Grain Mill... Pics

[Chad]

Well, it only took me 17 months after getting the rollers made , but I have finally put mine together. Jye's mill housing works pretty well, so I just went with that design.

I took a different approach to the hopper design. My concept was to keep it really simple. What I came up with was a slot together design B) . Note the hopper has some extensions on the bottom to fit with the mill.
Here are the individual pieces.

And here is what it looks like slotted together.

The hopper then sits on the mill.

If anyone is interested in a copy of the hopper plans, let me know and I will tidy them up and post them.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Well done Chad, that hopper design is a classic. ( I'm a joiner by the way )

 

[Ross]

Excellent Chad :super: what a brilliantly concieved idea. Please post the plans, a lot of guys are going to want to copy you, I guarantee it.

Cheers Ross

 

[matti]

Well done.
Me too.
Did you end up gluing it together or is it a pack away job?

 

[Jye]

Nice work... Im looking forward to seeing the crush.

 

[Screwtop]

Back up on Soapbox: "Brewers, we in the midst of men of talent" Down off soapbox, everyone applauds.

 

[Andyd]

If anyone is interested in a copy of the hopper plans, let me know and I will tidy them up and post them.

I'll second the call for you to post the plans Chad!

Great work!

Andy

 

[Chad]

Did you end up gluing it together or is it a pack away job?

No glue required. As long as the slots are just the right width, it holds together just fine.
I will put the plans online in the next few days.

 

[sstacey]

Hi Chad,
I'd like to see the plans too. Please post them online when you have a chance.
Many thanks

 

[Steve Lacey]

Hi Chad,
I'd like to see the plans too. Please post them online when you have a chance.

Let me add my voice (and Eric's as well). That look to be a most elegant and space saving design. Chad, did you use a router to cut the slots? And if so, do you think it would be possible to get away with using a jig saw?

I'd also like to know what volume or weight of grain your design holds and any thoughts on how much bigger you think it could go.

Steve

 

[Chad]

My apologies, I totally forgot I was going to post this.

A table saw was used to cut it up, although a router should be able to do a reasonable job, and a jigsaw too, but make sure you set up a guide and you should get a straight cut.

I've forgotten to take note of how much it holds, but I think it is roughly 5kg.

View attachment Hopper_Detailing_01.pdf

 

[Simon W]

Nice work Chad.

Finished a mill a couple of weeks back too. Took about 18-24 months? Can't remember! :lol:
It's adjustable with one turn of the M4 bolts(RH side) sliding the roller 0.7mm. Currently set to 1.4mm gap.
Still needs to be mounted to a plate to sit it on the bucket. Will probably just use ply for that.

The hopper was made with a small amount of rough scrap sheet Ali that I had lying around, so the size/shape was dictated by that.
It's also a bit rough because I've never done any sheetmetal work before and I don't have a Brake to do the bends, but by the end I was getting very neat bends by hand and a peening hammer(see the little inset deflector plates above the mountings), too late for the rest of it tho
Holds about 4 - 4.5kg.

Using a cheap cordless drill to power it(XU1) but looking at a few dc gearhead motor options for a walk away solution.

Was gonna Anodise the mill body and paint the outside of the hopper with hammertone or something to make it more presentable, but dunno if that will ever happen

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Was gonna Anodise the mill body and paint the outside of the hopper with hammertone or something to make it more presentable, but dunno if that will ever happen wink.gif


Yep...that aint ever going to happen...I Know...mine still looks like the first day I made it...

:icon_cheers:

 

[Tony]

Im planning to replace the thin craftwood base on mine with some good ply and paint it. a couple of big stickers of the logo franko did for me will look good on it.

My crappy hopper is falling apart. it needs to hold 14 KG so will be taking the mill to sheet metal place and getting one made from stainless plate. Or aluminum if price is too high but shiny stainless would be nice.

I noticed all my photos were gone from earlier posts when my global space ran out and i cleared out the old to make room for the new.

here they are again. Its been running for years now and works fantastic.

80 to 85% efficiency all the time.

cheers

 

[devo]

Was gonna Anodise the mill body and paint the outside of the hopper with hammertone or something to make it more presentable, but dunno if that will ever happen wink.gif
Yep...that aint ever going to happen...I Know...mine still looks like the first day I made it...

:icon_cheers:

bugger the fancy stuff....first day sounds fine with me!

 

[Yeasty]

wish i knew somone local in SA that had a lathe to knurl me up some rollers...

Id rather pay a fellow hb'er with the know how than get a machine shop to knock me up a pair...

 

[Steve Lacey]

Another question for Chad...

Chad, how stable is the hopper on your mill? Do you have anything at all to hold it in place or just the tabs from the sides of the hopper? I would be worrying about it falling off!

Thanks very much for the plans, by the way. I think they will get put to some good use.

Steve :icon_cheers:

 

[Chad]

Chad, how stable is the hopper on your mill?

Once it gets the weight of the grain in it, it is fairly stable. I always hold on to it though when I get the drill fired up at cracking time to help prevent the mill and hopper from vibrating off my collection bucket.

 

[Steve Lacey]

I see. Well, I am a hand cranker and not likely to change any time soon, so I might need to look at fixing it a bit more solidly, seeing as you need one hand to crank and another to stop the base board jumping around.

Thanks again!