Driving An Mm3-2.0 Mill

[Hammo7]

Hey all.
After burning out my little GMC cordless drill on my first all grain attempt, I ummed and ahhed about getting another drill to drive it as I had a tumble dryer motor sitting there ready to go.

But then I needed a new drill for the HD DIY stuff.
I went to the big green shed to have a look at what was on offer and found the 1050W 13mm OZITO OZHD1050WA 2 Speed Hammer Drill.
Was not sure if it would do the job or not.
Last night was the big test.

Short answer - Yes.

I currently have the gap set to 0.050" and just run it through twice for BIAB.
Will take it down to 0.038" next time to see how it goes.
I hope to get some video on youtube this weekend. Ahh, well, looks like I may have to put on another brew so I can show off the mill in action!

Cheers, Matt.

 

[chiller]

Hey all.
After burning out my little GMC cordless drill on my first all grain attempt, I ummed and ahhed about getting another drill to drive it as I had a tumble dryer motor sitting there ready to go.

But then I needed a new drill for the HD DIY stuff.
I went to the big green shed to have a look at what was on offer and found the 1050W 13mm OZITO OZHD1050WA 2 Speed Hammer Drill.
Was not sure if it would do the job or not.
Last night was the big test.

Short answer - Yes.

I currently have the gap set to 0.050" and just run it through twice for BIAB.
Will take it down to 0.038" next time to see how it goes.
I hope to get some video on youtube this weekend. Ahh, well, looks like I may have to put on another brew so I can show off the mill in action!

Cheers, Matt.

I had contemplated the full motorised mill with pulleys etc but have been using the exact same drill you mentioned for the past 2 - 3 years. I have a geared JSP maltmill with a hopper that takes 6 kgs. The complete 10" [254mm] of rollers is loaded with grain, not just the centre section and the drill doesn't miss a beat from a standing start. A full hopper take less than a minute and that is not using high rpm's with the drill. I run mine on the lowest gearing. just don't engage the hammer function.

If anyone wants a powerful relatively inexpensive means of powering a grain mill this drill is great.

Steve

 

[argon]

I currently have the gap set to 0.050" and just run it through twice for BIAB.
Will take it down to 0.038" next time to see how it goes.

In reference to your gap, have a read through here. Considering your using a BIAB system i reckon you could tighten it up quite a bit. I have mine set at 0.035" using a 3V with SS 2mm perf false bottom and have no problem with stuck sparge and hit around 80% efficiency

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

When I bought my Crankandstein mill, I had a plan to drive it with a lesser drill through a chain/sprocket reduction drive. I told myself that a beautiful, hand-crafted cabinet into which I could just pour grain and from which would issue perfectly-milled grain would be the ultimate addition to my brewery. I would be the envy of my friend.

Timing issues (the Marga died totally mid-crush) meant that I had to jerry-rig a solution using my Ozito 14.4Volt Lithium-Ion cordless drill. It's now done a dozen or so brews and does so beautifully.

I've not got around to implementing the Final Solution yet and probably never will because the simplicity of just clamping the shaft of the mill into the right drill chuck is difficult to beat. The old Marga would take half an hour of cursing to get through a batch's grain, but this mill takes such a short time to do the same (or better) thing that I don't think the effort is warranted for me.

In short, my recommendation to anyone purchasing a proper mill would be to give it a go either manually-cranked or with a drill before doing anything else so they can decide if the effort/expense of a big-arsed motor installation is worth it.

 

[seemax]

Ryobi 18V cordless ... drains about half a standard NiMh battery to crush 5kg of grain.

I have the Ozito drill for DIY ... and find it drives too fast and lacks the torque at low speed.

 

[adryargument]

Normally i crush 12KG batches of grain at the thinnest setting i can get on the MM2.
Last 2 months I have killed 2 x corded drills - generic small handheld ones.

Started using a 10 year old Makita Concrete / Hammer Drill after the last drill died this weekend.
Boy can this baby churn grain. Crushed 12KG in minutes!

Definately overkill, like mowing the lawn with napalm.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Ryobi 18V cordless ... drains about half a standard NiMh battery to crush 5kg of grain.

I have the Ozito drill for DIY ... and find it drives too fast and lacks the torque at low speed.

I use the same drill (the Ryobi) and find that nothing comes close to the speed control and torque

 

[argon]

I use a 30+ year old hammer drill. Has no problems getting the MM2 started with 10kg of grain in the hopper. The thing will twist your arm off if it gets jammed. No chance of killing it with a mill.

 

[Logman]

I went to the big green shed to have a look at what was on offer and found the 1050W 13mm OZITO OZHD1050WA 2 Speed Hammer Drill.

How much did that drill set you back?

 

[Hammo7]

How much did that drill set you back?

Hi Logman.
The drill cost me $89. Bargain!
I'm about to see how it rips through 5kg with the gap set to 0.030.

 

[QldKev]

Have a look at the speed rating of the drills.

By the time you spend $89 on a drill to run it, you might as well spend the extra $30 and do it one with a dedicated motor that runs at the correct RPM for milling.


QldKev

 

[outbreak]

Any drill with a 2 speed gear box and decent torque will be fine. There are a lot of cheap mixing drills around now which are great,the ozito is good for price. Single gear variable speed drills will just burn out as they dont have the torque at the lower speeds

 

[QldKev]

Have a look at the speed rating of the drills.

By the time you spend $89 on a drill to run it, you might as well spend the extra $30 and do it one with a dedicated motor that runs at the correct RPM for milling.


QldKev

I should clarify what I mean here

http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_produc...drill_1881.aspx
In low speed this drill is 0-1000rpm.

From the Monster mill site
http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/faq.html#q3
we need 150-250 rpm.

So in this example you need to have a pretty steady finger to run this drill at 1/4 speed in low gear.


Compared to the Oatley motor running at 12v = 160rpm steady. Load up the hopper, turn it on and you are free to do other things.

I ran my mill for 18months on an 18v cordless. Now have the Oatley motor and my crush is a lot better and it way more consistent, and as a bonus it saves my time sitting there with the drill. If I was to do it again I would have went the Oatley motor a lot sooner. You do need to suit you own environment, a drill doubles as a drill so that is a bonus. But if you burn it out just outside of warranty period, it will cost a lot more by the time you replace it.


QldKev

 

[spudfarmerboy]

Kev,
Where did you purchase the Oatey motor and what sort of current do they pull?
Cheers
Spud

 

[QldKev]

Kev,
Where did you purchase the Oatey motor and what sort of current do they pull?
Cheers
Spud

Check my sig, 'QldKev website' my website has all the details for the motor, power supply, coupling etc. Good easy project.

I think AndrewQld was the first person to use it.

But to directly answer your questions

Motor
http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com//produ...878ed9817700f3a
I see they are currently out of stock, if you can't be bothered waiting there are other shops that sell the exact same motor, I can't remember who thou. I do remember after I got mine seeing one for about $10 cheaper on ebay.

The power supply should be 250w/24v = 10.4amps, but I'm running mine from a 8amp power supply no problems.




QldKev



edit:
Here is one on ebay, identicle to the Oatley one, posted to Aust for the same price Oatley is without postage.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/24V-250W-Electr...=item27ba90738a
Rated speed 2750 divide by gearbox 7.18, then half that rpm as you will run it on 12v, I see they also rate it at <=13.4amps


Also I'm not sure of the bracket comes with it, the Oatley one didn't

 

[spudfarmerboy]

Cheers Kev,
I have emailed Oatley to see when they will be back in stock. Might have a look on Ebay as well.
Spud

 

[Logman]

Also I'm not sure of the bracket comes with it, the Oatley one didn't

I emailed the guy on ebay, it does come with the brackets.

 

[Malted]

as I had a tumble dryer motor sitting there ready to go.

I have done exactly that and it does not have enough grunt for the MM3. Maybe it would be ok for a MM2 as supposedly they need less grunt.
Picture of my mill crushing some grain during build testing

10 inch wheel on motor, 1 1/4" pulley on motor = MM3 approx 180 rpm.
This was in the 'testing' phase. I would have put guards etc on the belt etc but I reckon I'll upgrade the motor first.
This is on the factory gap setting (50 thou is it? In metric this would be 1.25 mm). Hopper is the std Monster one.

It won't crush if you fill the hopper first, it needs to be spinning/on and then fill the hopper with Barley Malt. Wheat you can only sprinkle in a trickle at a time or it'll stop.

 

[QldKev]

I have done exactly that and it does not have enough grunt for the MM3. Maybe it would be ok for a MM2 as supposedly they need less grunt.
Picture of my mill crushing some grain during build testing

10 inch wheel on motor, 1 1/4" pulley on motor = MM3 approx 180 rpm.
This was in the 'testing' phase. I would have put guards etc on the belt etc but I reckon I'll upgrade the motor first.
This is on the factory gap setting (50 thou is it? In metric this would be 1.25 mm). Hopper is the std Monster one.

It won't crush if you fill the hopper first, it needs to be spinning/on and then fill the hopper with Barley Malt. Wheat you can only sprinkle in a trickle at a time or it'll stop.

I wonder if you reduced the grain feed area right down if it would still work ok with your current motor? Having a small feed would mean only a limited amount of grain hits the rollers to be crushed at a time, therefore has a lower amount of force required to turn them. It would mean you will take a lot longer to mill your grain, but the motor is doing that so the should not be a problem.

Could be worth a try before you get another motor.

QldKev

edit: I also think with the same motor a MM2 would have problems.

 

[Malted]

I wonder if you reduced the grain feed area right down if it would still work ok with your current motor?

Ah yes, good point.
With the Monster hopper it already has some 'tabs' inside to shield the ends of the rollers, I could esily make larger/ longer tabs to reduce the area of the exposed rollers. It would be relatively easy to modify; of course there are other ways to do it as well.

I am also interested in making a mill that could chew your arm off - so will keep my eye open for a bigger KW motor anyway. I didn't pay anything for the dryer motor so have not lost on it.