Diy Grain mill

[Bastow]

Ive been lurking a bit lately and thought I would add some thing. I made this mill at work. Works great. Have just been doing a bit of fine tuning this arvo. I also milled a Pillar of Stout to brew tomorrow evening.

 

[Bastow]

Sorry for crappy phone photos. :wub:h34r:

 

[Bastow]

Also just realised I put this in the wrong section, can a mod please move it? :huh:h34r:

 

[dicko]

Also just realised I put this in the wrong section, can a mod please move it? :huh:h34r:

Moved

 

[going down a hill]

How did you make it? Tell me more! It looks like it does the job pretty well.

 

[Bastow]

Basically you just have to break it down to its components then make each one. You start with the two rollers. Bigger is better, I think I used 30mm round bar stepped down for the axles and left the shaft for the drill. You then knurl the rollers. You obviously need a metal lathe. Next are the side plates. I fixed the drive roller and made bushes out of brass for both sides. Then you have to elongate the non drive end for adjustment, using a mill. Grub screws hold the drive bushes. And bolts tapped into the end for the adjustable roller. Then I braced the whole lot with the angle you can see. This held the plates together. Making the hopper is a bit of dicking around, I used perspex, aluminium angle, aluminium bar and rivets.

Good luck. :beer:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Pillar of Stout...let me know...

What size rollers and gap have you got

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

That crush is very fine..

Flour is good...but only to about 30%

But..flour gives better extraction...but is a PITA to sparge... Bit of science in it...

If your batch sparging, then I suggest you stir your mash,let sit, then drain. And recirculate your sparge over the grain bed.

 

[Bastow]

25 mm I think, and licence size gap. My drivers licence goes in with not too much force. I made it last year and have forgotten what size exactly they were. It is probably a bit finer than last time I used it. I have done a bit of adjustment to the rollers and hopper. Also screwed it to my bit of wood. Do you recon I should go more course?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Mmmm......Pillar of Stout......

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Is it ajustable....

My 2 roller ( 50mm knurled solid stainless ) runs 0.9mm at 150rmp on the rollers

 

[Bastow]

Yeah it is adjustable, ill get the verniers onto my licence tomorrow and see what that is. They are probably 30mm.... Yeah I just pulse my drill, it can get a bit stinky though, but it eats grain like a fat kid with cake.

Mmmmmmm stainless. :icon_drool2:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You need a constant slow feed.

Gap is a bit relative to roller size and speed.

You want a slow roller speed so that it actually crushes the grains, rather than make flour.

Its a fine line. And different grains crush differently.

 

[Bastow]

About 0.8mm, i will try with a cordless drill set to "low" next time. It does have a tendancy to make too much flour with the 240v drill.

 

[Weizguy]

How much grain does the hopper carry?
For my 2 cents (and your consideration), you may have to add a vertical extension later, for extra capacity.

On my mill, the hopper holds about 7.5 kg malt. May vary if wheat is used, but hardly ever maxed out, so far.

 

[Bastow]

Nearly 3kg. It is deceptively large.

 

[spog]

Ive been lurking a bit lately and thought I would add some thing. I made this mill at work. Works great. Have just been doing a bit of fine tuning this arvo. I also milled a Pillar of Stout to brew tomorrow evening.

Have a guess how many " mates " you now have.
Good job!

 

[Kiwifirst]

Yeah it is adjustable, ill get the verniers onto my licence tomorrow and see what that is. They are probably 30mm.... Yeah I just pulse my drill, it can get a bit stinky though, but it eats grain like a fat kid with cake.

Mmmmmmm stainless. :icon_drool2:

How did you set it up for adjustment? This looks a great project. Do you adjust from the Allen key screws on the side?

 

[Bastow]

Yeah the adjustment is via the cap head screws on the side with a nut to hold the frame tight. The brass bush slides in and out and is forced out by the grain, if you know what i mean. After what D Stu said about my crush i put some swiss voile in my dodgy mash tun to avoid a stuck mash and batch sparged. I pulled 85% brewhouse efficiency, i think. My last batch was only 58%. So i'm onto something.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

85% is awsome.

I might try that myself.

What temp did you mash at...