My criteria for the base and hopper were the following:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Quality – of course the mill needs to perform at it’s peak<\/li>\n
- Size – they need to pack down small as I don’t have room for a dedicated milling station and sometimes I need to take the mill with me<\/li>\n
- Durability – they need to last a long time<\/li>\n
- Capacity – the hopper needs to be moderately sized so it can hold enough grain that I don’t have to hand feed directly into the rollers but not so big that it makes the setup top heavy<\/li>\n
- Cleanliness – when running the mill I don’t want dust blowing all over the place<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Taking those requirements into account I designed and built the base and hopper that follow.<\/p>\n
![\"Complete](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_025.JPG\" "\\"Complete")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Stowed](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_012.JPG\" "\\"Stowed")
<\/a><\/p>\nTable of Contents<\/h3>\n
- \n
- Page 1 – Overview, Sketch, Parts, Materials and Tools<\/li>\n
- Page 2<\/a> – Procedure, Construction Tips, Base, Hopper, Housing<\/li>\n
- Page 3<\/a> – Assembly, Conclusion, Other Thoughts, FAQ<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Sketch<\/h3>\n
I knew right away that I wanted a setup that would mount to the top of a bucket when in use to minimize airborne dust and would store upside down with the hopper in the bucket. I took some measurements and mocked up something in cardboard. I took those measurements and drew a prototype in SketchUp<\/a>. Here’s what I came up with:<\/p>\n
![\"Sketch\"](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankAndStein_Mill_Cropped.png\" "\\"Sketch\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nParts<\/h3>\n
I’ve broken the project down into three parts. Starting at the bottom there is the round base that covers the bucket and that I bolt the mill to. Moving up there are three rectangular boards that form the housing for the mill to keep the dust from coming out the sides and provide a base for the hopper. At the top is the hopper made of two trapezoidal pieces and two rectangular sides to hold the grain on it’s way to the rollers.<\/p>\n
Materials and Tools<\/h3>\n
To build this base and hopper you will need the following materials:<\/p>\n
- \n
- 2′ x 4′ sheet of 1\/2″ birch plywood (actually you’ll only use 2′ by 2′ of the sheet if you’re careful)<\/li>\n
- a couple dozen #8 x 3\/4″ flat head screws<\/li>\n
- 3 screw on rubber bumper feet<\/li>\n
- 1\/4″-20 x 2 1\/2″ machine screws with matching wing nuts and nuts (x2 to replace the set screws)<\/li>\n
- 5 gallon bucket (though I suppose you could use a 6.5 gallon)<\/li>\n
- the mill and the mounting hardware that came with it (4 x 1\/4″ bolts and washers)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You’ll also need the following tools:<\/p>\n
- \n
- jigsaw with a good blade for cutting plywood<\/li>\n
- 3\/8″ drill<\/li>\n
- cordless screw driver<\/li>\n
- 5\/64″ drill bit (for the #8 screws)<\/li>\n
- countersink drill bit<\/li>\n
- 5\/16″ drill bit (for mill mounting bolts)<\/li>\n
- 5\/8″ drill bit<\/li>\n
- marking knife or Stanley knife<\/li>\n
- pencil<\/li>\n
- 12″ ruler<\/li>\n
- sandpaper and block (120 grit is fine)<\/li>\n
- straight edge<\/li>\n
- framing square<\/li>\n
- miter saw (aka chop saw)<\/li>\n
- clamps to help with assembly (alternatively an extra set of hands will work just as well)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Procedure<\/h3>\n
Construction of the base, hopper, and housing is actually quite simple due to a few simplifying factors. First, the plywood and the mill sides are 1\/2″ thick. Second, I only angle out one pair of sides on the hopper to ensure I don’t have any compound angles to deal with. Finally, all the measurements are fairly easy numbers (no fiddly 64ths, etc.)<\/p>\n
This article assumes you’ve got the Crankandstein 3D mill. The mill measures 6″ wide x 3″ tall x 3 1\/4″ deep on the outside. I’ll generally describe the construction without specific measurements so you should be able to adapt this to other mills if needed.<\/p>\n
Also note that I built my one in a slightly different order than I describe below. As a result some of the pictures below may appear to be out of order. I’ll note it when it happens.<\/p>\n
Construction Tips<\/h4>\n
The following techniques should make building easier and provide higher quality results.<\/p>\n
- \n
- When cutting the plywood use a marking knife to score the outer ply of the plywood along your cutline. Keep your blade on the waste side of your scored line and you’ll end up with nice clean cuts without splintered faces.<\/li>\n
- Pre-drill and counter-sink all screw holes so that the plywood doesn’t split and the screw heads are flush.<\/li>\n
- Sand all cut edges. Hit all edges and corners with the sandpaper as well to knock down sharp edges.<\/li>\n
- Take direct measurements wherever possible. That means holding the wood in the position it needs to be and then marking your cut lines directly rather than using a tape measure to determine measurements. This reduces the chance for errors and saves time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Base<\/h4>\n
Position the bucket upside down and use your pencil to trace the size of the bucket opening. Use your jigsaw to then cut out the circle but cut about 1\/4″ outside the pencil line you drew to ensure there is an overhang when the base is on the bucket.<\/p>\n
![\"Tracing](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_001.JPG\" "\\"Tracing")
<\/a><\/p>\nNext place the assembled mill on the base and center it. Take a few measurements to be sure you’re as close to centered on the base as possible. Then trace the mill sides onto the base. You’ll use this as a guide for cutting a rectangular hole through the base. Drill holes at the four corners of the space between the base sides that you traced. Use your jig saw to cut out the rectangle as such:<\/p>\n
![\"Cutting](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_005.JPG\" "\\"Cutting")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Note that this picture still shows the base as a square sheet but by the time you do get to this step it will be a round base.)<\/p>\n
Finish up squaring off the hole with a few more passes with the jig saw.<\/p>\n
Next attach three of the bumper stops around the base so they’ll fit snuggly to the bucket opening. Do this by spacing them evenly around the circle about 1\/4″ in from the line you traced.<\/p>\n
![\"Attaching](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_011.JPG\" "\\"Attaching")
<\/a><\/p>\nFinally drill 5\/16″ holes in the base so you can mount the mill later on. Use the mill as a guide for locating the holes.<\/p>\n
Hopper<\/h4>\n
Building the hopper is quite easy. Start by cutting the two trapezoidal sides. Start with a rectangle of plywood that’s 8 1\/2″ x 10″. Mark two points on the bottom of the plywood face at 3 1\/4″ and 5 1\/4″. This is the bottom edge of the trapezoid. Connect these points to the respective top corners of the board and then out the side.<\/p>\n
![\"Trapezoid](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_013.JPG\" "\\"Trapezoid")
<\/a><\/p>\nNow for the rectangular sides. Cut a strip across your sheet of plywood 5″ wide. The trick with these sides is that the ends are cut at an angle. That angle needs to match the angle of the corners of the trapezoid pieces. Here’s a great trick to get the angle right. Use the trapezoidal side piece as an angle gauge.<\/p>\n
![\"Setting](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_015.JPG\" "\\"Setting")
<\/a><\/p>\nNow cut the rectangular side pieces to length by taking direct measurements against the trapezoidal pieces for length. Once you’ve done that go ahead and screw the hopper together:<\/p>\n
![\"Assembled](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_016.JPG\" "\\"Assembled")
<\/a><\/p>\nHousing<\/h4>\n
The housing comprises two rectangular sides and a top that has a hole to match the hopper. All three can be made from a strip of 6″ wide plywood cut across your sheet. For the Crankandstein 3D this means two 3″ x 6″ sides and one 4 1\/2″ x 6″ top. Place the hopper on the top trace the hopper’s bottom opening onto the top. As you did with the base hole drill holes at the corners and use your jigsaw to cut out the rectangular hole.<\/p>\n
Drill holes one of the side pieces so that you can put the set screws in to hold the adjustment mechanism in place. You’ll see that the added width of the 1\/2″ plywood means that the original set screws will no longer reach. There’ll be a solution for that later.<\/p>\n
Clamp all the pieces around the mill and screw them together. This ensures that the housing will fit tightly to the mill.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Assembly <\/h4>\n
Now all that’s left is assembling the pieces. Start by lining up the hopper and the housing and screwing them together:<\/p>\n
![\"Attaching](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_017.JPG\" "\\"Attaching")
<\/a><\/p>\nThen place hopper and housing upside down (hopper side down) and place the mill in the housing. Line up the base and attach the base to the mill using the mounting screws that came with the mill. Finally use screws to attach the base to the housing:<\/p>\n
![\"Attaching](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_010.JPG\" "\\"Attaching")
<\/a><\/p>\nAssemble the replacement set screws and screw them into the mill:
\n![\"Set](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_023.JPG\" "\\"Set")
<\/a><\/p>\nConclusion<\/h3>\n
You’re done! Well, you can do more but you’ve got everything together and it should look like this:<\/p>\n
![\"Finished](\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/\/thumbCrankandstein_Mill_018.JPG\" "\\"Finished")
<\/a><\/p>\nYou can flip it upside down for storage like this:<\/p>\n
- Page 3<\/a> – Assembly, Conclusion, Other Thoughts, FAQ<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n