06-12-2021, 05:27 AM
I've been wanting to build a muller for a while, had a few bits put aside waiting for the right time. I had to cancel an outback trip due to COVID lockdown so made a start on the muller and I've been spending some time on it over the past week.
The base is a chunk of 12mm plate that came from a clearing sale. Should take a while to wear through that. A geared motor came from a friend who installs medical imaging equipment, think it was off the table lift for an MRI machine or similar. The motor is a flange mount so I bored a suitable hole in the plate to mount it
The output is 600RPM and I'm using a double-reduction belt drive to target about 50RPM in the muller. Cobbled together a countershaft assembly from some channel out of the scrap pile, a pair of flange-mount bearings and 1" shaft
This thing was on the motor that I used for my rotary phase converter, it seems to be cast steel and I've kept it aside for a muller wheel since building the RPC
This is the general arrangement idea with the wheel cut off that casting and the big pipe offcut that will be the body of the muller.
The central hub thingamajig that will have the wheel and scrapers suspended from it was fabricated using another bit of heavy-walled steel pipe that I grabbed from the scrappy for a crucible. It will form an umbrella over it's own hub bearing, I plan to be able to break out my poured moulds straight into the muller so everything has to be protected from sand from above. this is the hub assembly having a keyway cut in the shaper.
I've seen a couple of builds on youtube with a trapdoor in the base for emptying the sand into a bucket; that seems like a better idea than having to tip this thing out considering it will weigh more than me by the time it's finished. I cut an opening in the base plate
then mounted the plate in the mill and beveled the opening
then set the same cutter up in horizontal mode on the frankenmill to bevel the sliding piece
The setup was nice and repeatable so I could test fit and sneak up on the finish width
then round the end and bevel the curve on the belt grinder to close the hole.
Will post more as I make more.
The base is a chunk of 12mm plate that came from a clearing sale. Should take a while to wear through that. A geared motor came from a friend who installs medical imaging equipment, think it was off the table lift for an MRI machine or similar. The motor is a flange mount so I bored a suitable hole in the plate to mount it
The output is 600RPM and I'm using a double-reduction belt drive to target about 50RPM in the muller. Cobbled together a countershaft assembly from some channel out of the scrap pile, a pair of flange-mount bearings and 1" shaft
This thing was on the motor that I used for my rotary phase converter, it seems to be cast steel and I've kept it aside for a muller wheel since building the RPC
This is the general arrangement idea with the wheel cut off that casting and the big pipe offcut that will be the body of the muller.
The central hub thingamajig that will have the wheel and scrapers suspended from it was fabricated using another bit of heavy-walled steel pipe that I grabbed from the scrappy for a crucible. It will form an umbrella over it's own hub bearing, I plan to be able to break out my poured moulds straight into the muller so everything has to be protected from sand from above. this is the hub assembly having a keyway cut in the shaper.
I've seen a couple of builds on youtube with a trapdoor in the base for emptying the sand into a bucket; that seems like a better idea than having to tip this thing out considering it will weigh more than me by the time it's finished. I cut an opening in the base plate
then mounted the plate in the mill and beveled the opening
then set the same cutter up in horizontal mode on the frankenmill to bevel the sliding piece
The setup was nice and repeatable so I could test fit and sneak up on the finish width
then round the end and bevel the curve on the belt grinder to close the hole.
Will post more as I make more.
Lathe (n); a machine tool used in the production of milling machine components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.