Schmidling Malt Mill

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Question:

says… It works beautifully with one hitch. Due to the short side panels below

the funnel grain gets tossed into the air through the gaps and makes a bit of a mess. 2.) Has anyone else ever experienced this problem of the grains spitting

out under the funnel? I figure its pretty common, but Jack – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Schmidling told me this is the first he’s heard of it. Hard to beleive. Well, like I said, I gave it a week and have not heard a complaint yet. You might try the HBD if you still wish to peruse it. I have experienced the grain spitting out between the side panels and the rollers. I motorized my mill using pulleys and it works like a champ. For years I lost a very small amount of malt through the sides but just picked it up and put it back in or left it as an insignificant loss. I just had a mechanically suited friend make a very large hopper for me since I mill much more than the average homebrewer. He was able to make the new hopper fit tighter and this has solved the grain ejection issue. Im not complaining about Jacks mill, I routinely tell folks its a great product, Im very satisfied and Jack supports it in an admirable fashion. None the less the side panels do allow some grain ejection to occur, at least in my case. Jim Busch

I had this happen, i also mill far more than the avg homebrewer. i took out the hopper feeds (slants of woodlike stuff), and had grain coming out of the mill under the hopper. i put some cardboard to close off the opening between the mill and the hopper and all is well. my only problem is i wear out the bushings every 3 months, and the gears to drive the rollers (one of them) every 6 months. hey Jack, I will need another gear. seems the bigger gear is the one that is made of a different material and gets beat up. i’ll email you when i’ll need it. Joe

Response:

—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—– What HP should I be using? Is 1/6hp ok? I’ve heard the shaft isn’t quite standard… Any problems fitting the wheels (what’s the word I’m looking for?) on the shaft? What size ratio should I be looking for? Is there a prefered rpm?

I run a 1725 rpm, 1/6 hp at 4:1. It’s a little wimpy when the rollers are adjusted close AND I try to start it with a full hopper. At normal settings or starting with an empty hopper, it’s fine. I’d still use the 1/6 horse before switching to a motor with larger dimentions. I think Jack recommends runnnig the mill at 400 rpm. Try for that. The shaft on the MM is 3/8, but 1/2 inch pulleys are more common. If you can’t get a 3/8 pulley, get a 3/8id x 1/2od bushing. http://www.crl.com/www/users/rs/rskinner/ PGP ID=0xB3AC60ED —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—– Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMiOHefGwQNWzrGDtAQGsEQQAl79hAg7mKfMYuNyJbYyvHTRnA9KG90zM 2+NvSDd9Kb2MLWbyAbexzSvs4hF/n++MUOZuhPkt5xdrcnZIeElgsUImitRi6T04 +tIEkLc103UXqTBOy6V9no/6SRUnPKayAQm/GPQI4LBv4TrKklwI+Kcm+koK/QIr F2TbcVq2ca0= =eLum —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

Response:

It works beautifully with one hitch. Due to the short side panels below the funnel grain gets tossed into the air through the gaps and makes a bit of a mess. 2.) Has anyone else ever experienced this problem of the grains spitting out under the funnel? I figure its pretty common, but Jack Schmidling told me this is the first he’s heard of it. Hard to beleive. Well, like I said, I gave it a week and have not heard a complaint yet. You might try the HBD if you still wish to peruse it.

I have experienced the grain spitting out between the side panels and the rollers. I motorized my mill using pulleys and it works like a champ. For years I lost a very small amount of malt through the sides but just picked it up and put it back in or left it as an insignificant loss. I just had a mechanically suited friend make a very large hopper for me since I mill much more than the average homebrewer. He was able to make the new hopper fit tighter and this has solved the grain ejection issue. Im not complaining about Jacks mill, I routinely tell folks its a great product, Im very satisfied and Jack supports it in an admirable fashion. None the less the side panels do allow some grain ejection to occur, at least in my case. Jim Busch

Response:

I should be receiving my MM *tomorow*! I’m really eager to try it out, but I’ll probably want to motorize it asap. What HP should I be using? Is 1/6hp ok? I’ve heard the shaft isn’t quite standard… Any problems fitting the wheels (what’s the word I’m looking for?) on the shaft? What size ratio should I be looking for? Is there a prefered rpm? Thanks, js. — Jean-Sebastien Morisset, Sc. Unix Administrator Bell Canada, Routing and Trunking Assignments

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I should be receiving my MM *tomorow*! I’m really eager to try it out, but I’ll probably want to motorize it asap. What HP should I be using? Is 1/6hp ok? I’ve heard the shaft isn’t quite standard… Any problems fitting the wheels (what’s the word I’m looking for?) on the shaft? What size ratio should I be looking for? Is there a prefered rpm? Thanks, js. — Jean-Sebastien Morisset, Sc. Unix Administrator Bell Canada, Routing and Trunking Assignments

drill. It work great and doesn’t stress out the motor. As far as RPM, I turn at about 180. Carrick Legrismith Poison Ivy Brewery

Response:

Malt Mill? Yes! I switched from a corona to a MM sometime ago and it has worked flawlessly. Sometimes I’ll crank by hand sometimes by attaching the old sears drill. crush never varies…. always great. hey if a few barleycorns pop out during the crush i just eat em’ they taste good! tas — Terry A. Stinnett, Ph.D. Dept of Applied Behavioral Studies Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 74078-3063

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Contemplating buying a Schmidling Malt Mill? Some sound advise from an experienced user: 1.) Consider the method of powering it. If you expect to do all-grain brewing you can figure on from 17 to 23 lb. of grain per 10 gal.batch. Grinding that much by using the hand crank is tedious to say the least. Perhaps some advice from a longer-time user: use your arms more frequently. I brewed a 10 gallon batch last Saturday, grinding about 18 pounds of malt. Took me in the neighborhood of 12-15 minutes, with a couple of breaks to fiddle with the equipment (I had just installed a larger hopper — a big help). I can only imagine that anyone who would call this project "tedious" never had to grind malt in a Corona, or needs to get some more exercise. Over the years Jack and I have had our differences, but I unreservedly recommend the Maltmill whenever asked. Frankly, grinding 20 pounds of malt is good exercise, not poor design. –Jeff Frane

i’ll double that – i motorized mine several years ago,, big, i mean big hopper 200# plus, grind it in about 40 min , doing the grind twice, for the design and price – i cant beat it, we have almost 100K #pounds run thru it and it is still going – parts have been replaced by jack at no charge – work fine, i will hate the day when i have to spend $3k on a bigger one…… joe

Response:

: : Perhaps some advice from a longer-time user: use your arms more : frequently. : : Over the years Jack and I have had our differences, but I unreservedly : recommend the Maltmill whenever asked. Frankly, grinding 20 pounds of : malt is good exercise, not poor design. : : –Jeff Frane : Got to agree Jeff, BUT, the damn thing plays hell with my tennis elbow (really induced by too many 12 oz. curls). Motorizing the MM was the only alternative left. With a 150RPM gear motor it crushes about 4lbs per minute. It took about 5 minutes to crush a 20# grain bill for my last 10 gal batch. Another very satisfied user, Jay Ward

Response:

I’ll add my name to the chorus of happy MM users. I’ve had one for about four years now, and it 1.) lives up to the statements made by Jack, and 2.) has been trouble free. I’ve motorized mine, added a larger hopper, changed the side panels to plexiglas, installed gear drive, and mounted it on a universal *tool* stand I got at Sears. Next to my glycol-cooled fermenter, it’s the most aesthetically pleasing piece of equipment I own. I’m in the process of opening a brewery, and I plan to use my MM until I get to a volume of grain where it’s no longer time effective.

Just curious as to why you had to change the side panels. Did you have the problem of grain being thrown out between the sides and the hopper? TK

Response:

If one wishes to use a drill on a MM at maximum throughput, it MUST be a GEARED DOWN 1/2" type with a max speed of 600 RPM. These are designed to develop torque at lower speeds and are the proper tool for the job.

I use a geared down 1/2" drill on my Malt Mill. I noticed a few malt kernals shooting out of the gaps in the mill. Since I mill outdoors it doesn’t bother me. Even so, I would use a belt and pully setup if I wasn’t so lazy. Andy Donohue

Response:

breaks to fiddle with the equipment (I had just installed a larger hopper — a big help). I can only imagine that anyone who would call this project "tedious" never had to grind malt in a Corona, or needs to get some more exercise.

Total agreement here. I used to dread grinding malt for a 5 gal batch with my Corona. I used to crush the grain at least one day before brewday so I would have energy left to brew. :^) Now with my Maltmill, I don’t give it a second thought. It’s almost effortless compared to the Corona, once you get it started. All this before you add in the additional 3-4 points/lb better extraction I got after using it. Worth every penny in my book. Rick Seibt

Response:

The brew store where I shop (Beer Unlimited) has a MM that they claim has crushed about 5 tons of grain (not it’s not motorized). It’s still in great shape except for the fact that the crank has stripped where the screw for the wooden handle goes. They assumed it wasn’t under warrenty after such abuse. Maybe it is? Anyway based on this fact I plan on owning one someday. — John Varady Boneyard Brewing Co. "Ale today, Gone tomorrow"

Response:

| The brew store where I shop (Beer Unlimited) has a MM that they claim has | crushed about 5 tons of grain (not it’s not motorized). It’s still in | great shape except for the fact that the crank has stripped where the | screw for the wooden handle goes. They assumed it wasn’t under warrenty | after such abuse. Maybe it is? From what I’ve seen other people say about the warranty service, it probably *is*. | Anyway based on this fact I plan on owning one someday. Yep, you could do a lot worse than a MaltMill. Mine hasn’t crushed anywhere near 5 tons of grain (yet! ), but I’ve been quite pleased. Probably the most trouble-free piece of brewing equipment I own (unless you count the wooden spoon I stir my mash with). — Mike Uchima

Response:

Perhaps some advice from a longer-time user: use your arms more frequently. I brewed a 10 gallon batch last Saturday, grinding about 18 pounds of malt. Took me in the neighborhood of 12-15 minutes, with a couple of breaks to fiddle with the equipment (I had just installed a larger hopper — a big help). I can only imagine that anyone who would call this project "tedious" never had to grind malt in a Corona, or needs to get some more exercise. Over the years Jack and I have had our differences, but I unreservedly recommend the Maltmill whenever asked. Frankly, grinding 20 pounds of malt is good exercise, not poor design. –Jeff Frane

Response:

<much discussion deleted I put a Schmidling Malt Mill thru hell everyday. I an (co) owner of a home brew shop that caters to lots of grain brewers. In fact, almost every batch we sell has at least a pound of grain and it is not unusual for people to buy 30-40 even 50 lbs at a time. In over 2 1/2 years all of this has been crushed by a Schmidling Malt Mill. Many thousands of pounds. The only problem we ever had was that originally we had too strong a motor, running too fast with too small a pulley. The mill crushed fine, but eventually we bent the shaft of one roller (Duh!). I called up Jack, expecting (and willing) to pay for a new roller because we had clearly abused it beyond reason. "Lifetime Warranty" said Jack, and sent us a new one, no charge beyond shipping. When we first openned the shop, the Malt Mill was supposed to be a temporary thing until we could afford a "real" mill like the "real" brewers use. The Malt Mill has worked so well I see no reason to change. Not everybody needs any malt mill, let alone a Schmidling Malt Mill, but there is no doubt about its ruggedness, the quality of the crush and the quality of the warranty. — Fred Waltman Culver City Home Brewing Supply Co. http://www.homebrew.inter.net "You can make better beer than you can buy."

Response:

I gave this one a week to see how it developed before jumping in. My involvement usually has the "Rush Limbau effect" but it seems to have run its course. The prelude to the original posting was an exchange of email with Mr Gates wherein, in spite of my efforts to be helpful and discuss the proper way to motorize a MM, he declared the product a bad design and the designer arrogant and not interested in helping customers. Contemplating buying a Schmidling Malt Mill? Some sound advise from an experienced user:We set one up for our customers two years ago and are

generally pleased with it. We hooked a 1/2 drill in place of the crank. It may be a little fast, but have had no complaints about the grinds. The power the drill supplies keeps the mill from jamming when rocks get to the rollers, yes rock especially the British and Belguim grains.

I respectfully suggest that the mill was not designed to crush rocks. Jamming when it attempts to ingest one is like a fuse in an electrical circuit. They can really chew up the rollers and it is far better to stop the mill and remove the rocks. My solution, short of buying dedicated pulleys, belts and anexpensive motor, was to use a Sears Hand Drill attached to the shorter

of the two shafts to power the mill. Fastening to the longer shaft is difficult due to a flat spot on the shaft. I hope we can presume that you run the drill in the opposite direction than if it were on the normal drive shaft. It works beautifully with one hitch. Due to the short side panels below the funnel grain gets tossed into the air through the gaps and

makes a bit of a mess. The drill does not have sufficient torque to run at a slow enough speed not to stall out when grinding tougher grains like red winter wheat and dextrin malts. Therefore one has to just increase the speed. This works fine actually; the grains don’t suffer in the least for having been ground at

a little faster speed.I agree. That’s a bit like trying to get up a mountain in third gear by holding your foot to the floor a mile before you get to the mountain. The correct way to develop torque with limited hp is to downshift. I have never recommended the use of hand drills on the MM for a whole bunch of reasons but their convenience and availability is just too tempting to resist. I have always suggested the mill not be run over 400 RPM and if there is not enough power at 400 RPM, you must control the feed rate of the malt. If you want to crush carapils with a rechargeable, it will do it but you have to pour it in only as fast as it can crush it. If one wishes to use a drill on a MM at maximum throughput, it MUST be a GEARED DOWN 1/2" type with a max speed of 600 RPM. These are designed to develop torque at lower speeds and are the proper tool for the job. If that constitutes lousy design than I apologize in advance because it will not run on rubber bands either. 2.) Has anyone else ever experienced this problem of the grains spitting out under the funnel? I figure its pretty common, but Jack

Schmidling told me this is the first he’s heard of it. Hard to beleive. Well, like I said, I gave it a week and have not heard a complaint yet. You might try the HBD if you still wish to peruse it. As I like to say, we do not have a single unhappy MM customer and I would hate to have to modify that statement by even one but I can do no more than make recommendations. I offered to make you special panels just to be nice but you chose to go public instead. His solution: turn the mill slower. Right! Or buy the pulleys and motor, but you’re on your own for the design. Right.Yes, the mill spits out a

few kernels but at the speed we are turning the rollers I expect some spitting. Sorry, but I rest my case. 3.) My public suggestion to Jack. You told me you leave the gap most importantly to allow for flexing of the funnel during shipping so that UPS would not destroy the mill during shipment. Jack, why don’t you

just make the side panels 3/8" taller, but leave them off during shipment. Any homebrewer worth his salt could surely figure out how to operate a screw driver and put on two side panels.

Oh how I wish that were true. Did you ever hear of Murphy’s Law? I have had people (one) call to say he really liked the mill but thought the throughput was a bit lower than I promised. Turned out, he was turning the crank backwards. We remove the crank to make it easier to ship. At least once a month. I get a call from someone who snapped the attachment bolt off putting it on. We remove the base to keep it from getting broken during shipment and people are constantly redrilling the holes because they do not line up because of a shipping bump instead of realiging the mill. Sorry, but the less the customer has to do, the less my phone rings. I respectfully suggest that as a hombrewer worth his salt, you have already solved your self-inflicted problem with a bit of duct tape. You made your suggestion and I gave you my reasons for not making a basic design change. I offered to make you a set of panels, why don’t you just say thanks? This way you have no mess and no unusual extra expense to power themill.

Unfortunately, if one does not have the proper equipment, I can not guarantee "no unusual extra expense to power the mill".

So far, I feel like the Maytag repair man. I have heard from no one but you in over a week. js — Visit our WEB pages: Astronomy: http://user.mc.net/arf/

Response:

You may want to read the guarantee again. The last time I read it (which has been awhile) the guarantee was voided if you modifided the maltmill.

This is what it says: This LIFETIME WARRANTY is in no way affected by motorizing the MALTMILL but the manufacturer absolves itself from all liability for personal injury if the mill is modified in any way, including the addition of a motor drive. It’s greedy lawyers we are concerned with not tinkers. js — Visit our WEB pages: Astronomy: http://user.mc.net/arf/

Response:

You may want to read the guarantee again. The last time I read it (which has been awhile) the guarantee was voided if you modifided the maltmill. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’ve got my mash going right now for two batches; one is sorta-altbier, the other is sorta-Kolsch. The big difference in this batch is I’m using about 40% Canadian Honey Malt. The description of the Honey Malt in the Brewers’ Resource catalog sounded delicious, so I picked up 25 lbs. I’m anxious to taste the results. http://www.crl.com/www/users/rs/rskinner/ PGP ID=0xB3AC60ED —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—– Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMgzaEvGwQNWzrGDtAQHjugP8C3rL/sKMWugD0BJWFq/gZf495WhAt/yQ IFo2KU5dpZI5/2qkMImolwkZNSwt8WF/3bNX7SDLn7b0hlFosM0mC7×9GUqeqzag bnKKFpx8YKE+kYePqJqTz4dWwbhf4U73NUzXI9WqoCnjPoR1XhwIuqRcUbS6DFVK YzS9Xl+tXDM= =t3WW —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

Response:

Grinding that much by using the hand crank is tedious to say the least. My solution, short of buying dedicated pulleys, belts and an expensive motor, was to use a Sears Hand Drill attached to the shorter of the two the short side panels below the funnel grain gets tossed into the air through the gaps and makes a bit of a mess. The drill does not have sufficient torque to run at a slow enough speed not to stall out when grinding tougher grains like red winter wheat and dextrin malts.

You’re using the wrong tool. You need to use a drill that’s geared to run at a max speed of 700 rpm or so. The drill you have probably has a max speed of around 2700 rpm and, yes, at low speeds you won’t have the torque. I use a Makita 6310 that has a 2 speed transmission. In low gear, I can run it a 200 rpm with no problem at all. Even the occasional pebble in the malt doesn’t phase it. Tony V.

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—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—– They don’t seem to understand that I have neither the talent nor desire to tinker with things mechanical (I’ll write the software to control it, though .

I tried using the software approach for milling my malt. But, the grain kept clogging up my floppy drives!!!!! But seriously folks… BTW, used my new (and long awaited) Schmidling mill for the first time last week. Crushing 10 lbs of grain by hand was pretty easy, and just adds to the satisfying feeling of brewing truly handcrafted beer.

Yup, it’s a way of bonding with the malt :-) I’m not convinced that milling my own makes a noticeable difference in the finished product, but I certainly feel better doing my own. And because of Jack’s rock solid guarantee, I wasn’t reluctant to make modifications to the unit. I’ve got my mash going right now for two batches; one is sorta-altbier, the other is sorta-Kolsch. The big difference in this batch is I’m using about 40% Canadian Honey Malt. The description of the Honey Malt in the Brewers’ Resource catalog sounded delicious, so I picked up 25 lbs. I’m anxious to taste the results. http://www.crl.com/www/users/rs/rskinner/ PGP ID=0xB3AC60ED —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—– Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMgzaEvGwQNWzrGDtAQHjugP8C3rL/sKMWugD0BJWFq/gZf495WhAt/yQ IFo2KU5dpZI5/2qkMImolwkZNSwt8WF/3bNX7SDLn7b0hlFosM0mC7×9GUqeqzag bnKKFpx8YKE+kYePqJqTz4dWwbhf4U73NUzXI9WqoCnjPoR1XhwIuqRcUbS6DFVK YzS9Xl+tXDM= =t3WW —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

Response:

Fitting the mill with a motor and pulleys isn’t as big a deal as you make it out to be. First, scrounge a little 1/6 or 1/4 horse motor. If you can’t find one for free, check the local junk dealer; it shouldn’t be more than a few bucks. Pulleys should run about 5 or six bucks, and add another five bucks for a belt. The cost is negligible compared to the cost of the maltmill.

That’d probably be simple… for an elevator repair guy who restores old machinery in his spare time. I run into this kind of thing with my mechanically-capable brothers all the time– for them it’s easy to throw a few belts, pulleys, motors, etc., together, while I have problems just opening the hood of my car. They don’t seem to understand that I have neither the talent nor desire to tinker with things mechanical (I’ll write the software to control it, though . Some people just want to buy what they need rather than scrounge around and deal with patchwork. (This isn’t meant as a flame, just another point of view from a sympathetic mechanically challenged person). BTW, used my new (and long awaited) Schmidling mill for the first time last week. Crushing 10 lbs of grain by hand was pretty easy, and just adds to the satisfying feeling of brewing truly handcrafted beer. :-) — Joel Plutchak, Research Programmer, Department of Atmospheric Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—– 2.) Has anyone else ever experienced this problem of the grains spitting out under the funnel? I figure its pretty common, but Jack Schmidling told me this is the first he’s heard of it. Hard to beleive. His solution: turn the mill slower. Right! Or buy the pulleys and motor, but you’re on your own for the design. Right.

Never had any problem with grain spitting out at me. I would have to agree about running the mill slower. If it’s that big of a problem cut a couple slats of wood and silicone them over the gaps. Fitting the mill with a motor and pulleys isn’t as big a deal as you make it out to be. First, scrounge a little 1/6 or 1/4 horse motor. If you can’t find one for free, check the local junk dealer; it shouldn’t be more than a few bucks. Pulleys should run about 5 or six bucks, and add another five bucks for a belt. The cost is negligible compared to the cost of the maltmill. The pressboard base that the maltmill comes on is the perfect size to mount a small motor. Place the motor right next to the mill, and bolt it down with a couple 1/4-20’s. If you’re really interested in seeing what I’m trying to describe, I’ll post an image of my setup on my homepage. It’ll be there in an hour or two, as soon as I scan the photo. http://www.crl.com/www/users/rs/rskinner/ PGP ID=0xB3AC60ED —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—– Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMgqrUfGwQNWzrGDtAQGplAQAjVcramo/si/7oOHSWG2wXSMVFWNyVcD4 kt95pWePR7XBDaBMhMDlewMwGy/s1T2e1pL5jWKGrplkJbre8At3pmhsx10+kUkF 4nvyaLD6+0BWDCKWHW4S8x+FCi4ze1l3xuQ60Pyq4Tt6ITHuOMXfO4azJY44qswy cBowL7ZezbE= =0QKq —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

Response:

Contemplating buying a Schmidling Malt Mill? Some sound advise from an experienced user:We set one up for our customers two years ago and are generally pleased

with it. 1.) Consider the method of powering it. If you expect to do all-grain brewing you can figure on from 17 to 23 lb. of grain per 10 gal.batch. Grinding that much by using the hand crank is tedious to say the least.

We hooked a 1/2 drill in place of the crank. It may be a little fast, but have had no complaints about the grinds. The power the drill supplies keeps the mill from jamming when rocks get to the rollers, yes rock especially the British and Belguim grains. Our mill will grind 15lbs of grain in about 3 minutes or so(we extended the hopper so it can hold about 15 lbs of grain. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My solution, short of buying dedicated pulleys, belts and an expensive motor, was to use a Sears Hand Drill attached to the shorter of the two shafts to power the mill. Fastening to the longer shaft is difficult due to a flat spot on the shaft. It works beautifully with one hitch. Due to the short side panels below the funnel grain gets tossed into the air through the gaps and makes a bit of a mess. The drill does not have sufficient torque to run at a slow enough speed not to stall out when grinding tougher grains like red winter wheat and dextrin malts. Therefore one has to just increase the speed. This works fine actually; the grains don’t suffer in the least for having been ground at a little faster speed.I agree. 2.) Has anyone else ever experienced this problem of the grains spitting out under the funnel? I figure its pretty common, but Jack Schmidling told me this is the first he’s heard of it. Hard to beleive. His solution: turn the mill slower. Right! Or buy the pulleys and motor, but you’re on your own for the design. Right.Yes, the mill spits out a few kernels but at the speed we are turning

the rollers I expect some spitting. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 3.) My public suggestion to Jack. You told me you leave the gap most importantly to allow for flexing of the funnel during shipping so that UPS would not destroy the mill during shipment. Jack, why don’t you just make the side panels 3/8" taller, but leave them off during shipment. Any homebrewer worth his salt could surely figure out how to operate a screw driver and put on two side panels. This way you have no mess and no unusual extra expense to power the mill. Mearle Gates

Response:

Contemplating buying a Schmidling Malt Mill? Some sound advise from an experienced user: 1.) Consider the method of powering it. If you expect to do all-grain brewing you can figure on from 17 to 23 lb. of grain per 10 gal.batch. Grinding that much by using the hand crank is tedious to say the least. My solution, short of buying dedicated pulleys, belts and an expensive motor, was to use a Sears Hand Drill attached to the shorter of the two shafts to power the mill. Fastening to the longer shaft is difficult due to a flat spot on the shaft. It works beautifully with one hitch. Due to the short side panels below the funnel grain gets tossed into the air through the gaps and makes a bit of a mess. The drill does not have sufficient torque to run at a slow enough speed not to stall out when grinding tougher grains like red winter wheat and dextrin malts. Therefore one has to just increase the speed. This works fine actually; the grains don’t suffer in the least for having been ground at a little faster speed. 2.) Has anyone else ever experienced this problem of the grains spitting out under the funnel? I figure its pretty common, but Jack Schmidling told me this is the first he’s heard of it. Hard to beleive. His solution: turn the mill slower. Right! Or buy the pulleys and motor, but you’re on your own for the design. Right. 3.) My public suggestion to Jack. You told me you leave the gap most importantly to allow for flexing of the funnel during shipping so that UPS would not destroy the mill during shipment. Jack, why don’t you just make the side panels 3/8" taller, but leave them off during shipment. Any homebrewer worth his salt could surely figure out how to operate a screw driver and put on two side panels. This way you have no mess and no unusual extra expense to power the mill. Mearle Gates

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