Grain mills

[Atash Hagmahani]

Look on eBay. There are lots of them. BUT, it is hard to figure out which would have sufficient quality and reliability (probably the more expensive ones!). The advertisements typically do not mention what they are made from. They need to be rugged, smoothly operating, and have a lot of leverage in the crank.

Some types gum up if you try to grind oily seeds, and others not so much. Probably steel burs are better for the latter, although stone is better for grinding flour.

[opsec]

I've done my homework on this. I went with the Country Living grain mill. They are expensive, but you will only ever have to buy one, particularly if you get the repair kit and an extra set of grinding burrs. The steel burrs will produce flour that is fine enough to make bread although it isn't totally powdered like store bought flour. It also comes with a handle extender to get extra leverage, and the fly wheel is designed to accomodate a belt in order to facilitate attachment to an electric motor. You can reduce the price by $50 if you ask them for a blemised one. Blemish means that there is some aesthetic imperfection such as a paint chip or something, but the unit is every bit a functional as a regular one.

countrylivinggrainmills.com/

[Dame]

I purchased a hand crank mill in late spring and by the time it arived, had become too busy with gardening, harvest etc to do much experimenting.  Hand crank only, as the Vita Mix works fine for motorized grinding. 

We found a fan mill last fall and it is now actually here and needs repair.  Fan mills are used to clean grain after it has been threshed.  The unit is a little smaller than a two drawer filing cabinet and is motorized (converted from hand crank).  The addition of a crank would make it non-electric should the need arise.  It needs minor repairs and better housing (needs to be used outside and stored out of the weather).  Perhaps I will store it in the parlor as a conversation piece as it is an antique and made of very attractive hardwood.

It also needs a number of screens of differing sizes depending on the grain(s) being cleaned.  The updated version of screens are stainless and are custom sized by the people who manufacture the modern and very pricy grain cleaners.

Looking at how simple the design is, and this brings me to my reason for going on and on about the mill, is that an even smaller version would do a wonderful job of cleaning home grown seeds whether being saved as next years seed or as part of our stores.  I grow things like mustard, poppy, caraway, corriander, sunflower etc and do not like hand cleaning nor picking bits of other stuff out of my teeth when eating them. 

Is anyone competent enough with wood to want to produce a micro mill for countertop use.

[hancocs]

http://waltonfeed.com/product/1158

This is the one I have "Back to the basics" grain mill. I thought this would be a nice start. But I would have to agree with Opsec. The Country Living grain mill is the best on the maket. They can even be hooked up to an old style  stationary excercise bike. Pedal and grind and get in shape!

[Atash Hagmahani]

$409 is cheap for a grain mill. They come even cheaper but then you have issues for leverage and stability.

Sounds like the grinding burrs only come in steel, not stone, which is probably why this is true:

The steel burrs will produce flour that is fine enough to make bread although it isn't totally powdered like store bought flour.

If you do a slow-rise yeasted bread, it should be fine, but are there any side-effects to a coarse grind for making other things? I wonder how pastries would come out.

They have "The grain-grinding song" on their website, that you can listen to:

http://countrylivinggrainmills.com/GrindingSong.mp3

[Atash Hagmahani]

BTW: this is probably one of the most important survival tools. Kinda hard to process your own grain without one, plus you can grind chicken-food using a grain-mill. Chickens eat seeds, but they can only handle small, relatively soft ones like millet on their own.

[liberty404]

One of the 1950's civil defense survival manuals suggested duct taping together three sections 2 feet long of 1 inch steel water pipe and using it mortar and pestle style to grind grain in a coffee can.  Time-consuming but better than nothing.  For an equipment cache in an unmonitored location, few would recognize it as worth stealing.

At a mideval faire I saw a quern made out of a flat, round stone from a local river.  Sandstone would be easlier to shape, but the harder stones would give off less grit.  The quern stone had a hole in the middle into which the grain was dropped.  A peg in the bottom of the container kept the stone rotating in place.  The stone rested in a wooden trough.  The flour accumulated at the sides after grinding.  Radial 'ray' like grooves in the bottom of the stone improved the grinding. 

[Lady Lilya]

I was looking at the Family Grain Mill for $120.  You can get a motorized base, but that is hand crank.  Supposedly it is amazingly easy to crank.  And it has different blades for oily seeds to make things like nut butters.  But the different blades aren't included in the price.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Well, Messerschmidt is a reputable company, but I would worry about the plastic body. Grain-grinding requires some durability.

The flaker would be a good add-on, although you can make gritty-textured porridge just adjusting the grinding wheels.

[opsec]

If you go with the Country Living mill, remember to get the large stainless steel auger attachment for beans and corn. Not that it's essential, but it's nice to not have to improvise more than necessary.

[Lady Lilya]

Atash, it has a good reputation for being very sturdy. 

[Lady Lilya]

Btw, my friend in Alaska has one, and uses it very heavily.  She's the one who recommended it to me.

[The Future]

You know this has been on my mind for some time.  I know a carpenter with adaptive skills.  Can we reverse engineer this?  I just planted 7 beds of chia for seed and in the long run need a simple way to seperate the seed from the dried flower.  Sunflower and other plants would be useful to.  In the mean time, do you have a link for the small fan mill unit you reccomend?
 

I purchased a hand crank mill in late spring and by the time it arived, had become too busy with gardening, harvest etc to do much experimenting.  Hand crank only, as the Vita Mix works fine for motorized grinding. 

We found a fan mill last fall and it is now actually here and needs repair.  Fan mills are used to clean grain after it has been threshed.  The unit is a little smaller than a two drawer filing cabinet and is motorized (converted from hand crank).  The addition of a crank would make it non-electric should the need arise.  It needs minor repairs and better housing (needs to be used outside and stored out of the weather).  Perhaps I will store it in the parlor as a conversation piece as it is an antique and made of very attractive hardwood.

It also needs a number of screens of differing sizes depending on the grain(s) being cleaned.  The updated version of screens are stainless and are custom sized by the people who manufacture the modern and very pricy grain cleaners.

Looking at how simple the design is, and this brings me to my reason for going on and on about the mill, is that an even smaller version would do a wonderful job of cleaning home grown seeds whether being saved as next years seed or as part of our stores.  I grow things like mustard, poppy, caraway, corriander, sunflower etc and do not like hand cleaning nor picking bits of other stuff out of my teeth when eating them. 

Is anyone competent enough with wood to want to produce a micro mill for countertop use.

[Dame]

fan mill.  my purchase was made by what we call mocassin telegraph up here.  mention in conversation here and there and wait for someone to get back.  took about 5 years but the phone rang and a friend said. bought a homestead and when we moved in there were two hand crank fan mills in one of the outbuildings, we only need one would you like the other one. 

after harvest i can take pics and send them,  the thing looks hand made and is probably cira 1900 from the looks of the design and the wood.  and i would need to look really close but might be able to do scale pattern for the parts.