My Rig

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: My Rig

I have seen in the past a similar rig made by a CSer
The drive however was a variable speed drill and the roast chamber was an insulated tin
Its on you tube somewhere ??

Still yours is a little neater

KK

[gravity]

Re: My Rig

Thanks KK, Ive enjoyed reading your posts.  It took me nearly two hours to get this %##*?! post up, by the time I took the photos, learnt how to post them, then just when I had it all right, my machine froze up, and I had to do it all again.  I didnt expect anyone to be up reading at this hour, but I guess this is a coffee forum!! ;D

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: My Rig

What can I say but inspiring [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Thats a job well done

KK

[gravity]

Hi Guys,

After first coming across this site 6 mths or so ago, I had my roaster and a vacuum cooler up and running in about a week.  I got the general roaster idea off Youtube, a gut called Porky Fedwell.  Then its been 4 mths of tweaking, including destroying 3 heat guns, 2 vacuum hoses, 2 heat probes.  Ive finally got a rig running for the past couple of months that is reliable and running well.  

The roaster




Main parts:
Stock pot from $2 shop - $17
Window winder motot from auto wreckers - $30
Electrical gear and resistors to slow motor from Dick Smith  - $5
Silicon bake tray to protect probe - $5
Craft wood - Had it in shed
Heat guns - Had one, got ryobi $45 off ebay ( bought 2No.  $20 cheapies from Aldi, one died on its first roast, one caught fire soon after, bought another cheapy that died after a few roasts )
MDF for main body - Had it in shed

It roasts really well I think.  I have roasted up to 1.5 kg green in it and bought it to first crack in around 10minm, although I now usually roast about 1kg green, which is ideal.  I get to first crack in about 8 mins, I then kill the drum heating gun when the heat starts to run away a bit, and move the other gun back until I get about 3 deg/min to second crack.  When finished I hit the stop button when the handle points up, and just tip the whole unit up and into a colander, then into the cooler :

 



Parts
Ceiling fan - Donated by my dad as he had one in the shed
Flowepot - $2 shop - $10
splatter guard - $2 - $2
Draft seal - Hadit in shed



I put this unit together with what I could lay my hands on,  after a look tonight, I was suprised to see it is very similar to some others posted on here.  I originally had a vacuum model, but after upping the roast size to i kg I couldnt cool quick enough, and started having problems with melting hoses etc, so went ceiling fan. This is totally air tight as I weather stripped it, when you dump a full load straight in, it nearly stalls the fan, I usuall just feed it in a bit slower - it cools in 1-2 mins.  Again, I just upend it, and the beans drain through the handle hole into a colander, then bag it.


Id like to thank all the posters on here for the inspiration and ideas, and the coffee is great!!!