Grain Mills

[Doc]

My mill arrived at the weekend after a slow journey (3 months) from Canada.
I've been looking at motorising it and have come across a great article on HBD that details the math needed to calculate RPM's based on the motor size, speed, belts and pulleys etc.

Here is the link.

Cheers,
Doc

 

[Armstrong]

Hi Doc,

We have a mate that got one of those mills and has already motorised it very similar to those pics ... his has a speed adjustment. (he is a sparkie I might add)

We borrowed it for a short time and it works incredibly well ... can put you in touch with him if you want

Shawn

 

[Doc]

Thanks for the offer.
Initially I was worried that my old cordless drill would not handle the job after reports from other brewers burning out drills and sucking through batteries super quick.
However my good old trusty Ryobi 14.4v dual speed cordless drill makes seemless work.
I will motorise it in the future however when I have room to locate a motorised version.

Cheers,
Doc

 

[Armstrong]

It's a bloody good cracker ... we ripped through 25 kg in about 5 minutes ... and it cracked it nicely!

 

[kook]

Has anyone used the "Barleycrusher" mill from www.barleycrusher.com?

Seems cheaper than a valley, though slightly smaller in construction (slightly less grain/min)..

I'm going to need a mill sooner or later, and I'd rather get something good straight away rather than buy a porkert/corona to see me through

 

[GMK]

Barley Crusher Grain Mill

I too am interested in purchasing a Barley Crusher Grain Mill.

Here is some information from the manufactutrers:

Ken, the adjustment on the Barley Crusher is infinite, there is an eccentric
cam at each end of the roller that is turned to the desired setting by
inserting feeler gauges between the two rollers, locking the cam in position
is by a screw. All this is explained in the Instruction Sheet that comes
with your maltmill.
The gap spacing between the rollers is approx. .015 to .070 thousands on an
inch. Mill is set at .039 at assembly.

Ken, prices for the Barley Crusher MaltMill are:

One maltmill shipped by airmail 4-10 days $99.00 plus $60.00 shipping.
One maltmill shipped by parcel post 4-6 weeks $99.00 plus $38.50
shipping.

Two maltmills by airmail $198.00 plus $100.00 shipping
Two maltmills by parcel post $198.00 plus $50.00 shipping.

Three maltmills by airmail $297.00 plus $140.00 shipping.
Three maltmill by parcel post $297.00 plus $64.00 shipping.
Prices are based on maltmills being shipped to same address.

Discounts start on orders of (5) maltmills. Discount is 10 %. Must all be
shipped to same address.
When shipping one maltmill the mill is fully assembled.
When shipping multiple mills we do not attach the hoppers to save on
shipping.
You will need a philipshead screwdriver and a 3/8 inch wrench to attach the
hopper.
Will take less than a minute to assemble.

If we can get an order of at least 5 items - then we receive 10% off

Are people interested.... or is PMyers interested for his homebrew shop....

Let me know....

 

[PMyers]

Are people interested.... or is PMyers interested for his homebrew shop....

Actually Ken, I just got delivery of an "Uber" cracker with a hopper capable of holding over 35kg of grain. It is capable of cracking this amount in about four minutes, is motorised, has a throttle and is geared in order to adjust the speed. I can also adjust the coarseness at the simple turn of a knob. But I don't like brag ...

Cheers,
Pete

:chug:

 

[GSRman]

PMeyers: 35kg in 4 minutes... that almost sounds like a challenge... im looking at building my own graim mill at some point...

Is there any reason to have an ajustable mill?

what should the space between the knurled rollers be?

should the distance between the rollers be measured at the closest, furthest or mean of the lumps/knurling?

 

[therook]

GMK,

Who makes these Mills, do they have a WEB site. If they are of a good make and are reliable I would be interested.

Rook

 

[GSRman]

The answer is near,
scroll upwards,
kook has the url my dear...

 

[GMK]

PMYERS

I was thinking of you selling them in your home brew shop....

What did you pay for your Grain Mill.

However,

I have been told that if we cant keep the order under $500.00 US then we will have to pay GST....

Wipes out the 10% discount...

 

[therook]

Arhh $99.00 US. Doc did you buy the Valley Mill, if you did what was the cost?

Rook

 

[RegBadgery]

I have a Valley - good mill. A fellow on the craftbrewing owned a Valley and a BarleyCrusher - ended up selling the Valley in preference to the BC. Lots of happy customers for both on the US brewing lists.

Got my mill from

http://www.lacachettedubootlegger.qc.ca/pa...ges/indexe.html

"Valley Mill" grain crusher, price:$169.00 CDN (optional mounting base, price: $12.00 CDN)

Today - $188 Australian + postage - great service/packaging - would recommend this source to anyone.


cheers
reg

 

[Doc]

There were 5 of us that combined an order for Valley Mills.
The price delivered to Oz was $230 each all inclusive.
We didn't ordered the bases. I made my own. Very simple.

It is a great mill. Works well with my cordless drill too.

They took a while to arrive though (about 3 months) although they were ordered during the Xmas break and I think they were on holidays.

Cheers,
Doc

 

[RegBadgery]

My mill took 3 months to arrive too - though it seemed much longer at the time. I attached mine to a very very old television bench - one of those old black steel ones with wheels and a particleboard top (and a super brown contact sheet). I cut a hole in the particleboard and it was just the ticket.

It's great to have a mill if you're brewing all-grain - very handy for crushing grain as needed. Whether you buy a barley crusher, valley or another reputable model - it's likely to last for a long long time.

I remember reading some time ago that ESB were working on making a new dual roller mill - I haven't heard anything recently.

cheers
reg

 

[Armstrong]

Pmyers: I just got delivery of an "Uber" cracker with a hopper capable of holding over 35kg of grain

What genius got you that great mill?!

As Doc & Reg know, "the valley" is a great mill ... I am a big fan not only for it's speed, but it cracks the grain beautifully!

I was very impressed ... with or without 10%, it is well worth it!

Might be worth getting some in eh Pete?

 

[Doc]

I've been eyeing off some empty water bottles (those 15 odd-litre water station bottles) at a customers site for conversion into a mega grain hopper for my mill.

<grunts>
<insert Tim the toolman grunts here, urgh urgh urgh>
</grunts>

Cheers,
Doc

 

[RegBadgery]

That sounds like a good idea Doc - I've seen the odd water bottle around and could use a bigger hopper - my valley takes 3kg of grain as is - a larger hopper could be useful.

cheers
reg

 

[PMyers]

All right, all right ...

Time to tell the WHOLE truth then. The cracker I received cost me VERY little, but is not exactly in pristine condition. It appears as though it was built before Elvis himself, and although it cracks grain perfectly for brewing, it seems as though it was intended to crack all kinds of grain for many different purposes - hence the adjustable width for the rollers (it will process the grain from a coarse crack all the way to a fine pulverised dust, probably for making flour I would assume). Sorry about the semi-deception - I just felt like skiting :wacko:

Armstrong: What genius got you that great mill?!

Self-preservation precludes me from giving your question the answer it truly deserves

Armstrong, again: Might be worth getting some in eh Pete?

I'll see what can be done then

Cheers,
Pete

 

[GSRman]

Ive begun drawing plans for mine

anyone know crush size? .9mm seems to be around a bit..