Bought a Sorghum Mill

[b116757]

I’ll start restoring it but to be honest it’s in reasonable condition as is. I believe it to be a Cooks model possibly a model 41 I’ll have to do some more research on the model #

 

[b116757]

It’s a cooks model 42A

 

[Buckly]

What are you going to use it for.

 

[b116757]

Surghum I guess tough to say with me but I’ll likely restore it then who knows maybe I’ll take it to the local pioneer harvest festival and squeeze some cane.

 

[fishin coyote]

Now you need a hit and miss motor to hook up to it or at least that’s what my dad and brother would do

 

[rocksnstumps]

Yep, back in the day they didn't guard stuff cause they figured that people were smart enough to figure out "Ohhhh, if I put my hand in there that's gonna leave a mark"

 

[b116757]

Started tearing the mill down this evening had to weld together a gear puller to get the gears pulled off the shafts. My 8” automotive bearing puller wasn’t big enough for these gears. I know one thing I’m going to have buy a new bottle jack that little black one gave up on me right after this photo.

 

[Turkey Creek]

They have an antique threshing/ steam engine gathering place just a couple of miles down the road from my MIL place. Drive by there daily. They press sorghum once a Fall every year at one of their gatherings.

 

[b116757]

I get this mill rebuilt I’ll start tig welding together a stainless batch pan I think I still have several sheets of stainless leftover from some maple syrup pans I made several years ago for my brother.

 

[b116757]

Got it all apart now I’ve got to figure out what to do with the bearings. The old catalog says it originally had bronze bearings. Two of the current bearings are still bronze but someone at some point replaced some of the bearings with Babbit but even those are about worn out again. I’m trying to decide if I should try and replace the bronze or machine UHMW plastic replacement parts either way I may need a machine shop to remove a flange on the main housing that will make my job easier.

 

[b116757]

Those drums are quite heavy and filled with a black sand.

 

[Tree Spud]

Wouldn't UHMW plastic form a low spot from the weight of the shaft if left in one place too long?

 

[b116757]

Wouldn't UHMW plastic form a low spot from the weight of the shaft if left in one place too long?

Perhaps it would deform idk. I’m leaning towards bringing it to a machine shop next week and see what they suggest as a best permanent fix that is reasonable easy to rebuild in the future. There are a couple flanges I may have machined off so simple off the shelf bronze bushings can be installed and easily replaced. This is what I’ll discuss with the machine shop perhaps they have an even better idea that I had not thought of. I’m not necessarily interested in keeping it original I'm looking for functional and easily repairable in the future.

 

[tooln]

Ever think of a hardwood as a bearing. Lots of old farm equipment used then in the day. When I rebuild an old cultipacker that what I used.

 

[MadMadHoosier]

Wouldn't UHMW plastic form a low spot from the weight of the shaft if left in one place too long?

Thordon bearing would last a few lifetimes in that application. we preferred Thordon over bronze in the harsh marine environment. https://thordonbearings.com/?utm_te...3baDfMRAJShXpKJQmrWBUzfkl_-UvV54aAjSxEALw_wcB

 

[b116757]

Ever think of a hardwood as a bearing. Lots of old farm equipment used then in the day. When I rebuild an old cultipacker that what I used.

I did consider using hard maple blocks

 

[T-Max]

Not sure if YouTube is your style, but Keith Rucker has a whole series about repairing and restoring old cane mills. They looked to be similar to what you have there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[b116757]

I’ve watched most of his mill videos the mills he has been rebuilding at least the videos I’ve seen are smaller horse drawn mills mine is a bigger power driven mill not that it matters much. I do suspect the UHMW Bearing blocks he machines are very likely for a power mill but you don’t get to see the mill in that video.

 

[b116757]

Thordon bearing would last a few lifetimes in that application. we preferred Thordon over bronze in the harsh marine environment. https://thordonbearings.com/?utm_term=thordon bearings&utm_campaign=**LP+Branded&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=2071787221&hsa_cam=12656603029&hsa_grp=120631817456&hsa_ad=511308159796&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-1226652079392&hsa_kw=thordon bearings&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsvWrBhC0ARIsAO4E6f9hhNnQbIxj9VvpUiBg8Hq3baDfMRAJShXpKJQmrWBUzfkl_-UvV54aAjSxEALw_wcB

Those look like great bearings but more money than even bronze would cost me. If the couple I seen on eBay where any indication of price for that material.