DIY Winnower

Hi all, I'm looking to build a winnower and have come across a few models posted on this site. I also have the blueprints of another winnower that looks promising but cant figure out one of the steps. The blueprints are attached so if anybody has actually built this model or can tell me the function of the 1" bolt and nut and how to install, it would be much appreciated.
updated by @donny-gagliardi: 04/09/15 07:51:55AM

Donny -

This blueprint is from one of the early iterations of the "sylph" winnower that John Nanci over at Chocolate Alchemy designed. Have you asked on that forum?

BTW, you uploaded a very small thumbnail that's impossible to read.

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

I noticed you posted a question on a DIY seed cleaner winnower that I posted a while ago.

If you are looking to DIY something yourself, I recommend this "visible" design where you can see what's happening, take it apart, and tweak it. I posted some thoughts about how to improve the basic design for use with winnowing cocoa in the comments to the video.

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

Dear Donny,

I have made that winnower a year ago and it still works well. I assume you refer to the piece of pipe you'll need to cut out and use to create a kind of convection in the supply tube? You'll just put it in-side, place look at the photo's that are placed on the site where you got it from. The system works oke for small scale, a constant supply is crucial to obtain a oke efficiency (depends a lot on the cracking of the beans).

Good luck!

Rodney

Hi Donny,

As Clay mentioned, this was designed by John at Chocolate Alchemy. I started a thread over there about it when he first released the design that has a fair amount of discussion about its design and construction (although I'm not sure if your specific question is answered there yet): http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/thread/975/chocolate-alchemy-diy...

Ben

Thanks Ben, I've read that thread and studies the blueprints but couldn't figure out that one part. and you're right, my question has not been answered there yet.

Hi Clay thanks for your response and side notes. I wanted to ask on this forum first as it seems more active at this time.In terms of feeding a steady supply of nibs, i was planning on mounting a cracker (crackenstein?) over top and having the nibs feed directly into the winnower.With regards to preclassifying, is this simply running the nibs through different sized screening?Regarding the baffle, i thought the triangular wood notches running down the main shaft scattered the nib and shell?

Hi Donny,

John talks about the deflector disk in this blog entry:

http://chocolatealchemy.com/2011/07/13/chocolate-alchemys-diy-winnower-part-2/

There's a lot of great info in all of the blog entries and comments about the winnower:

http://chocolatealchemy.com/2011/07/11/chocolate-alchemys-diy-winnower/

http://chocolatealchemy.com/2011/07/13/chocolate-alchemys-diy-winnower-part-2/

http://chocolatealchemy.com/2011/07/17/chocolate-alchemys-diy-winnower-part-3/

http://chocolatealchemy.com/2011/09/02/announcing-the-aether-winnow/

http://chocolatealchemy.com/2011/09/12/the-aether-sylph-winnower/ (this one has tuning instructions)

Ben

Okay I read that post as well but couldn't figure out how the deflector sits in the tube...it looks like it's cut 3/4 of the way....is it then just bent forward?

I'm not sure what you mean by it being cut 3/4 of the way and bent. When you cut the hole in the pvc, you're left with a disk. That is then bolted to the inside of the pvc pipe blocking the bottom of the feeder pipe.

It's not bent (other than the existing curve of the disk). The drawing makes it look like the curve goes top-to-bottom, but really the curve fits into the curve of the pipe, as shown in the photo on that page.

Does that answer your question, or am I still misunderstanding?

Got it now. Thanks for the clarification!

No problem--glad to help!

By strictly following the measurement and plan from the realseeds.co.uk you'll get a perfect wooden winnower on the cheap. The wood material is attractive and the plexiglass front provides a show as well allowing to check what really happens.

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Alain d'Aboville
Fine Chocolates
alek@daboville.com

Looks great! I'd like to see it working if you could film it.

I'd love to see it in action, too! What kind of yield are you getting? Any problems with husks in the nibs or vice versa?

I will put a video this W.E. The good thing about this set-up is that you immediately see what falls in the husks and can adjust the air intake. So, provided you manage a fairly consistent intake of beans from the juicer or manually, the result is really good. I did 8 Kg of roasted beans in 15 min.

My only issue is that I need to stop the vaccum cleaner in order to empty the husks side and that breaks the rhythm. Not sure if/how I could do that.

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Alain d'Aboville
Fine Chocolates
alek@daboville.com

Thanks! I look forward to seeing the video.

One idea would be to hook it straight up to a vortex dust collector on a 5-gallon bucket, replacing the built-in shell collection chamber. I use one for my current winnower and can winnow 30 Kg or more before having to empty it.

That's great, because I ordered the Dust Deputy fromoneida after winnowing to protect my shopvac. You're saying I should instead hook it air-tight to the husk exit, right?

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Alain d'Aboville
Fine Chocolates
alek@daboville.com

Yep, exactly.

You'll need to change the way you control airflow, though. My thinking was to replicate what I'm doing with my winnower, and use a pvc ball valve. So, I would hook a PVC "T" connector to the husk output of the zigzag winnower. One side would go to the dust deputy and the other would point straight up and go to a ball valve. By adjusting the valve, you'd control the airflow through the winnower.

Great idea. I'll let you know with photos when I get it going. I'm not sure how easy it'll be to get a ball valve in Santo Domingo. Maybe Amazon.

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Alain d'Aboville
Fine Chocolates
alek@daboville.com

Very late and this is the whole story of making the chocolate. But it include the winnower in action.

Miracle cacao02

Bye,

 

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Alain d'Aboville
Fine Chocolates
alek@daboville.com