself or get someone local fo fold them up for you.



I am going to order one of these today and was going to look for a design for a hopper. Any change you could send the drawing template through. How is it easiest to send - attached to PM, posted here, email?


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## beerdrinkingbob (25/10/10)

QldKev said:


> My feed is 33mm wide, and I had to reduce it to just 40mm long to take some load of the drill. Even at this size I was supprised at how quickly it still got through a batch of grain.




How long does it take out of interest Kev?

Cheers Bob


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## QldKev (25/10/10)

beerdrinkingbob said:


> How long does it take out of interest Kev?
> 
> Cheers Bob



Haven't timed it, but I would guess at 2-3 minutes for a 5kg batch. 

Also I have, just last weekend, finally got around to hooking up a motor to it. The motor runs about half the speed my drill does, so I assume the time taken will double. Looking at the 2kg sample crush I ran, it crushed heaps better than what my drill produced so the reduced speed is great. The saying 'a good slow crush' seems to be true. I'm now thinking about using 5v (but high amps) to run the motor to slow the crush right down. My hopper handles a single batch of grain, so even if it took 10mins to mill, I can just throw it in and do other things. I'll run a couple through at 12v and see how it goes first. 

QldKev


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## QldKev (25/10/10)

Hooked up an on/off switch today to the mill, 
Didn't get a chance to get a crush time for 5kg yet.

I did notice my the wiring colours is wrong. I found out colors on a ATX PSU are
Red = +5v (25amp in my case)
Yellow = +12v (8amp in my case) 

So I have been testing it on +5v, not 12v.

I will measure time for a crush hopefully tomorrow at 5v. 

QldKev


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## Jord (26/10/10)

Sorted... opening reduced from 120x20mm down to 40x20mm and the drill now copes with the feed. 

Original opening size, with the insert ready to go in




Insert fitted and problem solved




Thanks to all, especially QLDKev. 

Jord


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## QldKev (26/10/10)

Jord said:


> Sorted... opening reduced from 120x20mm down to 40x20mm and the drill now copes with the feed.
> 
> Original opening size, with the insert ready to go in
> 
> ...




Looks great, glad it worked out for you.

Now you've motivated me to clean up the feed on my hopper. 

QldKev


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## husky (26/10/10)

still have not had a chance to trial run the hopper as yet been flat out. I did pick up some grain from G&G yestreday but its looking like next week before I will get a chance to run it. Im going to use an 18V drill so from what I have read the gap will work but if not as you have done jord, I will simply reduce the gap. 
I did sit some grain in the hopper last night and it looks like it will hold the 6.5kg I planned for, just need to knock up a timber or stainless base to feed into a bucket then shes set for a trial run. What gap are people running on their crankandsteins?


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## Jord (26/10/10)

So its all dressed up with nowhere to go! For the sake of a base board, you've got the patience of a saint mate, that would be killing me  

+1 on the gap setting. Got fairly poor efficiency on the weizen I put through it using the factory setting of around 1mm. Buggered if I know whether it should go finer or courser from there. One way to find out I s'pose... 

Good luck with it.

Jord


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## felten (26/10/10)

I've been going with .035", which is 2 clicks off the default, that's for BIAB though.


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## QldKev (26/10/10)

beerdrinkingbob said:


> How long does it take out of interest Kev?
> 
> Cheers Bob




I crushed my first batch with the new motor tonight.

At 5v with a full load in the hopper it was too slow, looking like it was going to stall any time.

Swapped it over to 12v. Poured the about 1/4kg of grain crushed back into the hopper.
5.5kg grain (1.1kg wheat, rest just Ale+Munich+CaraMunich) took 2min 20secs to crush. A bit faster than I thought, the crush looks very nice.

QldKev


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## Siborg (4/11/10)

husky said:


> happy to send through the drawing templates if you want to have a crack yourself or get someone local fo fold them up for you.


Any chance of a copy of those templates? Do you know of any places around this side of town (east/south east) who may be able to do it?


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## husky (8/11/10)

Finally had a a chance to run the mill and hopper on the weekend.
Made a temp base from Malemine board to sit directly on my BIAB basket so no dust could escape.
Put down NS summer ale from the database using 4.5kg Maris otter and 0.5kg torrified wheat.
Hopper volume worked out spot on. Held 5kg easy and could do 6.5 no dramas.
I used a 15.6V panasonic drill and had no dramas starting with a full hopper. Took 8 minutes running the drill on its slowest setting of 60-80 rpm. I crushed it in two 4minute sessions as the drill gets quite hot. 
Could have crushed it faster but I have heard the slower the better basically.
Have not had a chance to fit the two additional infill pieces so a small amount of grain fell out the bottom as seen in the pic but no big deal.

I have had a couple of people ask for the drawings so they can have one folded up. I will endeavor to get a proper drawing done this week so you can ask any fabricator or sheet metal place to knock one up.


5kg of grain loaded








Milling 







Finished product with a 1mm gap setting. Possibly too much flour for 3V but all good for BIAB


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## big78sam (8/11/10)

Looks great! I got an email this morning confirming mine had been shipped. I'm getting excited now. 

And thanks for offering to make drawings available. This will make my life much easier as I'm hopeless at that sort of thing.


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## husky (10/11/10)

I have a drawing for the hopper done but cannot complete the connection sides until I get home and re measure the mill. Cant remember the dimensions of the top of my head. For this drawing to be used as a template it must be printed to 1:1 scale in A3. Alternatively if you want to get one laser cut i could email the file in a .dxf format that will load up into any laser cutting program. Will try get the remainder done this week.
Note: I have not put any holes. I would suggest match drilling holes on assembly as its only 1mm aluminium. 

View attachment FABRICATION_DRAWINGS___MILL_HOPPER.pdf


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## husky (10/11/10)

I should note that anyone who wants to use the template should PM me first and I will send you my number so I can explain a few things to make life easier. I can also change the hopper dimensions very easily if you want it to hold a specific volume.
Disclamer: Use at your own risk. I have fabricated one up with no problems however the user assumes all risk if using these files.
There is also a small possibility I may be able to have some folded up when the workshop quietens down. Theres no telling when that will be however.


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## big78sam (10/11/10)

husky said:


> I should note that anyone who wants to use the template should PM me first and I will send you my number so I can explain a few things to make life easier. I can also change the hopper dimensions very easily if you want it to hold a specific volume.
> Disclamer: Use at your own risk. I have fabricated one up with no problems however the user assumes all risk if using these files.
> There is also a small possibility I may be able to have some folded up when the workshop quietens down. Theres no telling when that will be however.



Thanks mate for doing that. My mill is on its way so when it arrives I'll send you a PM. I'll get your address at the same time and send you a few brews as a thanks for your help.

The same disclaimer applies to my beer as to your drawing, use at your own risk


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## husky (10/11/10)

no probs mate, ill get a few more drawings up tomorrow hopefully. I send the profiles off to a laser cutter to get an idea on having them cut and then I fold them.


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