My coffee roaster died

I've been roasting my own beans for about 6 months now in a Whirlypop type roaster. Been getting some great roasts and a pretty good arm work out, too. About two months ago, the gears on my roaster started deteriorating until a week ago when the threads of the top gear stripped completely-- during first crack

I finished the roast with a wooden spoon and lots of stirring. The roast ended up uneven but actually quite drinkable, which was surprising. I spent the better part of the next day at work figuring out what I was going to do to save my little roaster for the next 3 weeks (I hear Santa may be bringing a new roaster ) when it struck: there is a threaded rod that accepts the gear which turns the agitator, why not just stick a nut on it and turn it with a drill?

Cheap fix! The hardware store guy just rolled his eyes when I went in to buy one (1) 5mm nut. He didn't want to ring it up, so he passed it on for free. I guess that's the tradeoff for living out in the sticks: great hardware store guy, poor local coffee selection. I'm beginning to think I got the better end of the deal.

Anyhoo...went back home and roasted up some Honduran beans I had laying around using my cheapo 1/2 hammer drill from Harbor freight. It has a little pot in the handle to turn the current down which makes it crank nice and slow-- 60-70 Hz. The result? The most beautiful, even roasts I've ever gotten out of the whirlypop and no more hand cranking. Even if it is a bit redneck using a huge orange drill at the stove

Sorry for the length post aboout nothing in particular, slow day at the office

Glad things worked out for you.

Unfortunately most roasters, even the pricier one really don't last that long.

You might want to reconsider turning down the voltage on the thing. Electric motors are designed to run within a certain range of current. Usually turning down the rpms is done by gearing. If you start reducing the voltage you can do some serious damage to the motor.

It's certainly not a long term solution. I happened to have this little devil hanging around from a project where I needed a cheapo hammer drill to really beat up on. I easily got my 30 bucks out of it already. A better long term solution would be either a variac to dial the voltage down (just can't see how lowering the voltage should damage the motor, I'm more worried about particles in the smoke) or a step controller of some sorts. I keep a fire extinguisher handy

I figure I need it to make about 5-10 more batches (Christmas gifts). Waaaay cheaper than buying a low speed electric motor, and quicker than finding a junker.

Hey guys, drill motors that are variable speed suffer no ill effects from slowing them down via the built in speed control. They use whats called an AC/DC motor. An AC motor on the other hand can be damaged if the voltage is too low.

Freqz, can you order parts for it? It sounds like an easy fix.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/28/how-to-make-a-popcorn-popper-coffee-roaster/

This might be a cheap solution for you...

I roast with a hot air popcorn popper.

They are cheap and fairly easy to find on ebay.

I have one that still works now and a second one I have not used as a backup.

The cost for the professional roasters, just doesn't make sense to me, when I can get an excellent roast/cup of coffee from my hot air popper!

Sorry for the lateness getting back, I've been out with the holidays. Thankfully, it's no longer an issue since Santa did come through with the Hottop (along with 5lbs of Idido Misty Valley DP). Life is good...very, very good now Less mess, less smoke, and no more hand cranking.

The airpoppers never had a big enough batch for us...I'd have to roast every day and just can't justify that time commitment. 20 pots/week + the occasional espresso (becoming more frequent) really eats the beans.