Grain Mill Part 4 - Hopper

The next order of business for the grain mill was to construct a hopper to hold the pre-milled grain.  I decided on a one-piece folded design made from a scrap stainless steel trash can.

Here I am cutting out the flat pattern with aviation snips, and also punching holes in some of the corners.

Next, most of the bending was done on this brake.  The rest of the bending could easily be done by hand since the material was thin enough.

I secured the hopper together with this double hemmed seam.  This eliminated the need to rivet it together.

A view from the top.  It didn't come out perfectly rectangular, but pretty darn close.

The hopper placed on top of the grain mill.  This was just before I drilled the mounting holes.

Now for what I called the "hopper shields", the pieces which prevent grain from falling through the wrong way.  Using the same trash can stainless, I cut a couple pieces to fit over the gaps.

Then bending an angle and punching holes to clear the hopper mounting screws.

Using the hand Whitney punch for the holes.

Here are the hopper and hopper shields assembled.

Now we're ready for some grain!

GO BACK TO PART 3 -- ASSEMBLY
GO TO PART 5 -- NUT CRACKING WHEEL