[jptheelder]

The only one I have ever tried is my BC. I cant say for the other ones but I LOVE my BC. I'm sure they all work well but I know the BC dose.

[tom]

I love my adjustable MaltMill. I got the barebones version and made my own base and hopper. The hopper is just an upside down 5 gallon plastic water bottle. I run it with a 1/2" corded drill. No problem. If I can do it, anyone can.
http://schmidling.com/bbordpp.htm

[6thstreet]

I have the BC and it works very well...most of the time.  Like others have stated it stalls during the middle of the crush on occasion.  Usually if I try to compact the grain or reverse the drill for a second it gets going just fine.  After I had it for about a year it just wasn't working at all.  I contacted the company and sent it back in.  They fixed it up very quickly and sent it back to me free of charge.  Really decent customer service.

[treaves]

When you buy a piece of equipment of this caliber, they are all going to be good.  Unless you define the criteria to judge them on, then do a double-blind study, it's pretty much personal preference. I have the low end 3 roller crankandstein, and I think it's wonderful.

I also prefer vi over emacs.

A fair way of deciding is to go with the same on as someone who's opinion you respect.

Enjoy whichever one you get!

[svejk]

As mentioned above, most mill owners seem to be really happy with their mills. I'm no exception as somebody who has owned a JSP for several years. I upgraded to add the gear drive, so both rollers are powered by my fairly heavy-duty Milwaukee half inch drill.  Now I just need to track down an unused fertilizer hopper - what a great idea!

[skyler]

I'm thinking of getting the JSP Model A - and I was wondering, is there an additional part needed to attach it to my AC-powered drill? And, would anyone who owns/owned one recommend against the JSP Model A? Is the Model AAA significantly better? Also, does anyone care to show pics of their mods? I am interested in seeing what the cheapest/easiest way to expand the hopper on the JSP to 15-20 lbs (though I figure just milling 3 lbs at a time isn't really that big of a hassle).

This will be an exciting purchase for me, as all 6 LHBSs over-charge for their base malt compared with good old F.H. Steinbart up in Portland. But there's a place that sells nothing but full sacks of grain who allegedly sells real cheap (and no insane CA sales tax since it's technically food). I may also buy a big sack of medium Crystal so I can brew a simple APA, IPA, or bitter anytime I want.

[svejk]

You don't need any special parts to attach a drill to the Model A - but you do need one with enough power to run at a low speed.  I recommend the Model A because it is the only one that can use the gear drive option.  Even though it is fairly expensive at $50, you will never have any issues where one roller stops and you need to tweak it to get it to start up again.  I'm not sure whether that is common with other mills or not, but it has never happened to me with the gear drive.

Mine doesn't have any mods to speak of so it isn't worth a photo, but if you look at the large hopper adapter on this page:

http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

Mine looks just like that.  The only thing I would do a little differently would be to try to rig up some sort of conical bottom in the bucket.  The instructions have you put a small hole in the bucket to slow down the grain as it goes into the hopper.  The last pound or so of grain needs to be pushed toward the hole, so a conical bottom would be a little more convenient.

[skyler]

I just bit on a Crankandstein 2D with the base and hopper. With the coupon code I got from a facebook ad, it ended up being under $150 with shipping.

[tschmidlin]

Is there any way to search facebook ads, or do we just need to wait for it to show up?

[skyler]

Is there any way to search facebook ads, or do we just need to wait for it to show up?

Idunno, but the code I used was "fbads" and it was 11% off at brewmaster's warehouse.

[tschmidlin]

Nice.  I'll pull the trigger on a mill one of these days.