Home Distiller

I have found a motor on craigslist that looks like a good buy. I am considering it for a mill in the future. Here are the known specs:

HP: 1/3, RPM: 1725, Phase: 1, Volts: 115, HZ: 60, Amps: 6.8 Rating: Continuous, Insul Class: B,
Shaft: 1/2: x 1-1/2", Frame: 48

It has an existing power cord and has a built-in ON/OFF toggle switch.

There is no mention of torque but if I use the formula T = HP x 5252/rpm I get close to 1.0 Ftlb or 12 Inlb which seems low....

Since I only know how my hand drill works with my mill now.... I'm not sure what to look for here. I would possibly use it for the corona for now with a possible upgrade to a monster mill type setup in the future.

He's asking $65 and its close to the house so I thought I would pass it by some folks who are in the know!

RG,

Not a horrible price if it is made by Dayton or baldor. Not sure about your application. Seems a little underpowered. The mills shown at the link are 1hp and can be found on Craig's list for 120-200 usually.

http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/2 ... r.html?m=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

comparing the amps and RPM of the motor to the amps and RPM of your drill will give you

an idea of relative power, then factor in that your drill has gear reduction to increase

output torque. seems a little underpowered.

You going to need at least a 4:1 reduction if the mill is one of the $35 Chinese burr mills
Also the cheap mills don't have a bearing or bushing, In other words they don't mind being spun with a drill
But if you put a big pulley on the mill, it will wear really fast.

shadylane wrote:You going to need at least a 4:1 reduction if the mill is one of the $35 Chinese burr mills
Also the cheap mills don't have a bearing or bushing, In other words they don't mind being spun with a drill
But if you put a big pulley on the mill, it will wear really fast.

4:1 reduction still puts it at >400RPM. I don't know a thing about mills, but that is moving some stone/blades.

Sooo...general consensus is a NO.... many thanks folks!

I find it hard to believe that a hand drill is used a lot , But a 1/3 hp. motor is not torquey enough.

freefall wrote:I find it hard to believe that a hand drill is used a lot , But a 1/3 hp. motor is not torquey enough.

But it's the truth.
My 1/2" drill consumes around 850 watts of electricity.
That's around 1 horsepower and at the right speed for the mill.

freefall wrote:I find it hard to believe that a hand drill is used a lot , But a 1/3 hp. motor is not torquey enough.

Sounds like an opportunity for you to purchase a cheap motor.

I have a 1/3 horse hp motor and a cheap hf half inch drill. Hopefully will be getting a grain mill in the next few months. I am having a guy I work with deliver as much corn as I want late fall.

Very nice. Let us know how it goes.

I hear its worth a trip to the dump occasionally to find old washing machines to salvage a motor.

Hank Reardon wrote:Very nice. Let us know how it goes.

will do. I am really interested on the performance myself. The #s on my drill and motor are similar. just can't tell the efficiency of the drill to know the hp rating.

In the continuing search for a motor (not looking too hard...) I found this:

https://southjersey.craigslist.org/tls/5857338882.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

1/4 HP, 1725 rpm, 115v

he also has a second motor for $60.
OR both for $70.

What do you think? Will plan for a double roller system to drive this. Aim for a reduction around 200 rpm (once I figure out how to pull that off)

i'd buy that leeson farm duty 3/4 hp for 60 bucks if i could get it. BTW: wire it like the right hand side schematic on 240vac. the left side is for "lo volt" the motor will overheat and go into thermal protect if wired to 240vac.

i recently rigged a 6" wide roller mill with a 1/2 horse, on a 4:1 reduction. it is underpowered.

if there is grain in the hopper it will not start. has to be rolling already...as long as it's started, it chews rye like a champ, about 2 lbs a minute. for malt barley i have to open it a hair, and once it starts chewing grain gotta keep going or its a bitch to start again...and the malt is much slower...about .75lbs/minute. i don't quite understand this as malt apears to be more brittle and softer than rye kernals.

i buy my corn cracked, i don't think it has enough torque to do corn. i have a bit of whole corn i bought for malting, i could throw a bit in but i'm sure it would have to wide open and run at least twice.

i'm about to try a 2.5hp on a 2:1 on my big mill now that my finger bandage finally came off and my hand will fit in a welding glove again.

Need to step that to 40 RPMs (or the like).

I've got a 30:1 reduction gear I picked up cheap. It's been gathering dust since. My thoughts were to use it to power a press. On a 3/4 hp motor it'd be a brute.
Just sayin...

DFitz wrote:I've got a 30:1 reduction gear I picked up cheap. It's been gathering dust since. My thoughts were to use it to power a press. On a 3/4 hp motor it'd be a brute.
Just sayin...

+1

LWTCS wrote:

DFitz wrote:I've got a 30:1 reduction gear I picked up cheap. It's been gathering dust since. My thoughts were to use it to power a press. On a 3/4 hp motor it'd be a brute.
Just sayin...

+1

grain dewatering has been kicking my ass. I'm working up a screw press (like vincent corp) with a 1 HP and a 100:1 reduction... are you doing similar with your press?
early stage prototype from plastic and steel looks promising, i'm just ordering SS auger flights now!

DFitz wrote:I've got a 30:1 reduction gear I picked up cheap. It's been gathering dust since. My thoughts were to use it to power a press. On a 3/4 hp motor it'd be a brute.
Just sayin...

DFitz.. where did you get it on the cheap? These things are pricey, even at surplus center

HDNB are you dewatering after distillation?

admin edit (cause i can!) i sent a PM so as to not get off of motor topic. HDNB

HDNB wrote:...i recently rigged a 6" wide roller mill with a 1/2 horse, on a 4:1 reduction. it is underpowered.

I am surprised at that; and that is great info HDNB. All these homebrew forums I have been reading have been saying that 1/4 -1/2 HP is enough and to step them down with gear reducers or pulley systems. I want to be sure I have enough power... I don't plan on crushing whole corn but I do plan on grinding down cracked corn finer. That said... I want to be able to crush whole corn if needed, there is a lot of real cheap deer corn around here right now...

I bought both motors because for $70 I think it was a great deal. Both wired for 115V and the Leeson with a switch installed. I will check on the wiring as you suggested too. I'm planning on the 3/4 HP for the mill and maybe I can figure a way to use the 1/4 for a stirring device when I mash. Will need to find a good way to go from horizontal to vertical for the shaft.

I found that the gear reducers on eBay seem cheaper than even surplus center so I will have to look into that next. Finally I will need a mill (and a stand...hoping to run across an old vanity someone throws out or else I'm building).

As far as dewatering goes... I hang the bag over my drum for a day. 80-90 lb pressing down on itself is a hell of a press! Doing this I just got about 35 gallons back from a 40 gallon ferment. I'm good with that loss - 12% total volume. If you figure 5 gal loss of a 7% ABV wash that's less than 1/2 gallon of recoverable EtOH and even less of it as "good" EtOH

I do like the idea of the screw press though HD!

So I picked up the two motors and they look and run great. I'm slowly working on the mill (go cheap with the possibility of having to replace it or go big $$...? ) and looking toward the drive. Just curious....outside of measuring it directly...how do I find the diameter of these motor shafts?

Trying to decide gear reduction vs pulley as well... I am favoring reduction as it takes up less space with less moving parts to hurt myself with. The downside there is that I'm finding the gear reduction motors to be near $100 or better. Anyone have a good source?

rgreen2002 wrote:

DFitz wrote:I've got a 30:1 reduction gear I picked up cheap. It's been gathering dust since. My thoughts were to use it to power a press. On a 3/4 hp motor it'd be a brute.
Just sayin...

DFitz.. where did you get it on the cheap? These things are pricey, even at surplus center

Sorry about the late reply. I get sidetracked with work. I found this on eBay. As I recall I paid $75 + shipping. Still in all under $100 which to me was a great deal. I used it for a while as a stirrer but this was like using a cement mixer to make biscuits so I put it on the shelf. I have a need to press a great deal of corn so it might go to that but before I try using the reduction gear I want to see if an air cylinder might work. This gear weighs about 40 lbs alone yet to add a 1/2hp motor would almost double that weight.

Just a thought
Drills, grinders, belt sanders and many other cheap power tools have high power electric motors with gear reduction
They may have a short duty cycle, but will last more than long enough for our needs.

rgreen2002 wrote:So I picked up the two motors and they look and run great. I'm slowly working on the mill (go cheap with the possibility of having to replace it or go big $$...? ) and looking toward the drive. Just curious....outside of measuring it directly...how do I find the diameter of these motor shafts?

Trying to decide gear reduction vs pulley as well... I am favoring reduction as it takes up less space with less moving parts to hurt myself with. The downside there is that I'm finding the gear reduction motors to be near $100 or better. Anyone have a good source?

I find using a 1-1/2" pulley on the motor and a 12-13" pulley on the mill will give you 65ish-70 rpm. While this is not going to crush whole corn, it's more than enough to mill cracked corn, rye, wheat, and barley/malt. Myself, I use a 1/2" drill motor but I do have the components indicated above to eventually build my mill. I know about the RPM and power by using this setup for another purpose. Keep in mind I would only consider this motor if it was to meet the 1/2hp rating.

DFitz wrote:

rgreen2002 wrote:

DFitz wrote:I've got a 30:1 reduction gear I picked up cheap. It's been gathering dust since. My thoughts were to use it to power a press. On a 3/4 hp motor it'd be a brute.
Just sayin...

DFitz.. where did you get it on the cheap? These things are pricey, even at surplus center

Sorry about the late reply. I get sidetracked with work. I found this on eBay. As I recall I paid $75 + shipping. Still in all under $100 which to me was a great deal. I used it for a while as a stirrer but this was like using a cement mixer to make biscuits so I put it on the shelf. I have a need to press a great deal of corn so it might go to that but before I try using the reduction gear I want to see if an air cylinder might work. This gear weighs about 40 lbs alone yet to add a 1/2hp motor would almost double that weight.

Rg, I've never been a mathematician, so searching is helpful for me. As you figure your desired rpm, and assuming your motors rpm is 1750... you can figure what reducer you want, or your pulley size here:

http://www.blocklayer.com/pulley-belteng.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I haven't done this particular thing with a mill before, but have used a combo gear reducer and pulley system using a vbelt to walk Mrs. Reardon's horses in circles. Also to build a chicken plucker.

Anyway, if you design it safely, belts and pulleys are super cheap, durable/reliable, and readily available. Just need a lightweight box!!

Anyway, the calc can help you establish your reduction, and then you get to make a choice for your design.

Good luck!

rgreen2002 wrote:
I found that the gear reducers on eBay seem cheaper than even surplus center so I will have to look into that next. Finally I will need a mill (and a stand...hoping to run across an old vanity someone throws out or else I'm building).

One thing to think about as you are searching ebay for gear boxes/reducers. Note the input shaft and output shaft sizes...when you buy something that is 1-3/32" on the shaft, you will have to machine a pulley or adaptor for your motor. It can quickly add up to more than if you went and bought something at retail. I've noticed some oddball stuff on ebay when it comes to that. I would hate for you to "get a deal" on a gearbox to then pay $100 to buy a lovejoy to make them a marital couple.

Hey Hank! I agree with ya because I looked for a while and I have to say I can't FIND a real deal on a gearbox that seemed worthwhile. I am coming to grips with the pulley system and have tagged a few at amazon I'm looking at.

I have to get down to the basement to check shaft sizes and do a little math but I see a 1.5 on the motor and a 14 in on the mill... mostly because larger sizes are getting difficult to find at good prices!

I just looked at the site....it's friggin awesome! This will make light work of the math I was getting ready to work on! Thanks!

My rough math looked pretty good btw... if I go 1.5 and 14 at 1725 I get down to 185 rpm.... respectable. Maybe McMaster will have a bigger pulley...

rgreen2002 wrote:Hey Hank! I agree with ya because I looked for a while and I have to say I can't FIND a real deal on a gearbox that seemed worthwhile. I am coming to grips with the pulley system and have tagged a few at amazon I'm looking at.

I have to get down to the basement to check shaft sizes and do a little math but I see a 1.5 on the motor and a 14 in on the mill... mostly because larger sizes are getting difficult to find at good prices!

I just looked at the site....it's friggin awesome! This will make light work of the math I was getting ready to work on! Thanks!

My rough math looked pretty good btw... if I go 1.5 and 14 at 1725 I get down to 185 rpm.... respectable. Maybe McMaster will have a bigger pulley...

You can find them around. Surprisingly, I found one in a farm equipment machine shop that was 16"...was like $30. Lucky find for me.

Circle math never was my strong suit. I like pie, and don't understand pi.

Good luck on your decision...