The Country Living Grain Mill, motorized on the cheap

 The country living grain mill is the Cadillac of grain mills. It's only drawbacks are: it’s a fully manual grain mill and it costs $500. After you spent all that money, you really don't wanna spend another $500 for the motorization kit. Well I started searching on the Internet and on YouTube for a cheaper alternative. I found a clip from YouTube's Cincinnatus Again channel using a 12 volt windshield wiper motor mounted directly to the shaft of the grain mill. I tried that, but failed probably because my power supply was rated at only 5 watts. The power supply didn't drive the mill when using a 3" pulley to drive the larger 12" pulley on the mill. I bought a power supply that was rated at 360 Watts for about the same price (amazingly). I mounted the motor on a hinged board about 15" away from the mill, allowing for wobble from an imperfect attachment of the pulley to the motor.

Final result is a kit that runs the mill at 27 RPM, well below 100 RPM, the mill maker's upper limit for keeping the mill from wearing out and for keeping the flour from heating up (and losing nutrient value). Here is a link to the video I made of the motor kit, or view it below.

Parts list:

Motor US$25-40 new at eBay (or amazon). Mine was spec'd for a VW Jetta. Unloaded, it ran at 120 RPM--that speed changes with a load. The motor runs hot to the touch after grinding about a cup of grain.

power supply $21 at Amazon.

v-Belt $8

power cord & plug (from extension cord) $2

Power strip with on/off switch, $6

hinge $2

board $2

wire $2

Motor mount, welded from scrap metal and drilled for the motor, free

3" pulley, $10 from Amazon. Different sizes will work. Anything from 1.5-6" will work fine. Prices vary depending on size and the phase of the moon. 

Tennis obsession and breakthrough?

Someone has commented on a tennis video, “swing fast, not hard.” I dimly recall “liking” this comment two months ago.  I’m only now beginning to swing fast.  Swinging hard–that’s like hitting flatter, hitting into the ball and swinging into the court. I’d strung my racket to 60# hoping to keep balls from flying over the baseline—I’ve begun to swing over the back of the ball, finishing high and catching the racquet over my left shoulders. I thought I was already doing that, but this week it feels different, though I don’t know what it looks like. 

Swinging fast with lower string tension will do what: balls spin more or sail long?

Re the type of strings and the tension of those strings. A full bed of polyester might go “dead" in under ten hours of play. 

Next, does a lower strung racquet have less control?

I restrung the racquets at 50 lb. The Racquettune app on my phone said the stick strung with poly was 43.3# while the one strung with a multifilament read 50#. Weeks later they’re at 38 and 43 lb. Both racquets play very differently from when they were strung at 55-60#. I could put more spin on the ball because it didn’t jump off as quickly and I really felt like the ball was on the strings longer. Am I getting better or is the racquet strung more appropriately for me? 

April 1, 2023.  64° in Vegas yesterday and sunny—tennis with Tom.  I was huffing and puffing all over the court chasing down errant balls. I finally saw Tom, in his sweatsuit, barely breathing more than a hibernating bear. I asked, “why aren’t you winded like I am?” 

Tom: “I’m not moving very much.”

Me (thinking): “Yeah, you have a static ready position on your heels, you don’t split-step, you don’t chase down balls and you look like you’re here to do community service as punishment for some crime.” 

I refrained from cruelly suggesting that he play golf instead of Tennis. 

I watched him as he picked up balls—he was walking pretty slowly.  (The beat of a different drummer?) He was framing 80-90% of his volleys. 

I had theories about those things: He doesn’t want to play with me and only came out because he can’t bear the idea of offending me.  His thyroid has dropped out of gear. He’s still on Standard Time. He had a bad night. He has psychic pain. His joints hurt. Listening to jazz makes people sluggish. He needs a Tony Robbins refresher seminar.  He needs Tennis lessons. He needs golf lessons.  Maybe this is who he is now. 

Mini-tennis anyone?

 Tom loves to hit tennis balls, but no one knows the psychological reason. He doesn’t like or dislike playing points. He has a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face when a ball lands short and bounces a second time or when a ball lands more than two steps away. He’s often said he doesn’t want to play games or sets—he just “wants to rally.“ I’ve sent him links to YouTube videos to help with various aspects of tennis, but he seems to have absorbed very little. “I’ll get better if I practice” he says.

Tom got me interested in tennis in late 2019. I played in junior high school and had fun, but stopped. I couldn’t hit the ball well and I wasn’t having fun. Lessons were expensive then. Now we have dozens of YouTube tennis channels that give out free technique that I can watch many times over. I video myself hitting balls so I can discover what I’m doing or not. 

Tom likes to play mini-tennis for 15-20 minutes and then go right to the baseline rally full court. He says it warms him up and says Joe and I are the only people he knows that will play mini-tennis for two hours. I must have made him do that yesterday for 40-50 minutes. 

Today I said I would skip mini-tennis, because it wasn’t helping my full court rally. I insisted on starting full court. I said, you’re a lot better than I am, so you don’t need that.  After twenty minutes he complained that he wasn’t warmed up. I said it didn’t seem to affect his tendency to start rallies with the ball flying far to either side of me. I offered to stand in the ad court if he’d hit there. (If he saw that as a cruel remark, he didn’t let on). Eventually I relented and we played some mini-tennis.

We each stood 8-10’ from the net and volleyed. After a few exchanges, he asked, “is this supposed to be aggressive?” Me: “it would appear that way if you sit on your heels and don’t split step. I’m just hitting volleys." 

I blandly suggested that he take lessons to at least learn to start a rally from the baseline. He doesn’t want to pay for lessons. I can teach him to do that by using his ability to start rallies from the service line and move him back five feet at a time. 

Tennis Choke

 Tennis with Jennifer, Jay and Jonathan. Jonny said I was moving forward and hitting, that I should have split step and hit the ball from a stable base. Jay  said I didn’t execute my forehand stroke well—swing path and follow through deficient  

I know where my body parts are when hitting. I have anxiety related performance failure. Funny that I only had one double fault while serving, I’m sure because I have total control over the point as server. 

Resolved, practices should include playing points, maybe four by each player. We should then progress to playing games. 

Insanity and learning tennis

Hitting tennis balls with Tom. I said I created a spreadsheet to calculate the lowest percentage of good serves one could hit and still win a game. 31.25% if you only played through one deuce score, and the more deuce scores played in a game the closer one could approach a low of 25%. Tom didn’t comment, if he was listening.  

I pointed out a technique to improve his aim on groundstrokes, which he found helpful. After an hour of hitting,I prepared to leave. I watched as Tom hit over 75% of serves out. 

Me: is your serve improving?

Tom: it could be better

Me: I thought you just liked to knock the felt off the balls.  how would it be better?

Tom:I want a better toss. 

Me: when you have a better toss, does that make anything else better?

Tom: it’ll make my serve more consistent

Me: YouTube has a bunch of great instructions for that. I’ve sent you links before. The tip I gave you today came from YouTube  

Tom: I’ll get better if I just practice

Me, thinking: the definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Me, aloud: okay, see ya later!

Making a DIY Topspin Pro

 Making a diy Topspin Pro for Tom.

The Topspin Pro is a great tool for adding topspin to tennis groundstrokes. I bought one for myself using Ryan Reidy’s affiliate link, but thought I could make a second one from stuff laying around the shop for my brother Tom (a Topspin Bro!). A paint roller handle holds a tennis ball that spins on impact; the handle can swing forward when the ball is struck. The square tube inserts into one leg (a round tube) of a tripod and can be adjusted up or down. 

Materials:

Square 1" aluminum tube 

24" PVC pipe (1.5") that fits over the aluminum tube

3-4"paint roller handle

44" ¾" PVC pipe

Epoxy (Bondo auto body filler, though really stinky, might work)

The tripod section of the stand. The main section is hollow so that it can accept the square tube holding the ball. I'm using 1.5" PVC/ABS pipe because I already have 1" aluminum square tubing that slides right in. 

Making the tripod: make a 3" long x 3" wide x 3" high cardboard box. Cut a hole on each end using the pipe as a template. The hole should be ¼" above the bottom. Cut three sides of the box in half horizontally across the holes and one side. Fold the uncut side at the cut. Mix thickened epoxy and fill the box to halfway up the holes. Use sandpaper or a file to roughen up the surface of the pipe at one end for 5".  Lay the end of the pipe in the box with 1-1.5" sticking out. Fold the uncut side of the box over the tube and tape in place.

For the holes to accommodate the other legs (¾" PVC) of the tripod you can use two coupling joints or one corner joint. Modify the joint angle by cutting and trimming. Target angle is about 45-50 degrees. Use PVC cement to glue the pieces together. 

Above: two coupling joints cut at 22.5° and glued together

I made another cut on the coupling joints to improve the fit of the tripod joint 

The joint will be imbedded in epoxy on top of the large tripod section in the box. Before doing that, use sandpaper to roughen the part of the joint that will be imbedded.

 Add thickened epoxy to near the top of the box. Press in the corner joint at the desired angle (60-65 degrees). 

Above: Imbedded in epoxy are the sockets for the 2nd and 3rd legs of the tripod. The epoxy has graphite mixed in, so its color matches the tube.

A large mass such as seen here will get very hot, and in larger masses, hot enough to combust. I removed it to the front porch, just in case.

Preparing the tripod leg for the ball holder.

That ball holder is an aluminum square tube that fits loosely in the leg.

Sand the inside of the tube at the top for 2-3" down. Tape cardboard spacers to the aluminum tube so it fits snuggly in the tripod leg. 

Next, a few layers of plastic bag go over the ball holder tube.

The  aluminum tube goes back into the large tripod leg with an inch or two of the plastic showing. Next, thickened epoxy goes into the gap between the plastic and the tripod leg. The ball holder tube should remove easily after the epoxy cures, leaving a square hole.

The small tripod legs need weight at the bottom to keep the Topspin Bro from moving after impact. For each leg I made a plastic lined paper sleeve about 8 inches long and about 1.5" square. I filled each with about 250-300g of epoxy. One collapsed into the yogurt container holding it. I advise the use of cardboard, not paper for the mold. Better yet, use a 500 ml disposable water bottle with the top cut off.

The tennis ball:  Wrap a 10" strip of paper around the ball. Mark the strip where it begins to overlap itself. Cut off and discard the part that overlaps. Hold the ends together and cut a notch as seen in the pictures below. Mark the ball with a sharpie. Holding the paper on the ball, center the end notches around the mark. Turn the ball and mark the ball through the center notch.

Above: the strip of paper wrapped around the ball and marked where the end touches.

Above: "X" marks the section to cut away

Above: I located the center by folding the strip in half and marking it. Then I cut a square hole at the fold.

Above: I notched the ends of the strip. Here it encircles a mark on the ball.

Above: This is the center mark. I marked it. To check my work, I turned the paper 90° and found the marks to land within the notches of the paper strip.

Check the locations of the marks by turning the paper 90°. Drill a ¼-5/16” hole at each mark. Find a metal or plastic tube that fits loosely over the business end of a 3-4" paint roller handle. Press the tube through the ball's holes and trim to fit the handle. Slide the ball onto the handle. It should spin easily with minimal wobble. If the handle doesn't come with an endcap to keep the ball in place, drill an undersized hole in a small flat of plastic and push onto the handle.

Noc

Attaching the ball holder to the sliding tube. Fabricating the ball holder bracket. I bent a 6” strip of steel to fit about the ball holder. Holes drilled to permit bolting onto the ball holder. A hole drilled in the handle of the ball holder and bolted to the sliding tube.

Above the ball holder bracket holds the paint roller handle. You could use a couple flat corner braces instead.

Above: flat corner brace:

Spring loading the ball holder. 3/32” shock cord, held in place passively by a bolt on both the sliding tube and there ball holder.

Height adjustment. You can make infinite adjustments with a 12 inch strip of cut inner tube wrapped and knotted around the sliding tube. It slides easily up and down, and prevents the tube from sliding into the leg.

The tripod’s detachable legs. Needed: ¾” PVC pipe and 2 coupling joints;PVC cement; drill/drill bits; 3/32” (or ⅛”) shock cord. Cement a coupling joint to the two PVC tripod legs. Drill a ⅛” (or 3/16”) hole at the top of those legs, starting at 90° to get the hole started and then pointing toward the open end of the coupling. Cut two 20” PVC pieces and insert each into the coupling joints. Start a ⅛” hole 8” below the joint and finish by pointing the drill toward joint. Cut 20”of shock cord. Push one end through the t upper hole and the other end through the lower hole. Pull the PVC leg away from the joint, exposing the ends of the shock cord. Pull the ends of the shock together, stretching the cord. Knot the ends of the cord. Move the knot to the bottom end.

Now that the legs are linked to the tripod, hitting the ball won't cause the legs to fall out.

Below, a picture of the tripod.

Below: the ball holder with shock cord attached

The completed thing

Left hip pain/surgery

I had a surgery date to have my right hip replaced. Then the left hip began to misbehave. On 5/17/2021 constant sharp pain at left hip and knee, pain level 8. Aggravated by walking. Not sensitive to touch. Hip pain, sharp and boring. moderate 5-7. both L,R hip/knee pain awaken me at night

5/21 Ecises (from Pete Egoscue book, "Painfree") done at 0645. Maybe less knee pain. Swim hip pain when backstroking. 2 ES Tylenol at 1300. Exercises not working for hip arthritis.

1500 visit to KP with J Ernst. Internal rotation of femur >>pain hip and knee. Ernst Injected hip bursa >>relief (?) with internal femur rotation. 

2200 Sharp pain in L knee, inferior and lateral to kneecap. ES Tylenol taken. 2220 Cold compress applied to knee.

June 1. Pre-op visit with Dr Darrin Trask. All set for surgery on the 9th. 

June 9. 0610 at the surgery center. Some anxiety (blood pressure of 179/ ) IV start. A few minutes and a walk to the OR.a memory of walking into the OR, getting onto the operating table breathing Oxygen through the mask. Nothing else until I woke up in the recovery room. Surgery done at about 10.  not ready for a short walk - puked up some ginger ale. Back to 30 minute naps until the anesthesia wore off. I asked the nurse about the half life of fentanyl--she reads from her phone "one minute and eighteen minutes" completely confusing me. Finally about 1600, up with the walker. To the bathroom, and then readied for discharge. Then to Lydia's basement to my cot and mattress

. I kept sips of water down and slept until morning. Two hundred micrograms of fentanyl messed me up. Will they use it again next time?.   Fentanyl for outpatient surgery? Not sufentanil, or alfentanil?  

I used the walker for a few days. The hip felt like I'd been punched in the upper thigh, like I had a Charlie horse. Going upstairs on the third post operative day, I felt like that leg was weaker or at least inhibited by a the Charlie horse.  At 5 days I went to Kaiser for PT - Tracy moved me to a cane. I was ready for that .

20 days after the surgery I felt well enough to walk and hit tennis balls, even if the left hip was causing severe pain after and sometimes during. After a few more weeks of this, I began the process of getting my left hip operated. I finally had a surgery date: October 13th.

On the morning of October 13, I went into the surgery center, told the anesthesiologist, Dr Lemoine, that I took a long time to awaken after the first hip surgery. I left the surgery center 3 hours earlier than the first time. Since I slept poorly the night before, I napped a lot. The next day, I used the walker to get around, but just a trekking pole to go upstairs.

On post-op day 4, I walked a quarter mile outside. On post-op day 5, I noticed swelling on my lateral leg and remembered the same swelling after my other hip surgery. On day 6, before getting in the shower I noticed my left calf was a little larger than my right. I squeezed it for 10 seconds and left the imprint of my thumb and index finger. The swelling in the lateral thigh and the calf comes from fluid accumulation because the surgical incision interrupts the lymphatics from that part of the legs--after a week or three the cut lymph vessels find their way back to each other or make new channels (Google "do lymphatics regenerate?"). On day 7, I elevated my leg a few times. I walked around the block - distance 0.4 mi. Somehow, the message hadn't gotten to Kaiser physical therapy that I was having surgery, so I just used the PT worksheet I'd kept from my first operation and did the exercises. 

March 2022. Life is great.I drove to Vegas.  I replaced a reverse osmosis filter in my Moms house. I replaced a dishwasher.  Moving well on the tennis courts. Too well. I pulled a hip flexor muscle and slowed down to let it heal. I played some doubles and won all my service games.