KKTO Home Build

Lacehim

Order some beans from BG. The Harar is uneven and was probably not the best for a first roast. Your always welcome up here, we can iron out the issues and roast the two side by side.

Kelsey

Sounds good - I might see if I can get clear to come up tomorrow.

Koffee_Kosmo

It looks like the roast needed a few more minutes Possibly the bright light of the TO through you off a little While learning and getting used to your roaster, don't be afraid to let a roast run longer and finish it by a visual colour check Both crack stages will emit smoke as an indication of its impending start KK

Kelsey

There was very little smoke at all during the process - only a few wafts. I wonder if my previous 30 minute 'de-chaffing run' had something to do with it? But you're right, the light did throw me off - it made it look much darker than it actually was at the time. I'll definitely let it run longer. In our phone call last night you mentioned (I think) a sealant to help keep the drive shaft straight? My little boy was being a wriggler during our conversation, so I was a little distracted and now I'm not certain - can you advise please?

Koffee_Kosmo

Kelsey wrote:

There was very little smoke at all during the process - only a few wafts. I wonder if my previous 30 minute 'de-chaffing run' had something to do with it? But you're right, the light did throw me off - it made it look much darker than it actually was at the time. I'll definitely let it run longer. In our phone call last night you mentioned (I think) a sealant to help keep the drive shaft straight? My little boy was being a wriggler during our conversation, so I was a little distracted and now I'm not certain - can you advise please?

Permatex High Temp silicone red. Also comes in Copper both are good but copper is little better Temperature range -65

Kelsey

Thanks KK

Kelsey

Just got Borat's sprung agitator blade in the mail - he sent it express post which was just awesome! Thanks mate, much appreciated!

Kelsey

Today the missus, my little boy and I headed up to Lacehim's place for homemade woodfired pizza, beer and coffee roasting. (would make an ideal venue for a social, if Lacehim doesn't mind me proposing that option!) I'd already performed some adjustments to help with the drive shaft alignment and although there's a little more to do in that regard it's performing ok. The most important factor was receiving Borat's spring-modded v1 agitator blade and Lacehim similarly modifying one of the others. Worked a charm. Noise is now massively reduced to the point where I can actually hear the beans and there's no more crunching sound as the beans get caught under the blade. Looks a lot cleaner in operation too. We roasted a blend (which has escaped my addled brain - we had an attempted break-in at my place at 3am this morning, so I'm a little tired right now) that progressed almost perfectly, with only a minor hiccup when a misplaced beer bottle disrupted the wiring and caused the motor to grind to a halt. Fortunately this was in the first few minutes of operation and was sorted quickly. Didn't time it, all up it ran for about 20 minutes and was pulled on R2C. I'm extremely happy with the end result: And here's a quick snippet of the roast in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKktsSUJCu8 Thanks again to Lacehim, KK and Borat for their help with this project - it's been invaluable! I've got a couple of minor tweaks to make and then the roasting station will be setup properly in the garage. Once my BeanGreen order arrives I plan to have a crack at the Java Kalistat as a straight SO.

Koffee_Kosmo

That spring mod on the agitator is so smooth Glad its worked for you as well as I designed it to work Nice looking roast result Kelsey :thumb: The beauty of the KKTO roaster design is its highly tweakable, and once set up the way you want it then it will work flawlessly for years KK

Lacehim

Kelsey, our blend was 40% Brazil Sweet, 35% PNG elephant 25% Indian MM. KK, one thing we did notice is that once in a while the pot with the agitator jumps slightly. Doesn't seem to effect the agitation, the whole top pot moves, the bottom pot doesn't. Very quiet with the springs on, and they work a treat. 🙂 Must remember not to put a beer on top of the wires! Lukcy we where only 2 mins into the roast! :doh: I think there must be a loose wire there somewhere, but I wasn't going to go looking just incase I broke it again! 😉 Thanks for making it a great day Kelsey. Loved meeting your family too.

Kelsey

I reckon it's the MM that gives it that strong flavour. Not unpleasant by any means, but very distinct. I'm going to try to make the connections between the motor, drive socket and drive shaft a bit more secure as there's a lot of play in there at present and I think that's the reason for the odd hop! Michael, we had a great day yesterday, it was so lovely to get the families together, our kids played so nicely. Thanks again for all your help!

Koffee_Kosmo

I am sure others are interested so - I am posting to request an update How is it all going with the roaster KK

Kelsey

I've done very little to improve the driveshaft - drilling out the hole on the stand made enough of an improvement that I'm just going to leave it for now. I have some ideas for my KKTO mkII, when I have the garage and tools to build it - essentially I'd update the driveshaft using a drive extension set and grind down and tap the top to attach the agitator blades. I think this would give a more stable connection to the motor as the existing connector's just a little wobbly. That said, I'm roasting every 10 days or so, weather permitting. No problems at all - so damn easy. I just mix up about 600g of greens, preheat the KKTO at around 50 degrees, thrown in the beans, leave at 50 deg for 5 mins, then crank her up. Usually about 9 - 11 minutes later I hear first crack and then 6 - 8 minutes after that comes 2nd crack. Dump, cool, bag, wait (ok, not really), drink. My wife now believes my home roasted coffee is the best coffee she's had anywhere. She's having a hard time dealing with the DiBella decaf I got her the other day before my BeanGreen order of decaf arrived. So all in all, an unqualified success!! Thanks KK (and Lacehim and Borat and BrettH!). One question tho - what do you reckon the minimum batch size would be without adding bulldog clips or performing other mods?

Koffee_Kosmo

One question tho - what do you reckon the minimum batch size would be without adding bulldog clips or performing other mods?

Should be around 300 grams Do a little dry run experiment - The beans should be picked up by the blade and the wave mass of the beans And beans should not be left on the sides untouched Hope that makes sense KK

Kelsey

Makes perfect sense, thanks KK - about what I thought.

Lacehim

I agree. 300gm, and I can do up to 600gm. After that it's just a bit slower, and rolls into 20mins. I only used the bull dog clips to roast say 100gms for a few siphon brews. 🙂 Glad your having fun Kelsey. I'm happy to help with your MK2, and you know you can always play about in my garage if you need more space/tools.

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