Homebrewery Improvements: Grain Milling Cart
After a wortsplosion caused me to need to clean part of my mill and the cheap drawer-bottom not-even-particleboard piece that I was using to attempt to hold my drill and mill as I milled grain, I decided that an improvement was in order.
Specifically, I wanted to improve three things:
- I don’t want to use my foot to keep the mill from moving off the bucket
- I don’t want milled grain to get ‘stuck’ in the wood frame the mill is attached to
- I don’t want my drill to bind on the platform and I want both hands free of controlling the drill
While it isn’t a criteria, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on this, so I used a lot of recycled materials. I started with getting a more substantial piece of wood – some half-inch plywood from what was going to be a lagering chamber (I’m going to stick to the water bath method used in the last post) and some shelf pieces from an old stereo cabinet.
Since I didn’t want a way for milled grain to stick into the ‘chute’, I used some leftover duct metal to build a chute.
Even better, I still have leftover metal for an exhaust hood that I desperately need to build.
After making the chute, I added some legs. I had some leftover casters, so I added those to the legs, although I’m not 100% sure I’m going to keep them (or all four of them – I might change two of the legs to adjustable feet).
At this point, the only materials taken from new are some cabinet kickplate material (I’m not even sure why I have some) and two 2x4s. Everything was already purchased and was “extra” material except the 2x4s. I will need to purchase a few bolts to hold the mill on, but that is it. I may paint the top also, in case the plywood gets splashed. 🍻
