Knurling on a Mashmaster Mini Mill

[dicko]

Have they changed the knurling on the rollers on the above mill.

I just recently bought one and it does not perform like others I have seen...it wont draw the grain through.
It does mill the grain but takes an eternity to do so.

The gap is 1.2 and the speed is 180 rpm.

A vid will tell a thousand words...I removed the hopper to see what was happening

View attachment Grain Mill Rollers.MOV

 

[Rocker1986]

I had the same thing happen with mine which I bought nearly 3 years ago. Funny thing though - it only happened with Simpsons Maris Otter malt. Took about an hour using the hand crank to mill a batch worth of it. :blink: Every other malt I've used has been perfectly fine going through it. Most recently Wey Bo Pils of the floor malted variety. Takes about 15-20 minutes all up for the whole batch worth of grains when they go through properly.

Is it certain malts not being drawn through properly or just any and all of them?

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Had mine for a few months, rips through the grain like crazy.
they had problems a little while ago and were replacing peoples roller I think. Might be worth shooting them an email
some discussion in this thread: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/70875-millmaster-mini-mill-slow-after-adjusting-gap/page-3

 

[dicko]

Had mine for a few months, rips through the grain like crazy.
they had problems a little while ago and were replacing peoples roller I think. Might be worth shooting them an email
some discussion in this thread: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/70875-millmaster-mini-mill-slow-after-adjusting-gap/page-3

Hi Liam_s

thanks for the link mate.... I had not seen that thread before.

I got mine from CB and I know that they are great with any problem that I have had in the past.

I'll give em a call to see what can be done.

 

[RobW]

Hi Dicko

Do you moisten the grain before crushing to give the rollers better purchase?

Cheers

Rob

 

[dicko]

Hi Dicko

Do you moisten the grain before crushing to give the rollers better purchase?

Cheers

Rob

G'day Rob,

Yeah mate i did that on the last lot I milled and it went through a bit better and that vid I took was dry so to get that last bit of grain to go through I got a "squirty bottle" and gave the grains a puff of water and through they went.

I have spoken and emailed the retailer and i am waiting for the manufacturer to get back to me.

Cheers

 

[huez]

Craft Brewer sent me a new mill when i had this issue. Frank from mash master also offered to send me new rollers. Both were great to deal with.

Had the new one a few months now and last weekend it seemed like it was starting to do it again, see how it goes next brew day.

Hi Liam_s

thanks for the link mate.... I had not seen that thread before.

I got mine from CB and I know that they are great with any problem that I have had in the past.

I'll give em a call to see what can be done.

 

[dicko]

Craft Brewer sent me a new mill when i had this issue. Frank from mash master also offered to send me new rollers. Both were great to deal with.

Had the new one a few months now and last weekend it seemed like it was starting to do it again, see how it goes next brew day.

Gee mate....that doesn't sound too good. :unsure:

 

[huez]

I'll be extremely unlucky if i got 2 from a bad batch! When they work properly they are brilliant though!

 

[dicko]

I'll be extremely unlucky if i got 2 from a bad batch! When they work properly they are brilliant though!

Yes huez, that is why i bought one, because i have seen them working over the last few years and I have always been impressed with the crush and the speed.
I think that there are a couple of HB shops around that use them as well.

I am sure that it will all sort out in due course.

 

[krausenhaus]

I had the same thing happen with mine which I bought nearly 3 years ago. Funny thing though - it only happened with Simpsons Maris Otter malt. Took about an hour using the hand crank to mill a batch worth of it. :blink: Every other malt I've used has been perfectly fine going through it. Most recently Wey Bo Pils of the floor malted variety. Takes about 15-20 minutes all up for the whole batch worth of grains when they go through properly.

Is it certain malts not being drawn through properly or just any and all of them?

Good to hear this, I did a batch with TF MO base with mine recently and it took about four times longer than normal. Didn't know why the hell it was happening and was googling about MO being tougher to mill but couldn't find anything.

I still don't feel like mine is performing as it should though, even with other base malts. It absolutely ripped through my first batch but since then it seems slower and not as fast as videos I've seen of others.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I doubt it's the knurling dicko, most knurling tools offer the same diamond cut, I am sure an old fitter like you would know the only purpose of the knurled face of the rollers is to get a bite on the grain,I would imagine that speed of the rollers plays a major part on the efficiency of the grind, if I try to grind mine on a fast speed it can't get a bite on the grain, go on a slower speed the grain isn't getting thrown back by the rollers.

 

[GABBA110360]

maybe the knurling tool used in production of the rollers is not producing a nice sharp clean knurl?
just a thought

 

[BJB]

maybe the knurling tool used in production of the rolas Ilers is not producing a nice sharp clean knurl?
just a thought

Too true, they do wear out and not give a good sharp knurl over time. I'll be surprised that Craft Brewer would still be selling these with the suspect rollers after the feedback here. Interested in the outcome as I maybe in the market for a new mill soon.

 

[Rocker1986]

Good to hear this, I did a batch with TF MO base with mine recently and it took about four times longer than normal. Didn't know why the hell it was happening and was googling about MO being tougher to mill but couldn't find anything.

I still don't feel like mine is performing as it should though, even with other base malts. It absolutely ripped through my first batch but since then it seems slower and not as fast as videos I've seen of others.

I normally use the TF Floor malted MO for my recipes with the exception of lagers. It may be a tad slower, but otherwise I haven't had any issues with it struggling to get drawn in to the rollers, certainly not to the degree of it taking up to 4 times longer to mill the grains like I experienced with the Simpsons one. I don't wet my grains either, thought about it after reading about it on here a few times but still haven't been bothered to do it. :lol:

 

[tavas]

Is the knurling full of flour?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Mashmaster Mini Gap Problem

An old thread same subject from AHB, the object of the knurled rollers is to grip the grain, it will take a long time for the HSS cutters to wear down and I doubt whether the manufacturer would let his knurling tools wear down so much that they were not giving a good cut, they are cheap to replace and it is not as if they are mass producing the rollers for the mills.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

how is this thread still going?

post 1) hi, my mill rollers are fkd, see vid.

post 3) yeah, that manufacturer had a batch of faulty rollers and has been replacing them, give them a buzz. Here's a link to the relevant thread.

post 4) will do, cheers.

</thread>

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Not much else happening Liam, good job that Joe did well with the budget, that could have taken 5 or 6 pages if he hadn't.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

haha!