Motor For Millmaster Input

[razz]

It depends on the type of mill you have Tim. As Rob suggested work out the torque requirements for your mill and work from there. Looking at those links I think the only one that would be suitable is the third link.

 

[AndrewQLD]

That would be awesome. One of these motors direct driving a monster mill from a recycled ATX computer supply would be a very tidy set up - providing it doesn't draw more than 12 Amps @ 12V.

Sammy, nice work on the link and the conversion.

Richy, I loaded up the hopper with wheat and switched on the motor, multimeter read max 10amp current draw throughout the whole crush. It did fluctuate a little between 8-10amp but no higher than 10 amp.

Phrak, the geared motor from Oatley only needs a spider coupler from Jaycar to connect it to the mill, only a couple of bucks too.

Andrew

 

[atkinsonr]

Richy, I loaded up the hopper with wheat and switched on the motor, multimeter read max 10amp current draw throughout the whole crush. It did fluctuate a little between 8-10amp but no higher than 10 amp.

Andrew, thanks buddy that's some great practical info for monster owners everywhere. I'm going to order one of those suckers tonight!

Will post pics of my monster crusher before the month is out!

Richy

 

[rwmingis]

Andrew, thanks buddy that's some great practical info for monster owners everywhere. I'm going to order one of those suckers tonight!

Will post pics of my monster crusher before the month is out!

Richy

Wish I bought one of those, I bought the barley crusher. Works fine, and it came with a hopper. But was terribly unimpressed when I found that they use an O-ring around the driven roller to drive the idler roller, especially when the O-ring broke on the first run. Lucky that it's not a required bit... Oh well, live and learn.

Razz if you want me to check your calcs, send me a pm with your number crunching....

Cheers,

Rob

 

[samhighley]

My motor arrived from Oatley today, so hopefully i'll be able to source some belts and pulleys shortly and report some results!

Sam

 

[atkinsonr]

My motor arrived from Oatley today, so hopefully I'll be able to source some belts and pulleys shortly and report some results!

Sam

Mine too! And I've scrounged a PSU from a retired server at work - it's the size of a brick but has a max load of 25A on the 12V channel, and was the right price.

I'm planning to use that and a direct drive via coupler, much like AndrewQLD.

If anyone else is planning on modding a computer power supply - please remember to respect the minimum loads on the other channels (3.3v 5v) with a resistor.

Cheers
Rich

 

[samhighley]

My motor arrived from Oatley today, so hopefully i'll be able to source some belts and pulleys shortly and report some results!

I see Oatley are now out of stock of this motor. I guess AHB members bought them out

As expected the difficulty here for me is going to be sourcing belts and pulleys.

The other option is using chain drive, which makes things a little easier because there is already a sprocket on the motor, and it's compatible with the larger sprockets that I can source from the industrial suppliers I visited today.

My preference remains belt and pulley drive because the belt offers a weak link in the system should the mill encounter something like a rock. I don't know how likely this is though?

Sam

 

[mika]

I hung my motor on the belt, hoping that this would offer a point of slip. I've had it slip once, the other times it's just stalled the motor as it sits there making a buzzing noise <_< I'm always standing right next to the mill when I'm milling so never been an issue. Unless you've got motor to spare, I don't think that a 'safety slip' in the system is necessary, I'd much rather have the motor stall out and thus know that my motor isn't up to the task then be standing there watching the belt slip. I mean, if the belt slips and there's no major obstructions in the way, as soon as you switch it back on you're just going to increase the belt tension, aren't you ?
Maybe a bit different for a drive where something can snap and come at you, like a rocketing chain link, but I would have thought it'd have to be pretty crap chain before a 500W stalled motor would load up a chain to that point.
Anyway, just my musings.

 

[atkinsonr]

I see Oatley are now out of stock of this motor. I guess AHB members bought them out

As expected the difficulty here for me is going to be sourcing belts and pulleys.

The other option is using chain drive, which makes things a little easier because there is already a sprocket on the motor, and it's compatible with the larger sprockets that I can source from the industrial suppliers I visited today.

My preference remains belt and pulley drive because the belt offers a weak link in the system should the mill encounter something like a rock. I don't know how likely this is though?

Sam

That's possibly true, mine is sitting on my desk next to me waiting for my birthday so I can have my lovely new monster mill.

FWIW I'm not planning to use any belts, pulls, chains or sprockets... more simply a direct drive using a lovejoy spider coupler and possibly (if required) a high amperage speed controller - also available from Oatley.

Richy

 

[samhighley]

IUnless you've got motor to spare, I don't think that a 'safety slip' in the system is necessary, I'd much rather have the motor stall out and thus know that my motor isn't up to the task then be standing there watching the belt slip.

I've been thinking about this all night, and it suddenly dawned on me that the Oatley motor is going to have enough torque, if calculations are correct, to comfortably mill grain, but if it hits an obstruction like a rock then the motor will just stall, as you say. I was mostly worried about hitting a rock and having the motor damage the mill, but given the torque calculations are fairly close to what is required, this is of course very unlikely.

With this in mind I think i'll go down the chain drive path. The large sprocket for the mill is only about $40, and the chain couldn't be too expensive, so it shouldn't be too expensive an option. Now I just need to work out how to get the large sprocket onto the mill. All of the sprockets are of course 1/2 inch (12.7mm) whereas the Millmaster shaft is 12mm.

Sam

 

[rwmingis]

I hung my motor on the belt, hoping that this would offer a point of slip. I've had it slip once, the other times it's just stalled the motor as it sits there making a buzzing noise <_< I'm always standing right next to the mill when I'm milling so never been an issue. Unless you've got motor to spare, I don't think that a 'safety slip' in the system is necessary, I'd much rather have the motor stall out and thus know that my motor isn't up to the task then be standing there watching the belt slip. I mean, if the belt slips and there's no major obstructions in the way, as soon as you switch it back on you're just going to increase the belt tension, aren't you ?
Maybe a bit different for a drive where something can snap and come at you, like a rocketing chain link, but I would have thought it'd have to be pretty crap chain before a 500W stalled motor would load up a chain to that point.
Anyway, just my musings.

Careful with a belt too, they can create a bit more of a load on the shaft and shafts in general don't like overhung (cantilevered) loads. By nature, a belt a has a little more tension than a chain so that it can develop the required friction to spin the pulley, which results in a load on the shaft. As it spins, it's effectively bending the shaft backwards and forwards which over time can break it due to fatigue. With my barley crusher they say not to use a belt, I suppose because they've had breakages, but that's just speculation. Chains are nice, i'm considering one, but chains hurt more when you put your finger in them.

Just my 2 cents, i'm just waiting to see how you guys go with the oatley motor...

 

[floppinab]

i'm just waiting to see how you guys go with the oatley motor...

+1, have had a gutful of slowly pouring grain into the hopper so it doesn't stall the horribly underpowered drill that is driving the mill.

 

[atkinsonr]

+1, have had a gutful of slowly pouring grain into the hopper so it doesn't stall the horribly underpowered drill that is driving the mill.

I'm going to be connecting mine to a monster mill, so I'm not sure if that's of use to you?

The mill arrived this week, and I'm just waiting on a shaft coupler which should arrive in the next day or two.

We've got people staying so there won't be much progress this weekend, the hardest part for me will be making the frame, mount and hopper but I hope to get on to that next weekend.

Will definitely post up some info once it's together.

 

[cooperplace]

Hi,

YOu've probably got it all worked out by now, but I've got a Schmidling malt mill, and I rang Jack Schmidling and asked him and he said, "just stick a really powerful electric drill on it".

I've got 3 drills:

1. 18V cordless: hopeless
2. cheap Chinese 240V bought from Bunnings for $19.95, electronic speed control, rated at 500W: hopeless.
3. old (about 20 years) 240V Hitachi, rated 570W, has hi/lo gearbox; used on lo this unit is excellent.

A drill like this could be bought for <$100.

conclusions: plenty of power is good, having a gearbox likewise,
hope this helps

Peter

 

[samhighley]

The motorisation with the Oatley motor is complete.



Chain guard off:



The grain input bin:



The grain output bin:



Large gear closeup:



Small gear closeup:




And finally a of the first run.'


And another input bin shot, 'cos I can't work out how to delete it

 

[samhighley]

I'm running at 24 volt via two lead-acid batteries hooked up in series. The large gear is 40 teeth and the small is 10 for a 4 to 1 reduction, which means the mill is running at around 80 rpm. As the video demonstrates there is more than enough torque to handle the crush.

I had the 40 tooth sprocket custom machined down to the shaft size of 12mm. Mashmaster should seriously consider making the mill shaft a half inch (12.7mm). This would make it a lot cheaper to motorise.

 

[Steve]

I'm running at 24 volt via two lead-acid batteries hooked up in series. The large gear is 40 teeth and the small is 10 for a 4 to 1 reduction, which means the mill is running at around 80 rpm. As the video demonstrates there is more than enough torque to handle the crush.

I had the 40 tooth sprocket custom machined down to the shaft size of 12mm. Mashmaster should seriously consider making the mill shaft a half inch (12.7mm). This would make it a lot cheaper to motorise.

Cool vid Sam. Glad it went ok. How was the crush?. That right hand side of the chain looks a bit floppy though (not that I would know). Maybe russell up some kind of chain guard/guide?

Cheers
Steve

 

[atkinsonr]

Very tidy job there Sammy. I like the level of detail in the finish.
The custom grain bin with cut out handle and the chain guard are both excellent features!

I've been working on mine today too in this crappy weather, although progress has been a bit slow.

Great work fella!

 

[bindi]

Very very nice, chain drive...........Now don't get me wrong, it's nice and power driven, BUT, I am sure I can crush that amount of grain with by hand [and with big arms] almost as fast with the handle.
Wimps.

 

[rwmingis]

Sammy,

That is a top notch effort, a good carpenter and a scholar! I think you may have sold me on that drive now. I noticed that you had a bit of chain whip which can cause a bit of noise, may I suggest one of These. It's a vibration damper which should reduce a bit of noise and also prolong the life of the drive train.

Cheers,

Rob