Millmaster Gear Guard Bulk Buy

[hoohaaman]

Dan, you truly deserve a medal just for sending out all the PMs let alone all the thought you have put into this. My goodness!

I think the following is an answer to the adjustment problem though I am no good at posting diagrams.

Here you go...

As GB mentioned, the adjustor roller's position can vary by a considerable amount both vertically and horizontally. The fixed roller though should be the same for everyone hopefully. So, let's split your guide in half.

Packers can then be used (I'm happy to make them up and send them to you) to adjust for height. This just leaves the horizontal problem...

To fix this, enlarge the mounting holes. This enlargement along with packers will solve all adjustment problems except for at the extreme edges where grain won't get in anyway. The only extra requirement would be spring washers which we can all buy.

I'm not sure whether the above description is clear. If not, we can have a chat on the phone. (You might also have questions like, "What about the gap between the two guides?" etc.)

The main thing though Dan is don't be worried about rushing your order off tomorrow or the next day. This is not a simple problem that you have very bravely taken on. Everyone here is wrapped with what you are doing and if it takes a bit longer to perfect it, (and I'm sure that I speak for all of us), then all of us will be behind you. There is no pressure on you and even if the end result is a major disaster (which it won't be) we are all responsible and can at least have a laugh at ourselves - not you!!!

Spot and thanks,
Pat

P.S. I hope everyone is sending a few extra dollars to you.

 

[Sully]

Dan, you truly deserve a medal just for sending out all the PMs let alone all the thought you have put into this. My goodness!

I think the following is an answer to the adjustment problem though I am no good at posting diagrams.

Here you go...

As GB mentioned, the adjustor roller's position can vary by a considerable amount both vertically and horizontally. The fixed roller though should be the same for everyone hopefully. So, let's split your guide in half.

Packers can then be used (I'm happy to make them up and send them to you) to adjust for height. This just leaves the horizontal problem...

To fix this, enlarge the mounting holes. This enlargement along with packers will solve all adjustment problems except for at the extreme edges where grain won't get in anyway. The only extra requirement would be spring washers which we can all buy.

I'm not sure whether the above description is clear. If not, we can have a chat on the phone. (You might also have questions like, "What about the gap between the two guides?" etc.)

The main thing though Dan is don't be worried about rushing your order off tomorrow or the next day. This is not a simple problem that you have very bravely taken on. Everyone here is wrapped with what you are doing and if it takes a bit longer to perfect it, (and I'm sure that I speak for all of us), then all of us will be behind you. There is no pressure on you and even if the end result is a major disaster (which it won't be) we are all responsible and can at least have a laugh at ourselves - not you!!!

Spot and thanks,
Pat

P.S. I hope everyone is sending a few extra dollars to you.

Pefectly clear Pat. The idea has crossed my mind.


I did have a thought overnight though. Has the actual roller size changed at some stage?

Cheers



PS Guys, If you want to drop out please feel free, I am truly sorry this has popped up, just goes to show what works for one doesnt necessarily work for another. I will however come up with a solution and keep this up on offer.

Ross I may have to come for a spin and compare over a few mills if thats ok with you.

 

[reVoxAHB]

Hey Sully I just tried the new template with no scaling and it hits the rollers by (estimated 2mm) .Have I printed it wrong?
GB

same here.

And same here. New template as well and would agree with 2mm estimation.

reVox

 

[schooey]

My $ 0.02... Along with others, I'm happy to take mine with the extra bit of material on it. It doesn't take much to remove a couple of mm of 0.9 stainless in a few places. easier than putting something in a gap anyway...

 

[schooey]

Just another thought here, Sully, and this is the Mech Eng student and boilermaker coming out, but we were taught never to Scale off a printed or plotted drawing... Just for the fact that fdifferent plotters and printers have different levels of accuracy..

Maybe you should put a 100 mm reference scale on your drawing, and see if it is actually 100 mm when you print it. It may work for you on your equipment, but is averyone else getting exactly 100 mm on their printer as well?

 

[PistolPatch]

My $ 0.02... Along with others, I'm happy to take mine with the extra bit of material on it. It doesn't take much to remove a couple of mm of 0.9 stainless in a few places. easier than putting something in a gap anyway...

That'd suit me too Sully. Easy peasy!

 

[Sully]

Well bugger me sideways and call me stupid. The couple of mm I have been chasing is, well my fault. Long story short, CAD was set with a tolerance of 1mm so everytime I moved 0.5mm it moved 1mm. How embarassment. I am a House Designer not an Engineer so I hadn't changed it when I redrew it. There is no such thing as 0.5mm to Builders

Try this guys...

The overall size should be 182mm x 220mm if you want to check your printing to scale. And dont forget if you are using paper to test the template allow for the thickness of the steel.

Lets hope this covers it (and sorry, I fell like a right tool)

Cheers

Sully

View attachment Gear_Guard.pdf

 

[real_beer]

Well bugger me sideways and call me stupid. The couple of mm I have been chasing is, well my fault. Long story short, CAD was set with a tolerance of 1mm so everytime I moved 0.5mm it moved 1mm. How embarassment. I am a House Designer not an Engineer so I hadn't changed it when I redrew it. There is no such thing as 0.5mm to Builders

Try this guys...

The overall size should be 182mm x 220mm if you want to check your printing to scale. And dont forget if you are using paper to test the template allow for the thickness of the steel.

Lets hope this covers it (and sorry, I fell like a right tool)

Cheers

Sully

It just shows how much time and effort goes into any invention or product behind the scenes that the end user is unaware of.
Your doing a great job and I hope you don't feel pressured to bust a gasket to get these things to us all.
As for being sorry and feeling like a right tool, then Thomas Edison must have felt like a top of the range Sidchrome Toolkit for most of his life.

Cheers

 

[chappo1970]

Just one quick one guys, sorry Sully I'll buy you a 6 pack of Alpha's or something for yet again throw a spanner into all your hard work, but has the radius of the bend/folds been taken into account. When you bend/fold metal it will shorten up by 1.5 times the thickness of the material plus what ever the radius of the bend is IIRC, Schooey other metal working brothers can you confirm that? Depending on the material and it's thickness this determines the minimum bend radius before failure/fracturing. I'm only guessing here but lets say you have a min bend radius of 1.5mm and the thickness is 0.9mm you will therefore need about 2.85mm more material or you will end up with a 2.85mm greater gap at the rollers. Again I AM NOT AN EXPERT just a hobbist fabricator.

Chap Chap

 

[schooey]

Yeah, you're right, Chappo. The bend radius does need to be taken into account, but then again that all depends on the quality of the press/pan the radius on the blade, yatter yatter.. But rule of thumb is pretty close to what you've posted... That's why I was kinda hoping they'd come with the extra bit of meat on them.

It's pretty hard to do a mass manufacture od something with a tight tolerance to fit on something that was mass produced to not so tight tolerances and expect it to fit perfectly. I think if you're in this buy and you expect to get it out of the carton and fit it perfectly without a little tinkering, you should rethink being in the buy... maybe some will, but I'll bet Chappo's nuts, a fair few won't

 

[chappo1970]

It's pretty hard to do a mass manufacture od something with a tight tolerance to fit on something that was mass produced to not so tight tolerances and expect it to fit perfectly. I think if you're in this buy and you expect to get it out of the carton and fit it perfectly without a little tinkering, you should rethink being in the buy... maybe some will, but I'll bet Chappo's nuts, a fair few won't

+1 schooey You spot on there! But you could have bet your own damn nuts rather than putting mine on the chopper FFS! Beside SWMBO bet ya to it years ago :lol:

I knew from day dot with this BB that there would need to be some sort of bedding down and adjustment simply from the other thread about the differing gap tolerances of everyones mill. It now turns out there are what 4 different configs of this bad boy? I would rather see a wee dram more material to take away than trying to add it back which is difficult. Besides I can't think of one thing in the brewery that I haven't had to tinker or adapt or to make fit or change to suit brewing rather than it original purpose?

So just to echo schooey very wise words again!

"if you're in this buy and you expect to get it out of the carton and fit it perfectly without a little tinkering, you should rethink being in the buy... "

Chap Chap (Sorry Sully Honest I am )

 

[real_beer]

+1 schooey You spot on there! But you could have bet your own damn nuts rather than putting mine on the chopper FFS! Beside SWMBO bet ya to it years ago :lol:

I knew from day dot with this BB that there would need to be some sort of bedding down and adjustment simply from the other thread about the differing gap tolerances of everyones mill. It now turns out there are what 4 different configs of this bad boy? I would rather see a wee dram more material to take away than trying to add it back which is difficult. Besides I can't think of one thing in the brewery that I haven't had to tinker or adapt or to make fit or change to suit brewing rather than it original purpose?

So just to echo schooey very wise words again!

"if you're in this buy and you expect to get it out of the carton and fit it perfectly without a little tinkering, you should rethink being in the buy... "

Chap Chap (Sorry Sully Honest I am )

Just a thought Sully,

With all the tolerance problems and sizing issues that keep coming up do you think the company you've chosen to make the guard might be able to give you some help. It's not like your ordering only 1 unit off them, maybe they could make a prototype for you to try on your mill, I'd chip in some $'s towards the cost if needed.

I also accept that some tweaking will be required with the final product when it arrives. Had to f**k around with the mill, hopper, & handle when they arrived anyway and that lot cost f**king hundreds of $$$$'s.

 

[Sully]

Leave it with me guys... I will call the Sheet metal mob.

Cheers

EDIT: Ok called the Sheet metal mob, 1mm internal radius and 0.1mm material lost to fold "off the top of his head". However he has offered to work out exactly what we need if we can agree on the dimension from the top of the rollers to the top of the Aluminium side plates, ie the fold, which is the critical measurement. I myself dont care if I have to take a bit off here nor there.

I am reckoning 10mm on the fixed and 7mm on the adjustable.

 

[Sammus]

sounds good to me.

 

[real_beer]

sounds good to me.

+ 1

 

[chappo1970]

Me too... Let's get this on the production line. I reckonwe've got all bases covered now besides there are enough good heads here to sort any teathing problems out later.

BTW any BrisVegians are welcome to use Chappo Manor's tool emporium if they need a hand fitting it up. It'll cost ya one of your homebrews thou?

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I will go with those measurements, at the worst I will use a 1 mm spacer to lift it up or just cut a groove in the roller .
GB

 

[ausdb]

Slightly OT but I find it interesting that there are so many people interested in buying a third party add on to make the product work properly yet there has been no public response from the manufacturer about it.

An item which requires such a modification to work properly could clearly be argued as "unfit for purpose" ???

 

[Sammus]

"requires" isn't right. Mine works fine without one.

 

[reVoxAHB]

"requires" isn't right. Mine works fine without one.

and mine doesn't@ handcranking.