Crankandstein Mill Crush Problem.

[Brizbrew]

My Crankandstein 2A mill arrived this morning from Fred (took around 2 Weeks) and I have spent the last few hours playing with it.
I made a temporary base and hopper from a piece of scrap plywood I had and a hopper from a 3 litre pop bottle, took about 30 minutes and I am tool challenged h34r:
The problem is it is not crushing the grain that is going through it. I have tried several gap settings from the widest to the closest it goes and the grain is coming through the same, uncrushed. :blink:
Anyone had a similar problem or work out why it could be happening?

I am running it using a normal everyday drill but the slowest it goes is still very fast, not sure what the RPM is but it is faster than the 200 RPM that Fred reckons is about the optimum speed to crush at. Could this be the problem?

It's driving me crazy! :unsure:

 

[sintax69]

Have you got the drill running in the right direction

 

[Brizbrew]

Have you got the drill running in the right direction

[post="70902"][/post]​

I finally sussed it, I came upstairs had a cup of coffee when I posted this question and went back to it with a fresh pair of eyes and it hit me straight away...I had the mill attached to the plywood upside down :unsure: so the grain was falling from the hopper hitting the revolving roller and bouncing through the gap at the top and side of the mill rather than actually going through the gap between the rollers.

I quickly switched it the right way around and hey presto it crushed the 500g in no time, probably a bit over done I have attached a picture for comments on my crush.

Overdone or not?

crush 1

crush 2

 

[Guest Lurker]

Looks like you are trialing on crystal? That tends to be brittle compared to base malt, better to optimise the crush using a base malt I think.

 

[johnno]

Brizbrew,
I get mine crushed at the Grain and Grape. Compared to what I get that looks very overcrushed.
If you have a lot of grain crushed like that you will really have to watch for a stuck sparge.
Maybe go the rice hulls?

johnno

 

[Asher]

As GL said... Calibrate it using a base malt.
That doesn't look too bad for crystal

 

[Brizbrew]

It was actually around 150g of each Crystal, Roast Barley and Choc. I have had them in the cupboard for a fair while and probably wouldn't of used them in a brew.

I might just move the gap a tad wider for when I do my first AG and see how it goes with the first 250g, maybe move it back if needed.

The mill is everything I hoped it would be though and Fred is a nice guy to deal with, he kept me informed when there was a slight delay due to a change in the way the mill was shipped and it arrived very well packed. :beer:

 

[Jazman]

bris set the gap to about .9mm to 1mm gap aprox and it shoud be fine

 

[Jase]

The mill is everything I hoped it would be though and Fred is a nice guy to deal with, he kept me informed when there was a slight delay due to a change in the way the mill was shipped and it arrived very well packed. :beer:

[post="70960"][/post]​

Hi Briz,

Where do u get the mill from? What did it set u back?

Cheers,
Jase

 

[beer slayer]

G day Jazman,
Just a quick question about the crank. Im about to get mine very shortly and I was wondering. You mention that the gap should be .9 - 1 mm. How do you measure that gap, do you have feeler gauges or is there some other tool to measure the gap accurately?

:beer:
B.S

 

[Brizbrew]

The mill is everything I hoped it would be though and Fred is a nice guy to deal with, he kept me informed when there was a slight delay due to a change in the way the mill was shipped and it arrived very well packed. :beer:

[post="70960"][/post]​

Hi Briz,

Where do u get the mill from? What did it set u back?

Cheers,
Jase

[post="71023"][/post]​

Hi Jase, I bought the mill direct from the Crankandstein website and all up with shipping from the US it weighed in at $159 US dollars through paypal which is around $200 Aussie dollars..Expensive and not a vital part of a setup but I had some spare cash so what the hell. :super:

I am going to refine my crush today and get it just how I want it.

 

[Duff]

How do you measure that gap, do you have feeler gauges or is there some other tool to measure the gap accurately?

:beer:
B.S

[post="71032"][/post]​

An easy way to measure gaps like that are with allen keys since they come in a variety of different sizes. A 1mm allen key is 1mm thick.

 

[voota]

I got one of the 2A's last week, the setting it came with gave a perfect crush. But I guess you have already changed it a bit.

 

[Lukes]

Did the paypal thing with the credit card and got one on order with fred.
Can't wait to get it. :super:

www.crankandstein.com

Briz,
How long did the shipping take?

 

[TidalPete]

Brisbrew,

A place like Supercheap Auto sells feeler gauges cheap cheap which would be better to adjust the gap than anything else. Have to wait for my next brew to use my new Crankenstein. Good luck with your crushing.

:beer:

 

[Brizbrew]

Did the paypal thing with the credit card and got one on order with fred.
Can't wait to get it. :super:

www.crankandstein.com

Briz,
How long did the shipping take?

[post="71048"][/post]​

I paid for airmail which was $50US, surface mail was around $30US but was quoted at up to 10 Weeks. I got my mill in 2 weeks by airmail and that was with a delay due to the shipping company changing their policy.
I think fred used USPS and the stamp on the package was $46.90 plus the cost of the packing - It was very well packed in a strong box full of polystyrene beads and the mill was in the middle further wrapped in bubble wrap - an all round good deal.

 

[Lukes]

Thanks for that.

Luke

 

[Jazman]

G day Jazman,
Just a quick question about the crank. Im about to get mine very shortly and I was wondering. You mention that the gap should be .9 - 1 mm. How do you measure that gap, do you have feeler gauges or is there some other tool to measure the gap accurately?

:beer:
B.S

[post="71032"][/post]​

I actually use a barley crusher and i think my gap is about 1 mm and i run it through twice but a lot of brewers use the gap around .9 mark and u can use feeler gauges to set the gap while mine is on default but if i wanted to i would was a bit of .95 steel from work

 

[kirem]

Ordered my CGM-3D with SS rollers and 1/2inch drive.

I will probably be OS when it comes.

Now to find some pulleys and motor.