Motorizing your grain mill.

[fakr]

After selling my grain mill stand and motor to Kyle, I realized that the motor I had kicking around was too high of an RPM to slow down the mill to 200rpm without using a 12+ inch pulley....so I went on a search for gear motors as they are typically high torque and low rpm.

Well, I found the ideal motor that runs at 190-200rpm, ideal for the crankanstein I bought.  The gear motor has a hollow output shaft so it literally attaches directly to the output shaft of the grain mill.

At $51 each, it's a steal!  Ordered one up this morning.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... OC:CA:3160

The barley crushers have 3/8" shafts, but you just have to add a 3/8" to 1/2" brass bushing to convert it to 1/2".  The hollow output shaft of the motor is 12mm...just shy of 1/2" so the brass bushing would be ideal as you can sand it down slightly to make it fit.

Thought I'd share.  And if anyone wants me to pick up a bushing for their mill, let me know and I'll grab a few from Princess Auto.

[fakr]

[attachment=0:3ebpqj0v]gearmotor.JPG[/attachment:3ebpqj0v]

[fakr]

I'll keep everyone posted on how it performs.

[lmo506]

Hey Fakr...What's the simplest way to power this . I used to have a variable output 120vac to dc, keyword being used to. Will a toy train voltage reg work?

[fakr]

UPDATE!!

This particular motor works like a charm.  More than enough torque to mill grain.  I would very stronly suggest anyone who has a grain mill should strongly consider buying one of these for $50 on ebay.  No pullies or any of that.....much safer as well.  I completely certify this gear motor as being the shit.

Imo506 - to answer your question, I bought a 10A DC power supply off ebay for around $20 .  Wire up an extension cord to the 120V -+, and wire up the motor to the 12V outputs....very simple to wire and use.  and it's pretty small....maybe 7" long by 3"wide by 2" high.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Happy-bid-12V-1 ... 53f90a759f

[fakr]

I should mention that you'll need a shaft extension made to hook up the 3/8" drive on the mill with the 12mm hollow drive shaft of the motor.

My brother made me mine in his machine shop in Fredericton, and he said he would turn a few more out for you boys if you wanted one.

[lmo506]

I should mention that you'll need a shaft extension made to hook up the 3/8" drive on the mill with the 12mm hollow drive shaft of the motor.

My brother made me mine in his machine shop in Fredericton, and he said he would turn a few more out for you boys if you wanted one.

I would be interested in one. Let me know how much $ , when and where . Another month or so and I should have this little project done.

[fakr]

ok I'll get a price from him this weekend.  I know he has enough aluminium stock to turn out 4 or 5 before having to order another length of stock.
He also really likes beer, so there might be room to negotiate a deal or trade.

I'll have to take pictures of the new grain mill with the motor attached so you guys can see how slick the motor works.

I'm not sure if it's the mill, the constant 200rpm, or a combination of both, but the milled grain looks different than when I used the barley crusher, and I've had to adjust my recipes down a couple of pounds to hit the OG I used to.

Very happy with the new setup.

[brew]

Do you mean you're getting better efficiency with the new mill? Thats cool...

[fakr]

yeah, I'm getting better efficiency with the mill.  The crush is much more uniform.  The husks look almost whole, and the seed is crushed up nice.  When you look in the bucket, all you see is husks.
Also with a constant 200rpm on the mill (manufacturer recommended) I believe this adds to the uniform crush and higher efficiency as well.

[lmo506]

ok I'll get a price from him this weekend.  I know he has enough aluminium stock to turn out 4 or 5 before having to order another length of stock.

Any luck Fakr getting anymore of these made?

[Chris Craig]

Hey fakr, this would be a great DIY to put together into a tutorial with parts list and pictures.  Do you have any interest in putting something like this together? 

[fakr]

Yeah, he has enough stock to turn out a few more.

Chris, I could take a stab at it, sure, though the grain mill is all built now so I'd be missing pics of the various steps.  I'll put something together over the next few weeks.

[Chris Craig]

Awesome.  Thanks fakr!