Motorising A Mill

[bignath]

Thanks heaps Skippy and Nige,

just the info i was looking for.

Have thought about using a drill, but i kind of like the idea of a dedicated milling station setup so that all i need to do is store the bucket under the table, then just pour grain and hit the power switch...

Nath

 

[spog]

on the forum a while back byb did a bulk buy from the australian pulley co,works a treat run from a 1,3/4 electric motor, i will post pics next friday/sat when i get back home and my daughter shows me how.....cheers.....spog........

Does anyone know a good place to source this type of pulleys?

 

[peaky]

Hi all,

have a mill on the way, and was wondering:

those who have one motorised, how much power is good, and what size pulleys do you use to effectively gear it down?

Here's a link to another thread which has some info that might help. I have a MM-2 and will be motorising it soon, this is definately the way I'll go. No pulleys, chains, or belts. Reasonably priced too.

Motorising a grain mill

 

[QldKev]

Here's a link to another thread which has some info that might help. I have a MM-2 and will be motorising it soon, this is definately the way I'll go. No pulleys, chains, or belts. Reasonably priced too.

Motorising a grain mill

Plug time :lol:

Also got more info on my web site, under Homebrew then GrainMill, also check out the homebrew HangMan while you are there

http://home.exetel.com.au/qldkev/


QldKev

 

[manticle]

I normally use a hand driven corona but I recently bought a mill from Cocko who had been planning to motorise it. He threw the motor, mobile stand and potential hopper (big water bottle) in with the purchase so I may be joining the ranks of motorised brewers, at least for bigger batches. For smaller ones I might keep developing the bicep on my milling arm so i can look like a King Island crab.

Just have to work out pulley and belt and mount the mill.

 

[peaky]

I normally use a hand driven corona but I recently bought a mill from Cocko who had been planning to motorise it. He threw the motor, mobile stand and potential hopper (big water bottle) in with the purchase so I may be joining the ranks of motorised brewers, at least for bigger batches. For smaller ones I might keep developing the bicep on my milling arm so i can look like a King Island crab.

Just have to work out pulley and belt and mount the mill.

Nice one getting all those bits in one purchase. I was supposed to motorise my mill weeks ago as per QldKev's set up but I keep blowing all my cash on brewing ingredients. Priorities

 

[Tim]

I upgraded from an original marga to a millmaster about 12 months ago. I spend ages researching motor and pully setups only to find that I can churn through 5kg of grain in about two minutes hand cranking. Hence I haven't bothered motorising.

Give it a go hand cranked first.

 

[felten]

+1, I salvaged an old motor to use but never got around to it as hand cranking is too easy.

 

[RobW]

I love my motorised mill

MM2 + reduction geared motor + Lovejoy coupling (and now it has a proper hopper)

 

[Gout]

Plug time :lol:

Also got more info on my web site, under Homebrew then GrainMill, also check out the homebrew HangMan while you are there

http://home.exetel.com.au/qldkev/


QldKev

evil man after looking i am now $90 odd poor. thanks Kev looks like i will try and copy your setup (minus the holden hehe)

 

[QldKev]

evil man after looking i am now $90 odd poor. thanks Kev looks like i will try and copy your setup (minus the holden hehe)

lol, I should get shares in that company

Glad it was a help :beer:

QldKev

 

[gregs]

evil man after looking i am now $90 odd poor. thanks Kev looks like i will try and copy your setup (minus the holden hehe)

:icon_offtopic: Are you planning on walking the rest of your life?

 

[Gout]

:icon_offtopic: Are you planning on walking the rest of your life?

it would do my beer "tummy" a good job if i did. i will be very happy if i manage kevs level of auto grind - cant wait

 

[gregs]

Kev's mill works a treat go for it.

 

[cdbrown]

I too am following that procedure by ordering the motor last week. The mashmaster mill has 1/2" drive shaft - do you reckon the spider coupling could be drilled out to 1/2"? Also the rollers are 34mm radius - at 160rpm that makes the roller surface speed at 570mm/s which is above your recommended speed range. Guessing I should go for a smaller voltage output - maybe 8v to give 380mm/s. Although not sure where to get such a power supply.

 

[bignath]

thanks for all the replies peoples! I haven't checked this thread for a few days as i've been flat out with other stuff.

My Crankenstein arrived (cheers Barry R) and i started mucking around with a few materials i had lying around.

As it turns out, i've made an awesome hopper/catcher type arrangement which i will share with everyone in the next day or so when i can take a photo of it. Basically it utilises a spring water bottle, and an 18l rubbish bin. Works awesome so i will post some pics very soon with a "how to guide".

As has been mentioned by a few people, it seems that i can hand crank my grain very quickly so contrary to the original post, i may actually stick to the hand crank for a while (or until i get way sick of it), but so far so good.

Cheers for all the responses everyone!

BigNath

 

[mxd]

I bought this one for my 1/2 coupler

 

[QldKev]

I too am following that procedure by ordering the motor last week. The mashmaster mill has 1/2" drive shaft - do you reckon the spider coupling could be drilled out to 1/2"? Also the rollers are 34mm radius - at 160rpm that makes the roller surface speed at 570mm/s which is above your recommended speed range. Guessing I should go for a smaller voltage output - maybe 8v to give 380mm/s. Although not sure where to get such a power supply.

LOL at some of my spelling and grammar on the site. Teaches me for working on it after a few beers; even slur my spelling.

The OD of the coupler is 20mm, so I don't think the extra 2mm odd will make much difference when it is time to drill it out. The metal drills very easily, so just use a slow drill.

The speed range I have given is an approximation, and I probably should add more detail one day.
I think that with the larger rollers since your entry angle is not as aggressive, and also with the second roller also driven on the mashmaster, tearing is less likely even at the slightly higher speed, so you should not result in too much flour. At first I though maybe the motor will not have enough torque to run the mill; but reading the specs of it, they are actually a shorter length roller than the MM2, so I think that should be ok.

Be interested in how you go with it, and if your happy for me to post the results on the web page for future reference.

QldKev

 

[QldKev]

Kev's mill works a treat go for it.

It's good for a basic homebrew setup and will hopefully last many years to come, but it sure is not like some of the better mills out there; like Gregs one.

QldKev

 

[cdbrown]

Well the motor arrived the other day and I picked up a spider coupling from jaycar last night. Final piece of the puzzle is a power supply. Any idea where to get one? There's a pc store nearby and I guess I could grab a 350w psu. How to tell what amps the 12v rail will provide? Any other ideas for 12V 12A DC?