Grain Mill Part 3 - Assembly

Now that the rollers and housing have been completed, a few more articles need to be attended to before assembly can begin.  Firstly, we'll look at the handle.
I found this big cast iron handle at a garage sale for $2 which seemed like the perfect candidate for this build.  However, it needed a hole tapped in the side for a set screw to secure it to the fixed roller's shaft.

Here is the hole tapped with the screw in.  This was a 7/16" square head set screw.

Then, an adapter was needed to fit the handle onto the shaft diameter.  I made this one from some scrap 3/4" diameter material, boring a hole .590" inside.

Next, a hole was drilled for the set screw to fit through.

The square hole in the handle wasn't exactly 3/4", so I had to file it out to fit the adapter in.  This was fairly easy since the cast iron was soft.

Now for the set screw collars which secure the fixed roller about the bearings.  I turned these in the lathe from some scrap material boring the .590" shaft diameter through them.  The brass one was left over from another project, and merely needed the diameter opened up from 1/2"

Next, tapping a set screw hole in the side.

One more hangup I had before assembly was possible: the bearings for the movable roller had this small step on the inside preventing them from fitting over the shaft all the way.  I had to grind this step down with my "Craftsman Hobby Tool".  Look at those sparks!

Alright! After a thorough scrubbing with acetone, soap and water, the grain mill was ready to assemble!

Looking good!

A closer look.

With the handle on

Another view.

Now for the base.  My original plan was to bolt it to this piece of wood which would then be clamped onto my Dutch oven.  What I later found out was the sheer amount of force required to operate the grain mill made it impossible to hold the Dutch oven still, making it very hard to use.

I then tried clamping the piece of wood onto the edge of my desk, but the torque ended up snapping it in half.

My next recourse was to use the remaining half piece of wood to fabricate a stand with some other blocks of wood.  This can later be clamped or bolted onto a secure surface.

BACK TO PART 2 -- ROLLERS

GO TO PART 4 -- HOPPER