After reading a number of good reviews, I gave in and bought this mill. I've started assembling it tonight and I must say I'm not impressed. Instructions are rubbish but I knew that's the case. After opening the box I noticed that one of the hopper panels didn't have the blue foil on and was scratched. Cosmetics, but it's no longer the shiny new toy.
During assembly it turned out one of the tiny nuts had no thread. That's the first time ever I've seen a virgin nut. Quick trip to the garage to thread it and it was sorted. After more fiddling with all those tiny screws I got to the point where I was supposed to attach the hopper to the mill but I couldn't. On one side of the hopper the holes are too high and don't match the mounting holes. Again, I can fix that easy enough just don't feel like I should.
I'd consider sending it back but I have a lot of uncrushed grain now and I'm going to brew this weekend. The instructions say to discard the first 100g of grain. With the amount of oil on it I doubt 100g will be enough. I'll condition the grain and I'm hopping this will not turn into I wish I hadn't bothered thread. Has anyone else had similar experience with that mill?
Bulldog Mill assembly issues
Re: Bulldog Mill assembly issues
Hi I got one 6 months ago a fiddle to put together but well worth it
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Rad
Re: Bulldog Mill assembly issues
Well, let's hope so. I'll know on Sunday. BTW what gap do you have your set to?
Re: Bulldog Mill assembly issues
I set it to 1mm ie credit card thickness not too fine a crush best of luck
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Wonkydonkey
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Re: Bulldog Mill assembly issues
I took my Chinese copy apart, and washed and scrubbed the rollers with washing soda, BUT not the aluminium bits, they went into the hot washing up liquid. Then everything got a good rinse, then went in to the oven on a low temp to dry it. then I reasembled it.
I was very suprised at how much sh!t was on them rollers. I'm glad I did wash them and not just do as the instructions said.
Ps, look at your improved results, you should be hitting 80-85 percent.
I was very suprised at how much sh!t was on them rollers. I'm glad I did wash them and not just do as the instructions said.
Ps, look at your improved results, you should be hitting 80-85 percent.
To Busy To Add,
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Rad
Re: Bulldog Mill assembly issues
I guess I know what I'm doing this evening 
. Main reason for milling my own (other than to nerd out) is to get more consistency. I've had 2 ingredient kits I brought back from holiday that gave me 80+ efficiency after laying in the garage for 4 months and fresh grain from on-line shop I barely got 75.
. Main reason for milling my own (other than to nerd out) is to get more consistency. I've had 2 ingredient kits I brought back from holiday that gave me 80+ efficiency after laying in the garage for 4 months and fresh grain from on-line shop I barely got 75.-
Rad
Re: Bulldog Mill assembly issues
Well, the mill had it's trial run. While I did like the crush a lot, the build quality disappointed even more. I used a feeler gauge to set it to about 1 mill and discovered that the gap in the centre is a bit smaller than on the sides. The difference isn't big enough to worry so I let that one slide.
The mill comes with a drill fitting that's badly skewed. It was impossible to hold mill in place with the drill resting on the table. I ditched the fitting and garbed the spindle directly. This eliminated almost all wobbling. Later it turned out the spindle is made of rather mild steel. My drill manage to cut into it a bit.
There are bright sides too. Milling the grain was a great experience. I could chew all the different grains to see the taste difference. I kept some samples and I'll be looking for them in finished beer. The crushed grain was really fluffy and lautered really well. I might take the gap down to 0.9 mil next time. My efficiency was 80%. Not too bad. I checked the gap after running 5.5kg through it and it was exactly as I set it.
In the end I'll be keeping it. It does the job and I can't be bothered to send it back. If you can look past the quality issues it's good value.
The mill comes with a drill fitting that's badly skewed. It was impossible to hold mill in place with the drill resting on the table. I ditched the fitting and garbed the spindle directly. This eliminated almost all wobbling. Later it turned out the spindle is made of rather mild steel. My drill manage to cut into it a bit.
There are bright sides too. Milling the grain was a great experience. I could chew all the different grains to see the taste difference. I kept some samples and I'll be looking for them in finished beer. The crushed grain was really fluffy and lautered really well. I might take the gap down to 0.9 mil next time. My efficiency was 80%. Not too bad. I checked the gap after running 5.5kg through it and it was exactly as I set it.
In the end I'll be keeping it. It does the job and I can't be bothered to send it back. If you can look past the quality issues it's good value.