Bamford Corn Mill - need help/advice please! Disassembly of plates

Hello,

I'm new here and I've just recently picked a Bamford & Sons no.1 mill at auction and hoped for some advice on how to take it apart. Specifically, how to get the grinding plates off/apart. Is that large nut really removable? Mine just won't budge at all and I'm worried about forcing it. One of the smaller bolts has already snapped. Looks like someone has had it off before at some point though - notice the odd square nut there. The thing about the large nut is that it looks like the drive shaft isn't a complete circle (?) see picture where I've circled in red. So then I started worrying thinking maybe it doesn't come off, and that there's some other trick here. I'm using a pipe wrench since a spanner big enough seemed to be £85



Any advice/help would be very much appreciated. I'm thinking these are quite common so someone must have been in a similar situation at some point....!

The condition isn't bad I don't think, needs a good clean - plenty of mould in there! The shaking plate needs some attention also, I think it's worn down so much it doesn't move much.

I paid £155 - no idea if that's good or not? Another at the same auction went for £190 - seemingly same condition.

Many thanks for any assistance.

Best,

Gareth.

Can you take a close up of the big nut as I think that looks like a pin that needs to be removed before you undo the nut.

Maryalice

The nut does come off, well it did on mine anyway. I cant remember if it's a right or left handed thread though.
I've got a few spares so I may have a nut here I'll have a look later and let you know.

Thanks both. Close up pic attached, Maryalice.

The shaft looks different to the one you have Garak... I wonder if someone had modified this somewhat. Maybe welded on?

Also attached a picture of the hopper because it's in great condition and is very nice to look at!

GarethC wrote:Thanks both. Close up pic attached, Maryalice.

The shaft looks different to the one you have Garak... I wonder if someone had modified this somewhat. Maybe welded on?

Mine was not like that. I think for some reason a hole has been drilled between the threaded drive-shaft and the securing nut then the hole filled with a blob of weld, this is why you cannot undo the nut (I don't have a nut by the way so I can't tell you if its right or left handed threads). If it were me I would drill out the blob of weld, if that is indeed what it is, and then try to remove the nut again.

BTW, the square nuts are correct.

Success! Thank you for your help/advice. I started to drill out the nut and then gave it another try with the pipe wrench and it started to move. Turns out that weird looking blob is just part of the nut (see pic) so it's not the shaft at all!

Gareth.

Glad you managed to remove the nut. Are the plates in good condition?

Yes - they don't seem too bad. Not sure quite as good as condition as yours seem to be post your refurb, but will see. They are definitely not worn out though, can easily see the grooves/shapes of the metal.

If you don't mind helping a little more, I have one more query if that's ok please? The wheel on the shaft that shakes the plate to move the corn. Are you able to share a picture of what yours looks like please? Mine only shakes the tray very slightly, so I'm assuming that's because it's worn or perhaps needs to be adjusted in someway. It would be good to see what a working version looks like.

Pic attached to enhance my bad description of the part I'm referring to! I'm still amazed at how heavy this is! Should that circular plate have more shape to it so it pushes the arm further back and forth?

Thanks again for the help.

It does not have to move the mechanism much, the flow rate of the material being ground is more dependant on the angle of the schute than the amount of 'shake'

You can see the 'Shaker' here:



Here is the full video:

Ah amazing! Thank you. I reckon it should be fine then. I assumed that because there was so much play in the rod that it needed to move much further, but looking at the disc it looks the same as yours. Excellent.

Appreciate your help Garak.