Mill Motors

[huez]

I ordered one last week as well. Been posted but haven't received it yet but guessing there must be some still available

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[Jaded and Bitter]

Yep got it Saturday,

Nice unit. Motor looks massive next to the Marga mill - like a v8 in a Mini.

Nice looking cicuit thingy, makes it more official with electronics h34r: Can see how a shear pin would be easy too.

Overall very pleased. Looking forward to having a machine doing the work for me.

Industrialisation! :beerbang:

 

[huez]

my ghetto bucket on a bucket setup. I'll be honest, this was going to be an interim setup until i moved somewhere with more space, but it turned out better than i imagined. Really don't think i need to change it! Unless it all goes horribly wrong when i put some grain through it.....

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

my ghetto bucket on a bucket setup. I'll be honest, this was going to be an interim setup until i moved somewhere with more space, but it turned out better than i imagined. Really don't think i need to change it! Unless it all goes horribly wrong when i put some grain through it.....

mill.jpg

Just had a closer look at your rig, actually doesnt look too Ghetto, would say it shows quite a flair for industrial design and thinking outside the box.

 

[huez]

Cheers jaded. Much appreciated. I usually get strange looks at work when im building things, it always seems to make more sense in my head haha. I'll post some more photos if people are interested in doing something similar.

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[MattSR]

After a little bit of a wait, I managed to get ahold of my original ball bearing equipped Mashmaster mill.

Now I'm not sure if I should wait for the new controller with the current limiter and the extra bells and whistles, or do I just buy it as is...?

The other thing I'm contemplating is the drive from the gearbox to the mills input shaft. Since the earlier MillMaster mills have an input shaft that fits right into the gearbox, it would be possible to directly drive the input shaft without using the couplers..

Decisions, decisions!

 

[Nibbo]

If you can run the mill from the motor without needing to add a shaft and coupler then do that. Find a suitable shear pin to connect the motor to the mill shaft as this will be the weak point in the drive and if anything were to go into the mill such as a rock, then the pin will break first. That's the idea anyway...

 

[MattSR]

The motor/gearbox combo arrived today. Even though the mills shaft will fit in the gearbox drive hole, I am thinking that a 12mm to 12mm spider coupling might be cheap insurance in case things aren't perfectly aligned. Better to have a coupling fail than the mills bearings I guess. What do you guys think?

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Spiesy]

The motor/gearbox combo arrived today. Even though the mills shaft will fit in the gearbox drive hole, I am thinking that a 12mm to 12mm spider coupling might be cheap insurance in case things aren't perfectly aligned. Better to have a coupling fail than the mills bearings I guess. What do you guys think?

Cheers,
Matt

Yep, that's what I've done. Took me a while to sort it all. Got a bad-arse coupler made up for the job, that can easily tolerate the torque - the thing is a monster!

 

[MattSR]

What brand/source did you use for your spider? The eBay ones look like good value but they don't seem to sell 12mm to 12mm ones. The Lovejoy ones look awesome

 

[Spiesy]

I bought an eBay one... didn't fit in the end. I think the shaft I had made up was a little too big.

I ended up going to a place in Northcote, Vic, and getting one custom made from two other couplers. I believe it was an Indian version of the Lovejoy. Same awesome build quality, but cheaper... may have cost me $35-odd. The quality of this coupler over the crappy plastic eBay one is apples and oranges. This is steel.

 

[MattSR]

Just thought I'd chime in here - turns out my Mk2 Millmaster has the 1/2" drive shaft, so I went down the usual route of a LoveJoy coupler, and some 12mm shaft from the LoveJoy to the MotionDynamics motor/gearbox combo.

 

[Natdene]

I put mine together today

 

[contrarian]

Got one of these motors for Father's Day so have ordered the power supply and will piece together the remaining bits required while impatiently awaiting delivery!

Have read this thread a few times now and was wondering if there is a need for a coupling if your mill shaft fits directly into the motor? I can understand the use of a sheer pin for if it jams but are there other benefits I am missing?

Other than that looks pretty straight forward to set up and after hand milling another 9kg on the weekend I am looking forward to not doing that in the future!

 

[MattSR]

The only mills that will fit directly are the original full size ball bearing MashMaster Mk1 mills. Everything else uses a 1/2" shaft. Also, given the newer mills have bushings instead of ball bearings means that you will want to get the alignment bang on - as even the tiniest misalignment will increase wear on the bushings. The coupling provides for slight variances in alignment and also a bit of dampening when stopping and starting too - the mills have inertia and the [motor provides a lot of instantaneous torque when it powers up.

Some people have used the cheapy chinese couplers and these have failed on occasion - which tells me they're doing their job of absorbing energy which would otherwise go into wearing the bushings/bearings if the coupling wasn't there..

As always, just my 2c. I'm using a lovejoy coupling with a custom fabbed driveshaft that goes to the Motion Dynamics gearbox.

 

[contrarian]

Thanks for the tips Matt. Looks like a drive shaft and coupling are the next items on my shopping list!

 

[contrarian]

Have had a good look at the couplings and that seems fairly straight forward, just a decision between quality and price.

With the 12mm drive shaft connected to the MD gearbox is it simplest to drill a hole in the shaft and connect with a pin? I don't have a drill press at home but know a few people who have them so should be able to get this sorted. I'm sure this will seem simpler when I start tinkering but I am having difficulty visualising exactly how it will work and what will withstand the torque produced by the motor.

 

[contrarian]

Hmmm, just got a quote on a lovejoy coupling with one end machined out from 12mm to 1/2 inch and with delivery it's about $100! Is this arrangement really 10 times better than a $12 coupling form the bay?

No doubt the quality is a lot better but given it will be used for 10 minutes a few times a month it's not going to be working too hard.

 

[zwitter]

Hi contrarian
Go the ebay one and order a spare. If it breaks then probably protect damage to motor and mill. Usage and application do not justify the Lovejoy one.

zwitter
James


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[zappa]

Hmmm, just got a quote on a lovejoy coupling with one end machined out from 12mm to 1/2 inch and with delivery it's about $100! Is this arrangement really 10 times better than a $12 coupling form the bay?

Probably 8 1/3 times better.

Seriously though, I got one of those $12 couplings and although I've not used it, it looks fine.