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air roaster
JETROASTER
Top  #76 Print Post
Posted on 10/29/2010 9:23 PM
You've got plenty of space for airflow. Do you need to seal the fan housing (perimeter)and the tube? ....or, are they dead snug? -Scott
 
dja
Top  #77 Print Post
Posted on 10/30/2010 12:30 AM
It is a very close fit between the inside of the tube and the outside diameter of the motor, if it needs sealing a small 1/8" diameter bead of silicone will seal it find. As close as the fit is I don't really think that it will need any sealant. And I plan on having the motor as close to the bottom plate as I can.

there is going to be an aluminum plate on each end of the Blower/Heater section with stainless steel rods holding everything together, the Bottom plate is going to have a 1.5 inch hole bored in it for air intake, if I place the Motor close enough to this plate all I will have to do to seal it is to cut a round peice of closed cell foam and install it into the cavity which will stop air from being drawn back down the tiny space between the motor and the tube.

The pic below shows how much room there is around the motor onthe outlet side, and how much room there is between the tube wall and the motor, not very much!
dja attached the following image:
vc2.jpg
Edited by dja on 10/30/2010 12:49 AM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
JETROASTER
Top  #78 Print Post
Posted on 10/30/2010 8:12 AM
Very nice fit! Good luck with the heat. -Scott
 
allenb
Top  #79 Print Post
Posted on 10/30/2010 9:59 AM
This is starting to look like a factory built production model. With the fit/finish I'm seeing you could probably establish a u-build-it kit like KK did but for fluid bed. Of course you'd have to convert one of the bedrooms into a shipping and receiving department.Grin
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
dja
Top  #80 Print Post
Posted on 10/30/2010 6:31 PM
now there you go trying to turn this into a job, sides my spare bedroom is full of machine tools!. And I been pretty lucky and pretty darn slow with the fit and finish, but it has been fun. Let me think, now where did I put that heater section.
been busy today, hopefully tomorrow I will hook up the motor and see it it will move beans, if the beans dance, the heat is no problem, I think!
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
Unta
Top  #81 Print Post
Posted on 10/30/2010 7:31 PM
heat helps. though shes awfully pretty..nice work david.
sean
Sean Harrington
educate.
 
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dja
Top  #82 Print Post
Posted on 10/31/2010 9:57 PM
Well I got tired of posting pictures so heres a little video if I cn make this thing work

It actually lives, like a baby, it still has to be trained, or tweked as some would say, but yes it doe's live.




[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYlyop7z5vs[/video]


enjoy sorry about the cut and paste.
Edited by seedlings on 11/01/2010 9:39 AM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
dja
Top  #83 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 4:34 AM
Sean: you wanted heat, so i gave it a little. you have to be careful of what you ask for.ThumbsUp
dja attached the following image:
coil-101.jpg
Edited by dja on 11/01/2010 4:35 AM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
dja
Top  #84 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 4:38 AM
Scott the motor that you so kindly provided for me, is nested inside the lower section and provides enough air at 50 volts to hold 3 pounds of green beans hard against the top of the roast chamber.ThumbsUp


And the video doesn't show everything I went thru yesterday getting the heating element to get hot enough to roast coffee.

The last roast that I did I was running at about 12 minutes when I tripped the breaker for the kitchen which is I belive 20 amps, and the router speed control that I wanted to use for the blower would only stay on for a couple minutes at a time, so fan control was strickly Variac at about 20 volts for the fan.

Oh yea for I forget, I enlarged the hole the motor is in by another 1/16 inch for more clearance room around the motor.

And I diffenately need to insulate the heat chamber with some ceramic insulation to stop the heat for wariming up the shell so hot you can't touch it.
dja attached the following image:
vc-motor-101.jpg
Edited by dja on 11/01/2010 4:46 AM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
stoneguard
Top  #85 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 8:13 AM
Very cool video. At first I was worried that your beans were not moving around (only stacking on each other), but the close up showed them progressing up through the middle and down the outside. The beans on the outside at the very bottom did not seem to get circulation, however. Awesome looking machine!
-Phil

Visit my CoffeeStones Roast Profiler
 
JETROASTER
Top  #86 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 8:54 AM
Thanks for the video. I want your weather!
This roaster looks great! The narrow tube provides a bean flow I'm not used to, but the beans look great.
I'm looking forward to the tweaks. -Scott
 
seedlings
Top  #87 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 9:46 AM
What a beautiful beast! David, I'd always thought that the circulation needed to be fluid for coffee to roast evenly, but it looks like you've just proven that wrong! If there's hot air flowing - floating - each bean, then it should get what it needs.

Are you going to cool the beans in the hopper with the heat off?

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
dja
Top  #88 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 9:55 PM
Ok, now you seen it, and your wondering why does it do that. Well I don't know.
Stoneguard; The bean flow in the video isn't exactly correct, I cut up the video I shot while working on the roaster to get what is on Youtube, yes I can make the beans do everything from barely move to slaming 3 pounds at one time against the top of the roast chamber.
Scott; the motor is a beast in this thing, I ran it mostly at about 20 volts by the label on my Variac, noise level is very low as heard in the video, I did nothing to stop any noise and I also had the bottom plate off so that the bottom was completely open.
I need a larger tube to be able to roast large batches (large = 2 pounds) I have had three pounds of green in it and I could probably roast that much but....
Chad; I thank you for all the work that you did on your roaster, some ideas of yours are in this roaster. I plan on drilling a port for a thermal couple into the bean mass tonight, ( no trials till this weekend, work beckons).
Bean cool down in the roaster takes too long, lots of metal = lots of heat to get rid of ).
I have seem beans do all kinds of circulation in this thing, funniest is when they all lift as a mass then start dropping in batches of about a cup each.

I REALLY NEED A 6 INCH od PYREX TUBE BADLY.

Scott; whats the lowes voltage that this motor will take without frying?????

I have just ordered some 1/4 inch thick ceramic fiber paper insulation to wrap the inside of the heater section as it gets too hot to handle, will also probably change it from 4.5 to 5 inch so that it will be same as the motor section.

I hope to do a video of a complete roast of less than fifteen minutes this weekend.

And I am now in the same boat that Char was in a while back, I need some really cheap beans to train this darn thing with before it eats all the beans I have.

And now heres a little snapshot of what I was up to on Saturaday, the pot is full about 20 pounds of 2700 degree molten Cast Iron, needed a little part for my lathe
dja attached the following image:
iron-pour.jpg
Edited by dja on 11/01/2010 9:59 PM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
dja
Top  #89 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 10:10 PM
My thoughts on the roast chamber are to maybe use a coleman lantern globe to have the clear glass part, then use some light weight aluminum tubing to increase the height so that I will have a roast chamber of 6 X 12, this will I think lessen the way that the beans lock up against the tube wall. The only way that I will know is to get some goodies and see what happens.

I am pretty happy with the way that the bottom sections worked out, I can trim some height off down there and maybe some weight = thinner wall tubing.

The motor scared me when it arrived, I just knew it wouldn't be big enough, well its big enough, ITS ACTUALLY WAY BIG but I would rather have it too big instead of just big enough.

Scott. you need something made if I can make it I will. Thanks.

Its kind of ugly right now and its not finished, I just hope I can tweek it so that it will roast with the best of the roasters build on here,

Now wheres that dang roaster build contest.ThumbsUp
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
dja
Top  #90 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 10:14 PM
Unta; you were right it works better with heat in it.
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
RoasterRob
Top  #91 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 10:36 PM
I think the bean flow is because you have too big a holes too close together. Pressure builds up and releases below the plate suddenly. I am guessing you used an off the shelf piece of perf plate. I use a drilled plate, holes about 3.3mm dia, spacing as shown here - http://forum.home...owstart=75
hole centres are 6.7 mm apart, actually rows at 5mm with each hole 9mm spacing rows offset.
Pressure builds up below and can't release in bursts. (Although as the roast progresses it will do it toward the end).
The air has more velocity (you will have to run the VC a little faster) and you get a very smooth bean flow.

Rob vL
NZ

I roast coffee and test iron amongst other things. ;)
Edited by RoasterRob on 11/01/2010 11:10 PM
VBM Minimax 2gp, 1gp Reneka Techno, 2 gp la Pavoni Pub, la Cimbali M28, SJ Maz, FB 6kg HM roaster and other stuff
 
RoasterRob
Top  #92 Print Post
Posted on 11/01/2010 11:18 PM
Check out the bean flow as viewed from the top of my RC in the 1st video.

http://forum.home...rowstart=0

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
 
RoasterRob
Top  #93 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 12:13 AM
As for RC size versus bean load. I found the 4" x 16" RC was maxed at 650 grams, my 6" x 25" is maxed at 2.3 kg. More than this and the beans are coming out of the top of the RC late in the roast. Also more than these weights and the bouncing beans issues comes back toward the end of the roast. There is a thread somewhere in alt.coffee where we discussed this some 8 years ago. only 58516 posts to look thru to find it.

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
 
jerstew
Top  #94 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 1:16 AM
I've been watching this thread since you started, great progress.
The Coleman globes look like a great alternative to the Bake-A-Round. They are also made with Pyrex glass and are about 50% the cost of the bread tube. Bean movement and circulation should be a lot better in one of these.
The one pictured measures 5.25" Tall and 5" Diameter, which gives you a 412.5 in/3 roast chamber.
The Bake-A-Round is still bigger though @ 539 in/3, but much of that tall and skinny volume is unusable.
http://cgi.ebay.c...4cf2c1c46e
i.ebayimg.com/10/!B6J!k6w!Wk~$(KGrHqMOKkUEyO0nijV(BMw(O+Fwt!~~_12.JPG

Have you experimented with tilting that thing with beans in it? Bean movement might improve, if so lets see a video of that.

BTW, I've been wanting to build an air roaster with a Bake-a-Round, and seeing progress on your project has encouraged me. I've Finally gathered up the glass, blower, nichrome coils and some other ebay, Goodwill, and local hardware store bits.

Good Luck,
Jeremy
 
RoasterRob
Top  #95 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 1:34 AM
Found that thread on a.c bout bouncing beans. Ted Simpson built a copy of the Sivitz asymmetrical box roaster and used wire mesh and had problems with BB syndrome. I fluked into the right perf config when i built mine. Never realized till later experimentation what problems there were with too much open area in the perf plate. Also I see from Teds post that he had problems getting the heat high enough at the beginning of the roast when lots of airflow was required to get the beans moving enough.

http://groups.goo...a641159395

Might reread some of the old threads from a.c, there's still some useful info there, back when it was a civil newsgroup.

Rob
VBM Minimax 2gp, 1gp Reneka Techno, 2 gp la Pavoni Pub, la Cimbali M28, SJ Maz, FB 6kg HM roaster and other stuff
 
JETROASTER
Top  #96 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 7:39 AM
I think your on track to transition to a wider RC. My hunch is , you're more than capable of making a step-up flange to accomodate the component Jeremy posted.
Once that's complete, I think your capacity will be increased. if the motor is still overkill, create a bleed-off
valve (before the heat assy) to dump whatever you don't need.
Thanks for the great posts...I'm learning so much through your pain!!
BTW, your freakin' me out with the hot iron!! Where is your leather apron??!! -Scott
 
dja
Top  #97 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 10:37 AM
APRON's thems clothes for girls!

I am leaning towards the Colemans globes, two if em stacked if I can't get an outfit that handles 150 MM BoroSilicate (Pyrex) to email me back with a price, gotta jump on em I guess.

the excess air is easy just turn the speed down no problem unless the motor fries them we gotta do the dump thing.
Have to get the air to spin in the heater chamber so it will take longer to exit and pick up more heat, but my thermal mass is huge in the cone section into the roast chamber so I gotta look at that also. Its just one d"$m thing after another now till I can jerk all the tweek out
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
seedlings
Top  #98 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 12:15 PM
You can use a coleman globe and then use flashing to make a tube of whatever size you like. Maybe put flashing above and below the glass to get the sight right where you want it:

http://homeroaste...post_10037

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
dja
Top  #99 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 6:31 PM
Chad here's a video that I did today, seeing as how I can't get the thing posted in here like its suppose to,

its of the beans after I changed the air inlet.


[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo0dCllKrBA&feature=mfu_in_order&playnext=1&videos=jb0VolbqGYU[/video]
Edited by John Despres on 11/02/2010 8:03 PM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
dja
Top  #100 Print Post
Posted on 11/02/2010 6:33 PM
Oh well, beans are fun to watch enjoy.

Oh yea, if I go the Coleman route I will make a connector sleave for in the middle of two globes instead of using flashing to rig something up.
Edited by dja on 11/02/2010 6:34 PM
I pour Iron and roast Coffee BeansThumbsUp
If life seems normal your not going fast enough Mario Andrette
 
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