Will My New Mill Kill This Drill?

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goatus

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Hi All,

My new Crankandstein 2S mill is on its way to me.. now looking for a way to power it.

I have this cheapy hammer drill from the big green shed:
http://www.ozito.com.au/hammer-drill-710w

do you think it will be able to handle 5kg of grain without burning out?

Its got a little speed selector dial on the trigger - i assume my best bet is to set it to the lowest and give it a go?

Any other tips from drill-millers?

Cheers
 
Leaded hammer drills are designed to handle a bit of tough work(even the cheap ones). Wouldn't expect it to be running as good as the day you bought it in 5 years time but should be up for the job

Keep it on the lowest setting and if it feels like it's getting a bit hot take a coffee break and get back into it
 
i've got the $30 ozito one from bunnings, not sure if its the same. I told the guy at the shop what i was dong with it and he said just bring it back every time it burns out. I've thrashed the drill and had smoke coming out but its still goingstrong. They come with a 3 year warranty too i think..
 
And don't use the hammer setting!
 
How much extra is the OZRH1500WAK? I bought its predecessor in 06 and have done a huge amount of work with it over three renovations. It's an awesome tool and came with a chuck when you didn't want to use sds bits. So if it doesn't cost much more spring for a rotary. I think it cost me $70 from bunnings.
 
Hi All,

My new Crankandstein 2S mill is on its way to me.. now looking for a way to power it.

I have this cheapy hammer drill from the big green shed:
http://www.ozito.com.au/hammer-drill-710w

do you think it will be able to handle 5kg of grain without burning out?

Its got a little speed selector dial on the trigger - i assume my best bet is to set it to the lowest and give it a go?

Any other tips from drill-millers?

Cheers

What did you pay for the mill???
 
if it's no good and burns out get this one as a replacement @ about $100

http://www.ozito.com.au/spade-handle-drill-1050w

cranks a mill no drama and is also very handy for drilling holes in many things including driving hole saws through stainless :)

yours may struggle to get the mill turning at low speed if the mill is full of grain as it depends on it's torque at low speed
 
Why not spend a few extra $$ and get the 1050W Ozito drill? It will do the job.
It has a 2 speed gear box, so on low gear you get extra torque and you don't mill too fast. Milling a little slower gives a better crush, I believe.
 
I think the drill will be fine.

A neighbour of mine is a big fan of the cheapest swtuff from the big green shed. His approach is this, buy it an see how it goes, most of the time the items do the job around the home or brewery. If not they usually have a decent warranty and so they go straight back and he gets a new one. Start again! It works for him without a doubt.

Fear_n_loath
 
I burnt my drill out when milling Weyermann Wheat Malt. It seems to be much harder than most base malts.

The problem was I weighed out 50% pilsner, then 50% wheat and added it all to the hopper. When I hit the wheat my drill started to struggle and i ended up smoking it. Was a demonstration so I had to get it done.

These days to avoid that i homogenize my grain bills before milling. Ie use a spoon or your hands to stir up the grain bill and mix the specialty malts through a bit. This way the harder grains are spread through out
 
if it makes you feel better i use exactly the same drill and exactly the same mill

my usual grain bill consist of 18kg and it handles it just fine

as mentioned by stux, wheat malt is hard and you should mix your wheat before milling and take it slow

on tuesday i milled 25kg for my barley wine and then another 10kg for a mate to take home for his brew the following day, all without drama
 
The 1050w version is a champion whichever way you look at it. Dunno enough about the cheaper one.
 
Why not spend a few extra $$ and get the 1050W Ozito drill? It will do the job.
It has a 2 speed gear box, so on low gear you get extra torque and you don't mill too fast. Milling a little slower gives a better crush, I believe.


^^^^ this ^^^^

While I have one of those ozitto ones, I prefer to use the Ryobi Cordless, better torque, those Ozitto ones are a PITA to keep going at a low speed and isnt great for them or the mill I suspect.. sure you can replace them but will piss you off no end if they burn out in the middle of a crush and you have no alternative.. They make a good bakup and in fact I had to use mine today for just that reason, a backup..

I like the look of those spade handled ones linked above and FWIW that's the direction Im heading...

1.875c
 
The 1050w version is a champion whichever way you look at it. Dunno enough about the cheaper one.

I've had both - the cheaper one doesnt like low speed high torque situations, but having said that I managed to build two sheds with it(driving in 100's of corrugated iron screws), had smoke pouring out of it the whole time, it survived up until I tried to drill a hole in my keggle. :( When it finally did die I replaced it with the 1050w version with the 2 speed gearbox - its much happier being driven at lower rpm. I've drilled plenty of holes in stainless kegs, and used it with my MM2 mill and not a whisp of smoke yet!
 
I use that 1050w spade handle ozito that maheel linked to.

Awesome for running a mill. There seems to be a huge difference in torque between and cheap shit cordless or even corded, and those spade handle drills.

I believe that the spade handle ones have a proper steel gearbox too. Could be wrong though.

At $89 or whatever they currently are, for the people like me that don't have many options to source electric motors (my town is very small), these drills represent a great "out of the box" solution to running a grain mill.

I had a corded ozito that i smoked after only a couple of kg's of base malt. Didn't want to do the same to my nice 18v Ryobi, so i went with the spade handle ozito. Haven't looked back.

If i had access to a cheap motors and pulleys and a stand to mount it all in, id probably go that way, but it's difficult here. The only dude in town that deals with electric motors only deals with new ones, and want's $300 for a motor. That's probably cheap, but then i have to add pulleys and drive belts.

I went with the drill.
 


here's the spade ozito running on a mash master mini (click pic to play vid)

normally i set the speed on the drill then lock it on without grain in the mill turn off the power at the plug at he wall
rather than using the trigger to start with grain in the mill
tip in the grain
turn the power back on at the plug
and away it goes (i might adjust the speed if needed as it runs as it sometimes creeps faster)
 
I've posted on this topic before, but repetition seems be the byword for this site.

Get yourself one of theses: http://www.tradetools.com/products/RILRD800

Engineers drill, slow speed, solid gearbox, under $100, and 70 Nm of torque (btw, you need around 7-9 Nm to run barley through a 2 roller mill, probably 10-12 for wheat).

Now I save my nice 18V Ryobi for DIY jobs around the house, and mill grain without breaking a sweat using the heavy duty drill.
 
I've posted on this topic before, but repetition seems be the byword for this site.

Get yourself one of theses: http://www.tradetools.com/products/RILRD800

Engineers drill, slow speed, solid gearbox, under $100, and 70 Nm of torque (btw, you need around 7-9 Nm to run barley through a 2 roller mill, probably 10-12 for wheat).

Now I save my nice 18V Ryobi for DIY jobs around the house, and mill grain without breaking a sweat using the heavy duty drill.

yeah that's a pretty good looking option as well. Was also gonna try one of those, but thought i'd go the closer to home option as i was in a hurry when i bought the spade handled ozito.

Also in addition to WarmBeer's comment on required torque....are those figures 7-9Nm's with a mill when the rollers are already moving?

I thought it took approx 30Nm to start a mill with a full hopper (average) to get it moving. Obviously would require much less if you get the mill working first and then apply grain gradually??
 
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