I Refuse to Buy Your $@#! I Make My Own. 

its never about the money , its about the freedom. hate companies that do this

The company might say "well why would you do more than $30 of work when you could buy the thing?" well, company, that's because we don't want YOU to have that $30, you don't deserve it.

I just take the shaft off and put it in the lathe

All that to save $25? It's the principle of it all! And practicing so that I can make something else in the future that may not be available to purchase. Self reliance is extremely valuable to me. Have a great weekend everybody! This build only took me at most 1 hour of labor. Many people seem to think that it took many hours. How long does it take to print a part (5 minutes), attach it to some wax (10 minutes), mix and pour some plaster (10 minutes), put it in the burnout kiln (2 minutes), and pour in metal? I did it in parallel with many other castings which made it more time and energy efficient than if I had done it as a solo project. There are many, MANY ways to work around this problem, some faster and even better. I've been experimenting with lost PLA casting lately, and this was an obvious application of that technique, so that's why I chose this method. With this technique, I can make a part in about 24 hours, faster than I could get it if I ordered it online. There are lots of advantages to having this ability to make custom parts quickly and easily on my farm. Sometimes I need a part that isn't available for sale at all. To address some frequent comments: The shaft is 5/8", so a 1/2" drill will not fit. I wanted to preserve the ability to use the hand crank, so didn't want to butcher the shaft grinding it into a hex. Forging a socket onto it would have worked too. Putting a pipe over the shaft with set screws against the flats would have worked too. I don't have a universal socket, but that probably would work too. A bigger drill chuck, using the lathe chuck, using a grade 8 bolt, welding on a nut...the list goes on. Lots of ways to skin this cat. People have pointed out that this is not a proprietary design, and has been used in the past on antique cranks. I wasn't aware of that, so perhaps the company isn't intentionally trying to gouge the customer, but in that case it's just a poor design. This is not an antique, and motorizing it is obviously going to be a common mod. So why not make a design that facilitates this without money and hassle? Some comment that the handle would wobble without the taper. I disagree. Bicycle cranks don't wobble, are square and would easily accept a socket. So the company either thought this through and decided to keep the antique design so they could sell adapters (as I suspect, they sell them on their website), or they didn't think it through, which makes it a poor design choice for modern times. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the video!

Or use a drill with a large chuck :)

Next step, install a pulley on the shaft and permanently mount an AC motor on the table next to it.

Besides planned obsolescence this is one of the most infuriating practices of modern manufacturing. Not even just creating "proprietary" parts or hardware, but the intentional engineering towards making everything more difficult to work on. The amount of time and effort put into unstandardizing everything, which creates even more time and effort necessary for someone else later (usually the customer) is simply anethema to the human condition. Everything should be getting easier, more standardized, less complicated and requiring less resources

I want to see a harbor freight engine hooked up to that thing.

Just cut off the end of the handle with a grinder and welded on a straight bar

I saw the cross pin and figured that was how they powered it with a motor drive. I would have just taken a 5/8 socket and used a cutoff wheel to grind 2 slots in it and used a 1/4" socket drive adapter to power this.

gator grip socket. been around for decades. Also, sheet metal 1/8" drill 3 holes, file to fit, cut legs, fold back and thread a bolt. Boom

We are just alike. I'll spend way more time making something myself just so I don't have to buy it.

Not exactly a "proprietary" fitting... Every coal stove I've ever worked on uses it for the shaker. Lots of antique small farm machinery uses it too. If you keep an eye out at farm auctions you will probably find a pulley made in 1908 that will slip right on, for a buck, because no millennials know what it is for...

Considering the load , a quality bolt and a socket would do fine .

OR! Or, and just follow me here. That tapered triangular shaft is ALMOST a hex as is. Just disassemble the machine, truss it up in a vertical mill, and take the last 10 mm of the taper down to the same face width on six sides, leaving plenty of meat for the stock handle to grip, while allowing a properly sized hex socket to also be able to grip the last 10 mm, entirely enough for running a power drill on.

While I agree its a 'proprietary' interface and it was a cool project, I see a lot of benefits to the mill manufacturer from a purely technical standpoint. 1. It looks faster and cheaper to machine than either a hex or a square drive 2. Since it removes less material you can have a bigger and stronger internal thread 3. if they test these at the factory, as an automation engineer, I would rather make the machine to attach to their shaft feature than either a hex or a square 4. when the bolt draws the crank handle tight against the end of the drive shaft all play is eliminated because of the taper. This is much more secure-feeling to someone hand cranking than either of the options you proposed.

That definitely qualifies as “go to a LOT of trouble and expense to not pay them 30 bucks”. But it was the right thing to do. Ive never seen investment casting in the home (or barn) before. I used to build molds for lost wax. It was a fun job. Thanks.

Why not make the hex portion of the 3D print the OD of the forward portion of the adapter so that it's much stronger and just use a larger socket driver? Also, from the remains after the hex portion of the 3D print broke off, it looks like the fill setting was very low. Change it to 100%.

I have seen meat grinders use that same type of setup, it is so you can hold the handle tight with just a screwand not tighten it real tight

Honestly, I think the configuration of the shaft is that way because it's cheaper to do three milling operations rather than six. Unfortunate, but not outright nefarious.

I would make this part differently: By forging it. The basic idea is this: You can forge a pipe into a hex socket very easily, just by choosing an appropriate sized pipe, heating it to red, then forging it down over a bolt head of the size you want for the socket. This trick also works for any shape socket, such as those annoying penta sockets used on water meter covers. To apply this trick, you could forge a pipe down over the mill shaft, but if you didn't want to risk the mill, them copy the mill shaft by grinding three tapered flats on a steel shaft of the right diameter. Once you have the pipe socket, you need to adapt this to a drill. This can be done either by forging down the other end of the pipe or by welding on an appropriate stem -- you can figure that out.

Dont Buy, Craft! my wife gets crazy when i say it but loves me when i do it. Great video, subscribed =)

Amazing job! I love your ingenuity & fortitude! Had no idea you could fabricate a part like that!

I applaud the efforts I think it is a great way to incorporate multiple hobbies into a practical and functional use. I have just started 3d printing to make molds for sand castings. Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing

I have a 3/4" 3 jaw chuck drill that would grab right onto that shaft. No fabrication required.

Pee pee poo poo

Quite an interesting solution. I figured you'd just take a file to both sides of the fitting and turn them into hexes what you could put a socket on.

This Is why I love welding. Can just tack weld a nut on. If needed can just break the tack and sand it back to normal.

Nicely done. 👍 Many ways that this could have been done and offering any alternative methods is moot at this point. Ability to make it, is The Point.

I always prefer a non destructive way to accomplish a task or modification to an existing system. You always want the ability to resell or use the old handle. Plus I'm a casting junkie and this is exactly why I want to start casting. To make Perfect tools. Awesome

Nicely done, great video. I'm always interested in ways to be self sufficient (as much as possible), building rather than buying. Adapting this idea further into a drive pulley to attach to a fixed electric motor (not a cordless drill) seems a logical next step... :)

Great solution and a wonderful chance to improve your (already impressive) casting skills. Thanks for sharing!

Corsair uses that tactic. Ended up with a really nice looking pc, but spent 300 USD more on Corsair crap than I planned to.

Nice job on the part. I personally think I would have put 3 bolts in a short piece of pipe equally spaced from each other(or 120 degrees) and then had a shaft welded onto the pipe itself on the center then you can just tighten the screws down to your desired diameter. I hope that makes sense.

Great to see you make the part instead of buying one. Good job

This is great stuff. I don't have any of the equipment you do, but it's interesting to watch you use it. Thanks for the video.

I really thought the brass was just going to sheer off like the PLA. Nice job.

Uses copper -> Metal: Free Only in "people give me metal for free and I don't know what to do with it" world.

absolutely awesome. i can't stand when companies do that either. i just wish more of us had the knowledge and tools to do that too

Nice project with many applications across other specialties. Thanks!

Why wouldn't you just grind the shaft into a different shape? Or could you have modified the handle so that it was just a collar where the outside was a hex/square?

I absolutely love watching the Things you building! The knowledge but yet experimentation that you use and have are awesome!

Alot if work. I've had a similar experience, just welded nut on the end of the shaft, took maybe 2 minutes

As one of the previous comments stated the tapered three flat end of the drive shaft is not proprietary to keep you from connecting to it without buying the company's expensive adapter. The crank handle is a cast part. To keep the cost of the crank handle down, a non locking three flat tapered socket is used to connect the handle to the drive shaft. The taper allows for a less precise socket in the crank handle so it can be used in the "as cast" condition. (Dimensions vary quite a bit from part to part in cast parts. This is generally why you see critical surfaces machined after casing.) With a straight socket the dimensions need to be carefully controlled to get a good fit from shaft to socket. With a non locking taper the socket in the crank handle can slide onto the end of the shaft until it fits snugly when the tapers make contact.

u could just make a hexagonal sleeve to go over instead of using that tiny bit at the end to transfer the torque to clarify what i mean, u could just keep the inner dimensions of the white plastic part and add an hexagonal profile on the outside u just need a large socket and there is ur problem solved at least as far as i can tell over video

Actually , I'm kind of surprised and somwwhat disappointed that you didn't connect a electric motor via a step-down 10/1 gear transmission (and cast and machine the gears and transmission housing yourself - not really that much harder).

Great work John, I really enjoy the casting videos

It works, so well done. I was thinking just a bore to fit shaft and a couple cross holes with set screws to engage flats.

Satisfaction of not succumbing to corporate greed: Priceless.

amazing stuff! Wouldn't be surprised if your build was much more durable than their stupid adapter too.

I like the video, cool project. For anyone who is looking at buying a wheat grinder, this is why I bought the Nazco Nugget. It has a round, keyed shaft that will accept a v-belt pulley, so you can add a motor.

- You got some casting background. Nice casting project with brass alloy. Retired from aero-engine manufacturer. I work with aero investment casting companies for 35 years. In that technology it’s all wax with ceramics shells. You did a great job! - I recently found your channel and I’ve enjoyed “every” video you’ve made. Your explanations are very easy to follow and logical. I look forward to channel

I would like to see a modified 3D model that, instead of having a little hex shaft, put a big hex on the large O/D. That would fit into a large, steel, hex socket and, with adaptors that I'm sure you have, you could then drive it with your drill.

I feel like this has Right to Repair implications, as well. They make a proprietary setup, fine. The part isn't that expensive. But what happens if/when that company decides to stop making that part, for whatever reason. Under current laws, without R2R, they could sue someone for making that part for others.

Interesting and educational approach to solving the problem. Thanks for sharing. At 1:50 there is a clear view of the shaft showing a retaining pin. A pipe that fit over the shaft with notches on one end to fit the pin and a hex bolt welded to the other may work. A lock screw could be added to secure the pipe to the shaft. Of course I don’t have access to a foundry.

Good Job , a challenge you accepted so to speak ! Thanks for sharing !

"I'm not going to tell you the brand but you can figure it out if you really wanted to" *Literally 1 minute later* *Pulls up Amazon page for a Wondermill Wonder Junior Drill Bit adapter* Lol the subtle avoiding lawsuits while still calling out the company.

"I'll do an awful lot of work to not have to." I can't stop laughing.

That is a great result. I would like to have seen the cast hex bar at 1/2" size., that will still fit in a drill and help stand up to that big load.

Salvaged motor and an old bike chain, with a salvaged cog would have worked too. But I love lost PLA casting especially when the results are so satisfying. Bravo.

6:30 Nice, was this scale recommended to You by This Old Tony?

You probably have been told this a few times, but that PLA part would have survived much more torque if it weren't hollow. In addition, increasing the diameter of the hex shaft would also have a great effect on rigidity. Regardless, anisotropy played the biggest part in the failure of the printed component, indicated by the fracture being coplanar with the printed layers. You could have considered printing at an angle, making it where the torsional stress is perpendicular to the printed layers. (I'm not dissing your work - Just pointing it out for anyone with less tools on hand that could benefit with the information)

You had me at "working on my Johnson" I'm now a subscriber and love your content and attitude sir. Cheers

I agree its annoying when companies rig when you buy 1 thing and then realize you have to buy somthing else to make the item functional

And now the reason for the videos about casting from PLA comes into sharp focus. Lol

Not that it's much cheaper, but would a "universal" socket work?

I love how you did this. I would be the exact same way. Just 5 bucks is not what you truly had in it. I mean how much was the lathe, the furnace, the belt sander. These all have a cost. Excellent work on the final piece

My mother told me a saying she learned during the depression when she was a child, Make it work, wear it out, make it do , or do without. Good for you beating them at there on game

I have the same grain mill. I adapted a DC shunt motor to it. It was the wire feed motor from an industrial MIG welder. It has great speed regulation. With rectified 120V power the no load speed is about 100 rpm and with a high load such as grinding corn in the mill the RPMs only drop about 10 or less. You mentioned in the video that putting all the torque through a bolt is risky because it could snap off in the shaft and be a pain to get out. I agree, but that's how I did it. I drilled and tapped the output shaft of the DC motor for the same thread as the grain mill shaft and just attached the two with a stud that was much higher grade than all-thread. I've never had trouble with it. It is extremely handy to be able to just fill the hopper on the grain mill, plug it in, and walk away. Anyway, I like your solution and I agree that 30 dollar adapter is a bit of an insult.

I’m all about the principle of this video. Keep up the good work!

This is the definition of sticking it to the man, I look forward to much more.

Very nice little project! The only modification I would make is having fillets at the point where the hex shaft meets the body to increase strength. Then again, I am barely at the aluminum casting stage, where that is more of an issue, unlike bronze.

Nice video! I realize the point if this was to make a video of casting, but my first thought would have been to get a long bolt and thread it in and put a drill chuck on that.😉

Now you need to make some sort of holder for the drill! Well done and thanks.

We all don’t have smelting equipment but I can make this work with stainless steel and a welder to produce the same adaptor. Many ways to get around BS that confronts you. Good vid.

I understand the frustration when having to fabricate things to get a job done. I also understand time and cost of fabricating. I think the manufacturers price point had that in mind too. Simple solution to this one I think would be to use a Motor Arbor slide it over the shaft and lock it in place. You could even put a pully on it and add an electric motor. Belt driven grinder.

It made that way for strength and tapered for ease of removal, I collect and sell antique versions of your grinder for extra money, they all have that system of holding on the handle or something similar, many of them are over 100 years old.

Nice. Wish more people helped. Actually its amazing on the amount that do.when i was growing up i lost my dad ,back in the 60s, the people of 4 different churchs tried hard to make sure we had food. I dont see that kind of community help as much as back then. But thier still trying. Mind you its not a small community anymore. Great job

A man after my own heart. The only thing I'd have done different is to make that hex shaft a bit larger. It looks small compared to the fitting it's attached too.

The triangle milling into the shaft is standard with most (if not all) hand crank mills. I've got a completely different mill and it's the same profile. If you have a 3/4 drill it will be able to bite it as all chucks are 3-point.

Nicely done. Unless I have something else I have to do I consider my time my own and therefore free. If I actually enjoy what I'm doing I figure I'm getting paid so making something in the shop rather than buying it is both cheaper and more fun, regardless of how long it takes. I had to raise some beams ( 3 beams each 22' long, 8" x 8", still a bit wet so just under 400lbs each) and due to the joinery I had to have them suspended and then join them in air and lower them in place. 6 block and tackle capable of carrying them was going to cost over $1000. Glued up some 3/4:" baltic birch to make wheels, then cut steel housings and made 6 sets of double sheave block and tackle with 4:1 advantage. Fun to do, cheap to make and very satisfying. Majority of the cost was the rope.

I see you & I think alike. Like you, I also prefer making what I need instead of buying it. There's a certain sense of accomplishment and manly pride that comes with making what's needed to solve issues. I just lack the tools. I'd love to have your workshop.

That odd shaped shaft was probably the dream child of marketing and accounting. I think the scheme is called horizontal sales or something like that. I believe my DeWalt drill would fit on it, as it is, because the chuck should grab on the flat side without slipping to much. I am sure not going to melt copper just to make an arbor for that grain grinder.

I did something similar for my flour mill. But instead of all the casting work I just heated up a steel nut of about the right size to bright red and then hammered that shaft into the hole. Then I wanted it connected to an electric motor, so I connected the nut to a pulley, and the oridinal bold backing that held the handle on holdes the pulley on now.

LOL Great hack!! I too am sick of their greedy rip offs!! We have a small farm, I've since learned to blacksmith and I now can fabricate quite a lot of parts and repairs. Anything beyond that i made a homemade foundry to pour steel or aluminum into a sand mold I make then just pour it, grind it to shape and polish it to a brand new appearance in which it is. Salute to the DIY hackers!!

Really neat casting process for small parts.

Great Job. Could you have made a pulley to mount on the back with a set screw and use a small motor and belt set up. I know you could do it. This project was a good deal. Thanks for sharing this.

i would also do the same but since i dont have a furnace i would probably just use 3 small pieces of flat steel and weld them on the outside. some grinding and finishing to make it look better and job done

There is a socket that you can buy. It has steel pins in it that collapse and it conforms to different shapes, allowing you to tighten or loosen a fastener. You can have a socket extension and can fit a drill to that. It may work. When I bought my tool that does that, it came with the socket wrench but that you won't need. It works and is designed to accommodate damaged heads on bolts, etc.

Good work. I would have disassembled the mill and lathed the 3 flats off to say 1/2 inch that would fit in your drill chuck.

I read your extended explanation in the description at the top and agree with it. You can't satisfy everyone, but you can get satisfaction out of beating them out of an intentional design failure just to make you buy their adapter. You know, I don't have all the machinery you have but have managed over the years to make adapters that fix manufacturers' flaws in the design with some basic hand and power tools. I do enjoy watching channels like yours, so keep it up. What bothers me more than anything else is that most people do not think it can be done better. It must be good when it comes in a nice package, right? Failure in design only makes more profit, but it doesn't make for long-term return customers, at least in my case. I have bought coffee pots that didn't last 2 days, and guess what, I don't buy their brand any longer. If it doesn't work or breaks, I can just throw it away and buy another, right? There appears to be no incentive left to be self-sufficient anymore or do repairs on anything. I actually enjoy coming up with solutions to make broken things work as designed or better. I'll take analog over digital any day because it can be fixed easily. I still have two old analog TVs, just in case of an EMP attack fries all circuit boards in modern equipment, and only analog broadcasts are made available in this country. If that never happens, then I have two antiques to sell to a collector in my old age. I also think Japanese-made products are heads and tails above anything made in China, Mexico, Bangladesh, or Korea so I am not against importing well-made products but avoid communist-made products as much as possible. We all know who they are but some just don't let it register. I have a Toyota that is 26 years old and has almost 200,000 miles on it and has yet to give me a mechanical issue. I also have a Chevy and Ford that give me nothing but problems and have half the mileage, but I try to buy American too. I am just not in a hurry to buy the same name brand that gives me trouble again as a replacement. I'm not bitter towards those who can't see solutions or even consider there may be alternatives. I do worry about our future as a country when so many rely on China to do it all for them. China does know how to steal intellectual property though and sell it back to us and make a profit. So good for them, bad for us.

The one that I use has a wheel which replaces the handle and allows the attachment of motor via belt. If you don't want to use a drill and could find a 1/3-1/2 HP motor for cheap, you might try casting a flywheel around the same proprietary fitting that could do the same.] for your grain mill.

"I'll do an awful lot of work to not have to" :D Respect! Tapers do have nice fit and wear characteristics...

It's content like this that makes me become a subscriber.

This is a perfect example of wife dodging, time warping , Misappropriation of date night(s) …. Genius , absolutely the best covert man cave training I’ve found on RU-vid . Love it , only watched once and will wait until 0600 to enlist training and abstract code extraction . Off line opt corn mill*

I filed a hardwood spindle on my self-made apple cider press recently. All that's needed to make that spindle accept a socket is a decent file. Just be slow at the final filing and keep checking the socket fit. 4 sides are plenty. Your eyes see straight and 90°. Make a small, smooth radius around each edge. Done. One hand tool required, and care and a few hours time. That's a nice adapter too tho.

Nicely done. I would have just welded a big nut onto the shaft, but your solution was a lot more elegant.

Plenty of room for a pulley. Another option would have been to turn the shaft to half inch to go directly in the drill chuck. But i get it, casting is fun! Great video.

John, I love that you made this, totally something I would do. I hate companies that do that BS, it's so aggravating and adds unnecessary cost. I get CAT doing it on a piece of equipment (still don't like) but on a freaking hand cranked grain mill?! Absurd. I'm sure you just wanted to cast something, but if a guy wanted to, he could have flat filed the three rounded portions of the shaft to fit a regular socket over. Engaging three flats would likely be enough to drive the grinder. 🍺

Job well done. You lost me at pouring temperature of 2000 degrees. However, I commend you and your efforts. Carry On Sir!