Home Distiller

I'm posting this because Halfbaked wanted to see it when it was finished. Not sure I would be posting about it otherwise.

I got the idea and the name from this thread - http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 83&t=19399 . I've been working on it for a few weeks. It's made from a paper shredder I found in a thrift store. I needed a grinder, but didn't have the money to buy a real one. I saw the paper shredder after having read Corncooker69's thread and said what the heck.

The first step was to enlarge the slot for the grain to go into the rollers. The top slot was made into the plastic housing, so I had to find some way to cut it away to make the slot wider. Tried a dremel with an abrasive cutting disk, but it melted the plastic more than it cut it - made a mess of it. The only other tool I had was a jig saw. Worked OK, but still a bit messy.

The rollers were also housed in a plastic shroud kind of thing and I figured I should remove that as well. I may take the shredder apart and put them back on now that I've tested it. Here's some pictures of the plastic I removed: And a picture of the shredder with the enlarged slot: I made a hopper for the grain from scrap lumber - 2 X 2, 1 X 2, 1/8" plywood, 1/2" plywood, and some thick lattice. Here's a picture of the hopper: This is a picture of the hopper and shredder assembled: My first trial run was with some whole kernel deer corn. I had to feed it through slowly to prevent the rollers from clogging and stalling the motor. It did OK, but allowed some whole kernels to pass through and didn't give a consistent grind. Some of it is the consistency of cornmeal, some is the consistency of cracked corn (like from the feed store), and every size between the two. I'll probably need to sift it through various sized screens to separate the various grinds. It took around 15 to 20 minutes to grind 10 lbs. of corn. Here's a picture of some of what I got out of it: I also tried grinding whole kernel barley, but it came out pretty much the way it went in. Maybe reinstalling the plastic shrouds will help - don't know. Anyway, at least it will help me get through this bag of cheap deer corn.

Nice progress. Very cool.

If it doesn't work at first, modify it.
If that don't work, change it.

I had to see what Another Gredder was.

And if that don't work modify it. Gotta a buddy who is a fabricator who always finishes the above with this.

Like it!

shadylane wrote:If it doesn't work at first, modify it.
If that don't work, change it.

I had to see what Another Gredder was.

Sorry Shady, the name comes from GRinder and shrEDDER.

I'll try to reinstall those plastic shroud pieces and see if that helps. I had also thought about pulling the rollers out and building a 3/4" plywood box to mount them in and power it with an old AC fan motor I replaced a while back. Funny how the more something fails, the more determined you get to make it work.

S-Cackalacky wrote:

shadylane wrote:If it doesn't work at first, modify it.
If that don't work, change it.

I had to see what Another Gredder was.

Sorry Shady, the name comes from GRinder and shrEDDER.

Funny how the more something fails, the more determined you get to make it work.

And that is one of my personal down falls.

I like the Cackalacky Gredder.