Mill Motors

[bigfridge]

Hey all,

Can anyone help me - I'm looking for a shaft to drive my setup. The Mashmaster minimill is 1/2" (12.7mm), and the MotionDynamics wormdrive motor opening thingo is 12.5mm.

So I have 2x 1/2" Lovejoy coupling halves.. one fits beautifully onto my minimill... but now I need a shaft to connect the motor to the other half of the coupling.

12.5mm rod would be perfect - it needs to have a hole through the centre of it at one end for a split-pin or something ( which the wormdrive motor has a notch to fit one through ), and the other end needs just a notch for the grub-screw in the Lovejoy coupling to grab onto.

any ideas?
cheers
kieran

The benefit of using the Lovejoy couplings is that you can get the 2 halves in different sizes to fit the 2 different shaft diameters.

I have a barley crusher so got a 3/8" coupling to suit but couldn't find a 17mm to suit the outside of the motor shaft. The closest that I could find was 16mm so I bought a 17mm reduced shank drill off ebay for a few bucks and drilled it out. The Lovejoy id made from Cast Iron so machines very easilly. All is now very sweet.

You would need to use a specially hardened shear pin if you wanted to use the hole in the shaft to drive the mill due to the torque involved.


HTH,
Dave

 

[Hogan]

Where did you get that case from? I'm looking for something similar for my setup.

Sorry for the delay Kieran - just saw your post.

The box is the same that is used to store the electronics of a standard home alarm system. I picked up a used one from a mate who does installs.


Cheers, Hoges.

 

[ledgenko]

I have been reading through this forum and I say "excellent" (insert Mr Burns voice) ... But probably a stupid question but has anyone tried this on a Marga Mill ??? Yes I am serious - Yes I got it at a good price - Yes it has not yet missed a beat...

I am curious to know if motorising a Marga mill is possible and practical - considering I paid half (for the mill) of what these motors are being sold for..

Cheers

Matt

 

[benno1973]

I have been reading through this forum and I say "excellent" (insert Mr Burns voice) ... But probably a stupid question but has anyone tried this on a Marga Mill ??? Yes I am serious - Yes I got it at a good price - Yes it has not yet missed a beat...

I am curious to know if motorising a Marga mill is possible and practical - considering I paid half (for the mill) of what these motors are being sold for..

Cheers

Matt

Hi Matt,

I have just been playing around with my Marga to see if I can motorise it. We have burnt out 2 drills grinding grain, and I can't be bothered sitting there during the grinding process, so I thought I'd tinker.

I have a wiper motor and window winder motor, both of which have a lot of torque and were picked up on the cheap from a wreckers. Additionally, they are 12V so I can play around with the wiring myself. I also got one of these off ebay for the connection between the two shafts. So far, I've put it together and graound a few handfulls of grain, but there's a few obstacles that I need to overcome...

• I need a 12V power supply that can deliver somewhere around 5-7A, as I understand that wiper motors can draw that much under load
• I need a way to anchor the wiper motor to the mill bench (they are ugly and unwieldy
• I need to somehow attach the spider coupling to the motor - it doesn't really have a shaft, just a protruding 8mm thread

So long story short, yes you can motorise these but, as you've pointed out, it's not practical to spend more than the mill itself, which is why I looked into using a wiper motor. I also have an electric meat grinder that has a lot of torque - might also look into adapting that somehow if the wiper motor doesn't work out.

 

[ledgenko]

hey cheers Kaiser ...

I have been using a electric drill too but its loud and you have to sit there whilst it is doing its thing ... not too much fun I am afraid ... I have a few options other than the drill that I am working on as we speak.. 1 is a electric roller door motor .. have yet to get it going as it was at a council pickup ... the other is a Kenwood mixer motor which goes like the clappers but attaching a rod to it is a bit of a challenge ... but I am perservering ... will keep u updated on what works and what doesn't ..

Cheers

Matt

 

[Amber Fluid]

Just put my order in today for the MD motor which isn't too bad for $149 + delivery. Only thing I debated was if it was worth getting the speed controller as well. I have read others say there is no need for it but I am looking beyond just powering my mill, ie. they would churn out a nice spit roast etc too. So I bit the bullet and took it as well.

Now the waiting game for Mr Aust Post begins.

 

[Florian]

Seriously, Amber Fluid, there was absolutely no need to bring this thread up again! Now I have yet another purchase to consider which I had almost forgotten about...

What mill are you using?

Will wade through this thread again to check how to connect it to the original MillMaster MKII.

 

[Amber Fluid]

Seriously, Amber Fluid, there was absolutely no need to bring this thread up again! Now I have yet another purchase to consider which I had almost forgotten about...

What mill are you using?

Will wade through this thread again to check how to connect it to the original MillMaster MKII.

lol

I am using the Millmaster Minimill and am tired of holding the drill for it. lazy I know but i might as well get this. I haven't told SWMBO yet as it is easier to seek forgiveness than to seek permission and besides... if I end up spending tonight on the couch then it was worth it

For the Minimill it is just a case of a 12mm x 12.7mm coupling and a 12mm rod. Mill shaft is 1/2" and the motor is 12mm.

 

[stl]

What mill are you using?

Will wade through this thread again to check how to connect it to the original MillMaster MKII.

We connected my MillMaster (pretty sure it was a MkII) with a Lovejoy coupling (L075) purchased via eBay for about $20 delivered IIRC. Other parts needed were some grub screws (found random screws that did the job) and a shaft between the motor and the coupling (which was fashioned out of an old bolt ground down a bit). I'll see if I can get someone to take some photos of it...

The coupling was definitely a good idea because we didn't really get it lined up too well when we mounted it, so it takes up a bit of slack and wobbles around a bit.

 

[tavas]

RS Components has a heap of different couplings which may suit your application.

No affliation etc etc. Just found it after researching to fit my mill and motor.

 

[kieran]

Here is a video of my rig in action..
Sorry about the link, it points to my google+ thingo. I wasn't sure how to move it over to youtube.

The hopper is a modified 9L enamel coated galvo bin from K-mart with a cone cemented into the base (so it's kinda like a grain silo). The bin is removable, but fits snuggly in place on top of the top with the aid of 4x N52 rare earth 2cm diameter x 5mm thick coin-sized magnets. The bin can fit 8kg of grain in it. The power supply for the motor, and PWM controller are in the grey jiffy box mounted underneath. I put a vent on the back to let it breathe as the massive heatsink on the PWM controller made me a little concerned about heat dissipation in a closed box. I made up a faceplate from a 19" Rack face, and mounted a 240VAC IEC socket, two switches (one for mains, one for the PWM/motor), and the pot. I did a dodgy dremel job with the engraving, but you get the idea.
It's all very neat, just the way I intended.

The bench is a modified Ikea Bekvam kitchen trolley - but I cut two legs short, and put four braked castors on it.. so it glides around the brewhouse now. I left out the second shelf, and I can put my grain bucket on the bottom one, to catch grain.

Mashmaster minimill - the gears and gap width is still easily adjustable.. and (as you can see in the vid) it uses a lovejoy coupling.

oh... i got the Bekvam second hand because at the time all Ikea's in the country were out of them.. so mine came with a spice rack. Which I left in place.

 

[Ross]

Kieran, that's awesome :super:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Video no worky for me

 

[razz]

Very noticeable is the lack of flour due to low rpm, great job!

 

[QldKev]

Listening to it nearly put me asleep

very calming sound

 

[kieran]

Thanks Ross. It was a fun build, a fair bit of planning went into it.

Stu - perhaps try again? I'm not sure how google serves up their videos these days - whether it's Flash or HTML5 -- it works in Chrome for me. Maybe I'll try to deposit it to youtube again.

QldKev - yes it is.. I'm a sunday morning brewer, and having that going at 5:30am could almost put me back to sleep. The droning noise is from the PWM controller.. the rhythmical beating is the mill. It sounds way worse than it really is though.. my phone's microphone picks up the sound really badly.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

Thanks Ross. It was a fun build, a fair bit of planning went into it.

Stu - perhaps try again? I'm not sure how google serves up their videos these days - whether it's Flash or HTML5 -- it works in Chrome for me. Maybe I'll try to deposit it to youtube again.

QldKev - yes it is.. I'm a sunday morning brewer, and having that going at 5:30am could almost put me back to sleep. The droning noise is from the PWM controller.. the rhythmical beating is the mill. It sounds way worse than it really is though.. my phone's microphone picks up the sound really badly.

I couldn't play the vid from my iPad but the description sounds aweson kieran. If you load it onto YouTube post the link and I'll have a sticky beak.

Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Prob some wierd settimg on the site that that Noscript and AddBlack use. I have FF on my lappy pretty tight when it comes to embedded content

 

[luke_j]

What a great thread. Props to Motion Dynamics for going above and beyond the normal level of customer service. Sounds like he might have made a couple of bucks out of it as well, which is excellent.

 

[philski]

Also, the mill master shafts are keyed. 12mm with a 4mm key, and the new 1/2" shaft is whatever is stander on 1/2" I guess

Agreed!! Now I am keen to get a mill and motorise it! There are way too many things to spend money on these days...