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Motorized Grain Mill Cart

 
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McGruber




Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:29 pm    Post subject: Motorized Grain Mill Cart Reply with quote


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I got tired of the inability to control the speed of milling (lots of starts and stops - fast and slow), the inevitable sharp wrist torque, and the strain of high torque/ low speed wear on my electric hand drill (it actually smoked once), so I finally got around to building a motorized mill cart. Obviously there are a ton of builds out there - just thought I'd share what I did.

Instead of rehashing it all, this is a link that I followed almost entirely to a "T". There's a good conversation on different motor and switch wirings. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=373083
Pages 1, 10 and 11 applied the most to my build. Referencing the first post on page 11, I had to switch T5 (on post 4) with T8 (on post 3) to get my mill to turn the correct direction.

I bought the 3/4 hp motor and heavy duty cart from Amazon, built the motor and gear drive bases out of MDF and spray painted them black, already had the three roller Monster Mill, and used a floor register to funnel grist into my bucket. I'll probably fashion a fabric of some kind around the chute exit to reduce dust, but haven't decided on the material yet. Open to suggestions.

Brewery Build - http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28523
Fermentation Cabinet Build - http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30544



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g8tors




Joined: 05 Oct 2011
Posts: 211



PostLink    Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks good. How did you fasten the floor register to the cart?

Scott
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McGruber




Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho


PostLink    Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

g8tors wrote:
looks good. How did you fasten the floor register to the cart?

To clarify, I used a stack boot with a 4" round - visible in top right of first picture. http://www.homedepot.com/p/10-in-x-3-1-4-in-to-4-in-Stack-Boot-SB10X3-25X4/100129949. I found that while it had natural flanges that I could bend out to rest on the table, that I could pretty easily form it to my cut out hole. I should have made the hole a little shorter and wider, but it worked just fine. I just had to make a few cuts with a tin snip to get it the right shape.

I placed it in the hole, bent the flanges out and banged it into shape with a hammer, and taped it to the cart with black duct tape. The Monster Mill base covers almost all of the tape, but as you can see from the first picture the mill opening is nearly right against one of the base edges.

(I think I mounted the MM3 backwards, but it wouldn't change that some tape is exposed if I switched it around. I had just cleaned the MM3, adjusted the gap and marked various gap widths on the housing, so I decided to leave it be instead of having to start over)



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mvakoc




Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 152
Location: Evergreen, CO


PostLink    Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice. This past weekend I completed a very similar build based on posts from this forum.

I finally wore out my barley crusher (after 5 years). The "teeth" where worn down and it would often get stuck. I decided to craft a lifetime replacement.

Similar to yours I went with Monster Mill but the 2 grain pro (2" roller) version. I haven't actually milled a full batch yet but I keep throwing in some left over grains just to watch it work and couldn't be more pleased.



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McGruber




Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yours is great, and you're right, they're amazingly similar. My build has a 10:1 worm drive gear reducer and a 1800 RPM motor, so final RPM is 180. Are you able to control the speed of your motor, or what is it's RPM?
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Ozarks Mountain Brew




Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 737
Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 3:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice, I use the cheap worm drive drill from harbor fright with variable speed, its geared very slow and works great
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mvakoc




Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 152
Location: Evergreen, CO


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

McGruber wrote:
Yours is great, and you're right, they're amazingly similar. My build has a 10:1 worm drive gear reducer and a 1800 RPM motor, so final RPM is 180. Are you able to control the speed of your motor, or what is it's RPM?


Roughly the same. The motor was advertised at 180 RPM but the labels show an actual speed of 1650 RPM and 10:1 reducer, so it is ~165 RPM and fixed. I think this speed is significantly more than I got with my Makita drill on the slower/high torque setting using the barley crusher previously. The motor is 1/2 hp.

It tears through grain (figuratively, not in a bad literal sense) and although I currently have the gap set the same as usual with the barley crusher (0.45), the milled grain looks different -- perhaps finer. It will be interesting to note if this affects my extremely consistent 88% efficiency in either direction.
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Select22
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

that's a nice looking setup
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Castermmt




Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 863
Location: Lowell, In

Drinking: Steelhead Porter, Alt-Toids, Hefty-Weizen, Terry's Kolsch, African Amber, Pumpkin Ale, Double Dog Ale

Working on: Janet's Brown Ale, Terry's Kolsch, Pilsner


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They look very good, nice work. I noticed that you don't have a way to keep the grain dust contained. I've attached a few pictures of a bucket mod I use and it works great at keeping the dust from covering everything in the brew area. Hope this helps, Castermmt Mug


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McGruber




Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like it. Thanks Castermmt. I do have a dryer vent clamp that you can see attached to the chute that I was planning on hooking up a sock/ fabric tube of some kind, but you're idea is very practical. Does the spigot on your bucket have any purpose for your mill? I assumed it's just a repurposed brewing bucket but pic "Bucket #6" seems to be just of the spigot.
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Castermmt




Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 863
Location: Lowell, In

Drinking: Steelhead Porter, Alt-Toids, Hefty-Weizen, Terry's Kolsch, African Amber, Pumpkin Ale, Double Dog Ale

Working on: Janet's Brown Ale, Terry's Kolsch, Pilsner


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

McGruber wrote:
I like it. Thanks Castermmt. I do have a dryer vent clamp that you can see attached to the chute that I was planning on hooking up a sock/ fabric tube of some kind, but you're idea is very practical. Does the spigot on your bucket have any purpose for your mill? I assumed it's just a repurposed brewing bucket but pic "Bucket #6" seems to be just of the spigot.

Just an unused bottling bucket. I started out without the cover, then after one grind I realized I need to manage the dust. I cut my tube to be about 1/4 inch inside the bucket and have to tilt it very slightly getting it in and out, but that allows me to trap the dust better.

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jcav




Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 205
Location: Central Florida


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice job McGruber, and all who shared theirs also! I really need to motorize mine and I might just do it later this year.

John

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jonymac




Joined: 18 Dec 2014
Posts: 145



PostLink    Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice! I love those carts. My build is below - I added pantyhose - waist around bucket, one leg around the vent hole - and drop the fabric chute into the leg - zero dust.

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28627

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JonyMac's Stillwater Home Brewery Build
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=314470#314470
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