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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

>> You are a gooberhead.  Grain mills, silly.

Ah, well, and here I was already with a diatribe about Live, the Universe, 
and Everything (and the terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side).

But, grain mills you say.

Let me use two different schemes as examples:

The Blackhawk uses conical burrs and the distance between burrs is 
mechanically fixed by a huge thumbscrew and accompanying locking lever on 
that screw.  
Let's suppose you are going to grind corn into meal.  Set the screw very far 
out to give a wide gap between burrs and run the corn through it.  It should 
just break or crack each kernel.  If they come too unscathed, tighten the 
gap.  
If the mill is overly hard to turn, losen the gap.  

After running the corn through, tighten the gap and run it through again.  
This should break each kernel into very coarse meal like scratch grains for 
chickens.

Then tighten the gap once more and the corn will come out as meal suitable 
for kitchen use.

The mistake is to try to grind the corn in one pass.   Also turning the mill 
with no grain should be nearly silent even on the finest setting.  If closed 
too far, the burrs clatter against one another and wear out.


Second case is a mill like the Corona which has flat burrs.  It operates on a 
slightly different principle.  The fixed burr is spring loaded from springs 
on the two wingnuts that close the gap.    A big thumbscrew fixes the 
*beginning* position of the burrs, but as corn goes through the mill, it 
forces the 
burrs apart against the springs and this force shears off the corn.  The two 
screws that mount the fixed burr must be exactly equally tightened.  If not, 
you 
will see the fixed burr wobble as the crank is truned.  That rakes off the 
outside edge of the burr and is bad.  

Properly adjusted the burrs will just touch when the mill is empty and push 
off each other agaisnt the springs. 

Some versions of the Corona don't have springs but rather mount the fixed 
burr loosely so that  as the gap fills with grain, it is forced apart from 
the 
tolerance of the screws.

If it's hard to turn or makes  a noise when turned empty, it is out of 
adjustment.  If the fixed burr wobbles as it is turned, it is out of 
adjustment.

When using the stone burrs (available from R&R Mills of Uriah Utah) the burrs 
must not touch when the mill is empty.

James