We were getting tired of running the mill with a hand drill. Inspired by the craftwork of Brown Shirt brewery and their motorized mill, Doug set out to build one. He used parts already on hand, some beautiful stainless sheetmetal work from a company he works with (priceless), a rolling display cabinet from the Re-Store ($10), and my mill.
We've used it twice now, and it runs like a charm!
The cabinet is large enough to hold the mash tun. We mill straight into the tun, then underlet hot mash water to fill. This has turned out to be fantastic. We've hit our mash temp spot-on both times using this technique. Thanks to Mr. Jensen for the tip on underletting.
The hopper is made of 16 gauge stainless steel, and it is a work of art by itself. It was made by Cates Sheetmetal in Lenexa. We owe them a huge amount of beer! Doug made the framework holding the hopper, and like the Brown Shirt mill the frame doubles as carry handles to lift the hopper into position.
The drive train consists of a 1/3 HP 1725 RPM motor, 4 pulleys and 2 belts to step the speed down to about 280 RPM. Doug decided on a two-pully step-down to avoid having a large pully driving the mill. He crafted the stainless steel belt/pulley guard himself.
I have a full parts list if anybody is interested in what was used (pulley sizes, etc). Enough talk...how 'bout some pictures:
Awesome work Doug!!!
Ken
