My Coffee Roaster is being born!

[jcooke]

This is the birth of my coffee roaster - an 10# RK drum ($150 ebay) powered using an Oriental clutch-brake motor with gearhead (ebay $35), A transformer for the clutch ($5 eay), pillow bearings (ebay $14), a rotisserie  thingamabob (walmart $19) to attach the 1/2" stainless steel bar($9 Metals4U) to the drum , a lovejoy connector ($15 ebay) connecting the bar to the motor. Welded using a $50 MIG welder (craigslist $50)
Note the end plate of the drum is welded to the frame - so the drum does not have to be dismounted to empty it. That also means I can add a sampler and temprature probe for the beans in the drum, and the drum can get fed while it is running and hot.
Ultimately the whole thing will be enclosed using a double layer of stainless steel 20 gauge sheet ($50 ebay).
No idea what to use as a heat source.  Any ideas?

[BoldJava]

Admiring from a distance.  Roast on!

[hankua]

Awesome!!!!

Have you joined the home built roaster forum yet?   http://homeroasters.org/

Not sure about the burners, but putting some kind of air fan on your cabinet would really help a lot with control and chaff removal.

[mp]

Looks great so far!

You probably want something between 1500 to 2000 watts I am thinking.

If you can find a commercial multi group espresso machine lying around and buyable for parts maybe it would have powerful enough heating elements (assuming the ones in the machine still work).

 

[jcooke]

I am considering Gas - I have a 30000 BTU heater from Mr Heater (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200178574_200178574)
Also considering using a bbq infrared heat source (like one of these:http://www.enercotechnicalproducts.com/products.aspx - basically a ceramic plate fed from a propane tank.

Worried about it getting too hot too quickly.

It puts out a lot of infrared heat. RK says this is a 10 pound roaster drum, maybe thats a stretch.

[JW]

Nice Job!!! The IR burner ( Mr Heater) looks like it would work well. A good fan is a must!! Very very nice. Keep us posted on its progress!!

[jcooke]

JW, I understand the fan is used to extract the smoke, and also for cooling. But when in the roast process does it go on? And how will the chaf get out of the drum? does it fall through the holses in the drum? Or will the fan blow it out with the smoke, in which case I need another 2" or so entry point into the drum. And how hard does it blow? LOL. Lots of questions.

[JW]

For cooling you're going to want to dump the beans and cool as quickly as possible. i would set up an external bean cooler. The fan will be used to move hot air through the rotating hot bean mass and remove chaff and smoke. Convection roasting is 80% of the heat transference of solid drum roasting. With a perforated drum even more so.

[JimsJava]

For cooling you're going to want to dump the beans and cool as quickly as possible. i would set up an external bean cooler. The fan will be used to move hot air through the rotating hot bean mass and remove chaff and smoke. Convection roasting is 80% of the heat transference of solid drum roasting. With a perforated drum even more so.

I just posted the details of my new Jim's Java Coffee Bean Cooler that might save you some time on building the bean cooler. The size I made would have NO problem with 10# of smokin' hot coffee beans cooled in 2 minutes or less.

I am very interested to watch your progress and see your final build and results.

You mentioned adding a thermometer and trier. Since the drum is moving, how will that work? Maybe I'm just not following something...

[jcooke]

@jimsjava:
I detached the end plate (the one with the door on it) and welded it to the frame. The drum is now being supported by an axle with 2 internal struts inside the drum. The edge of the drum is still flush with the plate, so the beans do not spill out (not too much anyway). Still working on the details, there is some spillage too becuase this is not a precision engineered drum... working on the details, I will figure it out and let you know how it all goes & post some pics.

[jcooke]

JimsJava, I posted a video (which will make you sea sick, I apologise) of the Determinator in action.
Its at http://youtu.be/MACBixt0wC4

[JimsJava]

Hey, thanks for the video! Now I understand how you can get a thermometer and trier in there. Nice design. Are you going to have the roaster frame on some sort of a pivot or hinge to be able to dump the beans out the front door?

[jcooke]

Jim, yes, I probably will be adding a bivot for this. I have considered using angled fins, line in the hottop and other commercial roasters, but am concerned about the issue with the beans all being pushed up against the one side of the drum, which may result in uneven heating -> uneven roasting. But then the other coffee roasters dont seem to have the problem. Intrigued...

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

looks real good...  good innovations..  I think the best way to set the fins for dumping is like  a cement truck...  you reverse the motor to drive the beans out..  I would put the pivot on the whole thing and play with the reverse fin thing in drum two... 

[jcooke]

Ok, thanks for the push in that direction. I guess I have been avoiding it because the thought of cutting about 6 feet of 20 gauge stainless steel precisely angled fins with little tabs for the rivets has been a bit of a turnoff. Very easy to make a roaster in concept, but the little details require a lot of thought (and reworking lol)