I recently had a less than desirable experience when asking a few questions about a Crankenstein mill. Owner basically accused me of attempting to steal his ideas/design. Um, no, I was simply attempting to, finally, purchase a mill lasting a long time. Had a number of questions. I guess I exceeded their ability/desire to answer a customer’s questions.
Shame too about the experience as I was 99.9% ready to purchase the mill.
Others experiences with Crankenstein customer service. Both pro and con.
I have a Crankandstein mill here. I bought it about three years ago when the rollers on my JSP mill finally wore out and Jack is no longer in business.
I love the mill! I have the three roller version here that has one dynamic roller and two other static rollers that turn when the grain is forced between them.
I actually wanted to get three roller version that has all of the rollers driven like the model a brewery I help out in the winter months in Cocoa, Florida has, but that was a higher cost and this one does the job just fine. Make sure to get the hopper for it as it will hold about 5-6 pounds of grain so you can re-fill the hopper less frequently. I also have mine motorized so I don’t have to manually turn it by hand and get a more consistent crush.
I have only had one problem with the mill in which the top static roller wouldn’t turn after the humidity caused the grain dust to gum up the ends, but a good cleaning with a brush and a hand held vacuum quickly fixed the problem. Obviously, this is not unique to this mill. You will also have to install end plates on the sides of the mill, but I did that with some aluminum sheeting and aluminum tape I got at Lowe’s. It only took about a half hour to cut the sheeting and tape it in place.
Three roller mill or two roller, that is your choice.
Interesting as I also have the JSP malt mill. Purchased another mill only to discover it’s a counterfeit with problems. Was considering the 3 geared Crankenstein until the rude customer service reply.
Not sure why that happened. Maybe someone was having a bad day. They were very cordial when I ordered mine and I had a quick turnaround on my order., but that was about three years ago. Good luck on whatever you decide on.