Homeroasters - Home Roasting Coffee Community » BUILDING A ROASTER » Drum Roasters
Who is here? 1 guest(s)
Page 1 of 7: 1234...7
 Print Thread
Building a drum roaster
Ringo
Top  #1 Print Post
Posted on 01/14/2010 8:42 AM
I am working on a new roaster, looking for helpfull advice. First off I have to fess up I am going to cheet a little. Took a piece of 8" scedule 40 steel pipe 1 foot long to a local machine shop. For a few hundred dollars he is putting in the shaft, truing up the ends of the drum. Cutting 1/2 inch steel end plates and mounting the drum to end plates with flange bearings. Plasma cutting the dump door and giving me the left over piece. Also putting all stirring vanes in drum, forward and reverse. This machine shop can do anything, offered to build the whole roaster but too steep for my budget. Heat I have planed, two 1 foot long tube heaters made with 3/4 inch schedule 40 pipe. with 50 1/16 holes drilled in each, run on propane @ 20 psi. Not my design coppied from a web site for making smoke house. This is a little worrysome, Will the draft fan blow out the flame on the pipes. Heat imput control will be manual for now, untill I see if it works. Will not have a cooling deck untill I see how it roast. Airfow is another worry, Burners will be under the drum, heating the drum, gasses will flow around the outside of drum to the top of the drum were the induced fan will pull them through the drum into the chaff cyclone.
 
seedlings
Top  #2 Print Post
Posted on 01/14/2010 8:50 AM
Welcome to Homeroasters, Ringo!

Honestly your setup sounds very much like a commercial roaster. You want airflow, in fact pro drum roasters use the airflow to control temperature. More airflow lowers temperature.

Be sure to run out to the machine shop and snap a few photos if they'll allow that!

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
Ringo
Top  #3 Print Post
Posted on 01/14/2010 9:03 AM
This is as much of a copy as I can make it, just smaller. Pictures of roasters insides are hard to find, I found as many as I could and "copyed". Little worried to post many pictures becouse are the roasters patented? Going to get the roaster from the machine shop next week, will take pictures then. These machinest are good old boys, would let anybody in and answer any questions.
 
seedlings
Top  #4 Print Post
Posted on 01/14/2010 9:18 AM
If you're building this for personal use, post pictures! If you're planning to copy a roaster, build 500 units and sell them, then, you might upset someone who owns a patent. As a general rule, I don't think someone can patent a "cylinder with vanes". You'd have to copy angles, placement, rotational speed, metal composition... If you took ideas from here and there and built something, that's called innovation!

CHAD
Edited by seedlings on 01/14/2010 9:20 AM
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
Ringo
Top  #5 Print Post
Posted on 01/14/2010 9:37 AM
Yea, only for me, so pictures coming next week. If I know my personality I will be buiding a bigger one in 6 months. My familly says anything I do I "over do" :|
 
RoasterRob
Top  #6 Print Post
Posted on 01/15/2010 12:27 AM
Hi Ringo

sch40 8" is 8.18mm thick. A roaster in the range you are building would be less than 3mm thick.

Rob vL
NZ
VBM Minimax 2gp, 1gp Reneka Techno, 2 gp la Pavoni Pub, la Cimbali M28, SJ Maz, FB 6kg HM roaster and other stuff
 
Ringo
Top  #7 Print Post
Posted on 01/15/2010 10:31 AM
Ok, picked up my drum today, and overall happy. Drum is centered on shaft very good and the veins do a really good job stirring beans. The are the two most important things. The drum face is a little out of square so I will have to fix that. As drum turns you get an uneven sound. The threaded rod you see is to adjust the gap, if I get the gap small so no beans will fall out drum jams. Machine shop used some galvanized parts, will have to get them off. On the drum, really do not know what grade the pipe is, it came from the scrap pile. It has a 8" ID and a 1/4 wall. This is one off my worries, So much steel in this roaster when I hit 1c and want to slow it down the roast will I be able too. Machine shop used 5/16 plate on the end plates. 3/4 shaft.
Ringo attached the following image:
roaster003.jpg
 
Ringo
Top  #8 Print Post
Posted on 01/15/2010 10:33 AM
Inside
Ringo attached the following image:
roaster002.jpg
 
Ringo
Top  #9 Print Post
Posted on 01/15/2010 10:34 AM
Side
Ringo attached the following image:
roaster004.jpg
 
jerry43
Top  #10 Print Post
Posted on 01/15/2010 4:45 PM
I've yet to build one myself but I would say that you will have a tremendous heat sink with all that thick metal. It is going to take a well designed air system to slow that roaster down once it gets hot. You do need to get the drum face square as you may need to adjust the end plate once it gets hot and the metal expands.

I also would say that the drum rotation speed needs to be fairly high to keep the beans off of that hot drum surface while trying to drop the temp of the roast.
 
John Despres
Top  #11 Print Post
Posted on 01/15/2010 6:13 PM
Typical drum speed is about 60 RPM.
John
Respect the bean.
John Despres
Fresh Roast 8, Gene Cafe, JYTT 1k, Quest M3, Mazzer Mini, Technivorm, various size presses and many more brewers.
 
Web
seedlings
Top  #12 Print Post
Posted on 01/16/2010 11:18 AM
Ringo that looks impressive!:Clap: Thanks for enlightening us! ThumbsUp

I share concerns about the thickness of the wall. That's a lot of steel to perforate if that is needed.

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
Ringo
Top  #13 Print Post
Posted on 01/16/2010 1:13 PM
I do have a fall back plan there, If heat is a problem i will take the drum back to machine shop and have is turned down. I talked to a man who runs a Ambex YM2, he said he thought it would be ok. As I design airflow going to max out possible air flow so after 1st crack turn air too full, my concern is still too much radient heat. My problem today is the tube heaters. Drilled the holes and assembled the venturies and they do not work very well. Blow out easy, hard to regulate. May have to back up and punt here.
 
zena13
Top  #14 Print Post
Posted on 01/18/2010 10:05 AM
Very Impressive !!
I am interested in the burner design. Do you have any pictures or drawings?
 
Ringo
Top  #15 Print Post
Posted on 01/18/2010 1:20 PM
Ok, Think I have the burners working now. Had some bad advice first time around. I used these people http://www.tejass...urners.htm Got the venturi there regulater hose. If you build one trust them not me, seem to be helpful nice folks. I installed 16" long black pipe with end caps. It is 3/4 inch schedule 40 black, do not use galvanized, but stainless would be better. I drilled 50 5/64 holes in each row, with two rows 90 deg to each other. I would get an adjustable presure reducer valve, seems like mine likes 5 psi. 20 pis was origanily recomended-thats way too much. IMHA So now I have two pipes that make one foot of heat. Nice blue flame, you can not see it outside. Must install a needle valve to controll gas, first I used a ball valve- uncontrollabe fire. Use this information at you own risk- this is the first time I ever messed with propane. I do not know any safty codes, I did buy a safty valve and a pilot light so I will not blow up the garage. Trust tejassmokers, what they told me works. Have know idea how many BTU's. I think a little too much.
Edited by seedlings on 01/18/2010 1:33 PM
 
Ringo
Top  #16 Print Post
Posted on 01/18/2010 1:25 PM
Burners
Ringo attached the following image:
p1010006.jpg
 
Ringo
Top  #17 Print Post
Posted on 01/18/2010 1:26 PM
holes, not very straight-but seem to work
Ringo attached the following image:
p1010009.jpg
Edited by Ringo on 01/18/2010 1:27 PM
 
seedlings
Top  #18 Print Post
Posted on 01/18/2010 1:30 PM
I love fire and any device that propels it. Nice work.

How does the safety valve work?

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
Ringo
Top  #19 Print Post
Posted on 01/18/2010 1:56 PM
Its just like on you water heater, Light the pilot hold in the button till the TC heats up then you can light the burner. If the pilot goes out the gas shuts off- I hope:)
 
yamhill
Top  #20 Print Post
Posted on 01/25/2010 3:05 PM
I've been thinking about a roughly similar design, but with a different support structure for the rotating drum so it could support a trier. Did you consider this?
 
Ringo
Top  #21 Print Post
Posted on 01/25/2010 3:45 PM
I will put in a trier, Want to get the roaster turning a full rpm so I can pick the spot. Lot of stuff to fit in the frount of the roaster, going to be tight. I need two temp probes, one bean on enviromental, trier, sight glass, dump door, and the exhaust opening also serves as the opening to add beans. If you look at the picture, the first set of veins are 1 1/4 inchs high and the come all the wat to the frount of the drum, so the beans will dump. The reverse veins do not start for 3 inches, I am going to use that 3 inches for trier and temp probes. just have to stay out of the first 1 1/4 inches from the outside off drum. New pictures coming soon, got a good bit done this weekend. Drum frame is mounted, as soon as I get drum turning will post more.
Edited by Ringo on 01/25/2010 3:52 PM
 
Ringo
Top  #22 Print Post
Posted on 01/31/2010 6:59 PM
Update on the roaster, Been a fight getting the drum to turn without locking up. Had to some design changes, frount and back plates had to be attached. Also had to add more threaded rods to adjust the plates. as you can see in one picture it now runs and gets hot with the propane burners. Next step is drum outer cover and ventilization system.
Ringo attached the following image:
smaller6.jpg
Edited by Ringo on 01/31/2010 7:00 PM
 
Ringo
Top  #23 Print Post
Posted on 01/31/2010 7:03 PM
Back side with air holes cut
Ringo attached the following image:
small3.jpg
Edited by Ringo on 01/31/2010 7:03 PM
 
Ringo
Top  #24 Print Post
Posted on 01/31/2010 7:04 PM
Drum and burner running
Ringo attached the following image:
smaller7.jpg
 
seedlings
Top  #25 Print Post
Posted on 02/01/2010 7:44 AM
Hints of success!

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
Page 1 of 7: 1234...7
Jump to Forum: