Forgive me...it's been a year

[Vossy1]

Almost a year to the day since they saw light of day it's time to get tinkering again :party: so.....first up..... try and find everything The March May 809 which replaces the Totton GP 20/12 which is now in NB's brewery was first in line (read a manageable bite of work :grin: ). You gotta be really careful with the pumps plastic thread when using stainless fittings, I got the outlet wrong but luckily with a bit of reshaping with a Stanley knife I got it back on track...phew. Next came the grain mill motor, it's cooling fins were preventing the mounting bolt from sliding into their tracks, so with a bit of Dremmel action they were shortened and hey presto...the bolts are in

Last but not least a little bit of measuring up to see what's what :hmm:

I've got an old fermenting cupboard I'd like to make the mills new home and I'd already made a hopper however in the last few days I've discovered one of my 40ltr conicals is useless for brewing due to the way it's been moulded leaving millions of tiny bubbles and pin holes in the skin :x ...so it may be becoming a hopper :hmm:

Feels good to be fettling again :twisted: :party: :party: :party:

 

[Mark1964]

its fun to be tinkering with bits and pieces i love it on a weekend improving things is great :thumb:

 

[Springer]

Glad to see you spanking up the kit V.
Bit, ....... no very, sad about that conical
Whats that grain mill that I see ? I have got plans for one of those, got some ideas for a scratch build.
If I had enough time.....................I could eat an elephant................but really do fancy malting some barley and going the whole hog as they say. :lol:
I know ............I need to give up working and retire properly, this part time stuff is a pain in the whatsit, Monday and Thursday effectively means I have two Mondays in the week, but at least there are two weekends. :? :lol:
S

 

[PD]

nice to see you back in the saddle Jean Paul....
er brewing next ?

 

[Springer]

P.S. I forgive you, anyone can make a mistake, don't let it happen again. :lol:
Or as a manager said to one of my mates, don't worry anyone can make A mistake that was yours............ :lol:
S

 

[Vossy1]

Bit, ....... no very, sad about that conical

To say the air was blue....

Whats that grain mill that I see ?

It's a Crankenstein 3D with stainless rollers

nice to see you back in the saddle Jean Paul....
er brewing next ?

...thanks p...yep...TST beckons :shock:

 

[EskiBrew]

Excellent news - glad to see you dusting things off :party: :thumb:

 

[31bb3]

great news your getting up and running again should have time for a few at the spring thing :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Scorrie]

......

Whats that grain mill that I see ?

It's a Crankenstein 3D with stainless rollers
......

Looks like you can use a drill to power it....interesting.......

 

[Good Ed]

all is forgiven, just get it cranked up with a brew :

 

[Vossy1]

Looks like you can use a drill to power it....interesting.......

A lot of the mills come with adaptive drive shafts for just that reason or you can use a flexi drive connector
Thanks for the wishes guys Yesterday was a right mare, got very little done through trial and mostly error The mill comes banded together and if you remove the straps, the 2 end plates are free to move (middle pic) as the rollers are only pushed into the bearings on the plate. This gave me a headache straight away so I had to bolt the bugger to a piece of wood before I could start hopper fettling

The M6 ish threaded mounting holes on the mill come with bolts supplied but they're useless (for me), as one set have a large blanked area near the head meaning they can only be used with board 1/2" plus (unless you fit spacers). So having to use new bolts for flexibility but guess what...yep...different types of thread so using some M6 stainless bolts I already have I carefully cut new threads in the holes...one problem sorted. I've decided to use 40mm equal angle to make the base for the hopper and have allowed an overhang for the side plates which will be made from the same ply as the mounting board. The 40mm width of the angle plates also leaves a perfect 1" gap above the rollers for guiding the grain My initial idea was to bend the angles vertical surface and make a triangular insert for the sides of the hopper...but it's proved to hard to bend (easily) so I'm now going to make a Y shape insert which is easier...and I like easy :grin: So today I'm going to try to get the hopper finished and hopefully start on a adjustable mount for the motor

 

[Springer]

Looking very promising V.
That mill is American I believe and they have not joined the rest of the world in going metric, hence the thread problem. :)
I had in mind for my build two big rollers 75mm plus, (metric :lol:) ish, a bit like a jaw crusher which I am thinking will be better to self feed, to give a longer "inlet taper" into the roller, if you know what I mean. Think that might get away with two rollers and only drive to one. ?
Keep up the pics V, we are very short of brew **** on here these days. :lol:
S

 

[graysalchemy]

Welcome back to brewing JP, now just get a bloody brew on :lol: :lol:

Its about time :thumb:

 

[PD]

Yes if you need any advice tips or explanations of what to do, just give a shout we are here to help................. :party: :party: :party:

 

[Vossy1]

Well, as per usual I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I was more relaxed today, instead of rushing to get stuff done which kind of spoils it for me Anywhoo...the mill hopper is made :party:

The 2 triangular bits are in fact covered wood...as if I wouldn't make it shiny :whistle:
The other photo is the hopper I made a year or so ago, it's a bin from Ikea, the bottoms cut out and a drain inlet hopper fitted to it. After buying it I saw the RSPCA steel hoppers :P I really like these bins because they have handles, hold about 10kg of grain (prob more) and they fit on the scales so I can still see the read out :lol: ...unlike all circular ones :lol:

I had in mind for my build two big rollers 75mm plus, (metric :lol:) ish, a bit like a jaw crusher which I am thinking will be better to self feed, to give a longer "inlet taper" into the roller, if you know what I mean. Think that might get away with two rollers and only drive to one. ?

They tend to be the 'norm' S I don't know how true it is but I've read that the 3 roller system allows the husks to remain much more intact, as they're separated/cracked from the grain by the first set of rollers, as opposed to a 2 roller set where the husk gets crushed with the grain :hmm: Looking forward to tomorrow and getting on with the motor mounts/leccy and cupboard

 

[Springer]

Good work V,
............Iv'e been working on an a wooden advent calendar today, like a Christmas tree with 24 small wooden boxes, :) :hmm: , well I did suggest the idea. must have been, :drunk: :lol:
Keep up the progess. Top tip, as Hair Bikers would say, .............
When in the workshop give up for the day, when your winning, before it starts to goes t-ts up.
S

 

[Good Ed]

....Iv'e been working on an a wooden advent calendar today, like a Christmas tree with 24 small wooden boxes, :) :hmm:

Y :wha:

 

[BigYin]

Well, as per usual I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I was more relaxed today, instead of rushing to get stuff done which kind of spoils it for me Anywhoo...the mill hopper is made :party:

The 2 triangular bits are in fact covered wood...as if I wouldn't make it shiny :whistle:
The other photo is the hopper I made a year or so ago, it's a bin from Ikea, the bottoms cut out and a drain inlet hopper fitted to it. After buying it I saw the RSPCA steel hoppers :P I really like these bins because they have handles, hold about 10kg of grain (prob more) and they fit on the scales so I can still see the read out :lol: ...unlike all circular ones :lol:

I had in mind for my build two big rollers 75mm plus, (metric :lol:) ish, a bit like a jaw crusher which I am thinking will be better to self feed, to give a longer "inlet taper" into the roller, if you know what I mean. Think that might get away with two rollers and only drive to one. ?

They tend to be the 'norm' S I don't know how true it is but I've read that the 3 roller system allows the husks to remain much more intact, as they're separated/cracked from the grain by the first set of rollers, as opposed to a 2 roller set where the husk gets crushed with the grain :hmm: Looking forward to tomorrow and getting on with the motor mounts/leccy and cupboard

Loving the hopper work :hat:

That's on my 'fantasy' wish list at the moment - since it doesn't cost a penny more to get the grain ready crushed, it seems rather extravagant to pay for a mill - and the crankenstein mill is the one I hanker after :whistle:

 

[EskiBrew]

Nice work on the hopper :clap:

 

[Vossy1]

That's on my 'fantasy' wish list at the moment - since it doesn't cost a penny more to get the grain ready crushed, it seems rather extravagant to pay for a mill - and the crankenstein mill is the one I hanker after

Uncrushed is cheaper from the maltsters and it will store longer...though that doesn't justify the mill :lol: ...I like toys :P
Todays fettling...not as much done again

The old fv cupboard...1st job evicting contents and stripping remaining electrics out, then cutting holes for mill and drive belt and finally fitting mill.
Tomorrows job, making a adjustable skid for the motor so I can tension the drive belt and getting it set up with electrics....I'm winning :party: