R2D2's first roast!

It lives! It's far from done, but I was able to coax an initial roast from R2D2. Here's how it looked during its trial run of 1/2 lb. First results aren't bad. This was a Panama roasted to about City or City+. While the roast looks somewhat uneven in this pic, in reality it was pretty evenly roasted.

Right now I'm using the base only for stirring... and boy, does it stir! Plenty of bean action, and I'd still like to put in a potentiometer or resister/switch to slow it down a bit. The heater is still installed, and I'm not yet sure if I'll need/want to use it.

I initially went with a big, heavy copper wire stirring rod (i.e. knot) but it's noisy as hell scraping against the side.

I've since replaced the copper wire with this thinner steel wire from a whisk. Looks crappy and I haven't tried roasting with it yet, but it's definitely quieter.






Next Steps:

• Install a switch and clean up the wiring
• Test at 1 lb
  
• determine if I need to use the BM heater and if that presents any problems
• Put the exterior shell back on to give it that R2D2 look

R2D2 gets the shaft

When we last left our new roaster, I was needing to extend the turning shaft and make a stirring rod. Fumbling around my workshop and the local h/w store, I think I've come up with something,



I used a brass tube cut to 4 or 5 inches (there's a quarter in the pic for perspective.) Used a file to notch the bottom so that it'll fit over the stirrer in the BM. The stirring rods will be copper wire, which will let me bend them to suit my needs.










Here's how it will fit. The SS bowl will cover all this eventually. I'm going to use a high temp glue to secure the shaft extender.

I'll also put a potentiometer on the switch for the stirrer since it's a bit too fast. Perhaps also one on the heater (or maybe just an on/off switch.)





Going out of town for a few days, so this will have to wait a bit. Not too long, I hope, since my stir crazy's plastic shaft just broke!

Building a new roaster

I've been roasting in an SC/TO for a while, and while it's great, I wish it could roast greater quantities (I start getting uneven roasts after about 13 ounces) and I wish the SC motor was heavier duty.

So, I've taken note of people roasting in bread machines, in particular this great design by Ed. and so when I came across one in Goodwill, well, I just had to...

Meet R2D2, aka the Welbilt Bread Machine.

Now, because I didn't like the pan size (and because I felt like taking things apart) I decide to deconstruct this puppy and see what makes her tick.

Off came her skin and out came her electronics.

Let's lose those silly fuses and thermostats too.






I tossed the small aluminum teflon pan (not pictured) after ripping off the mounting h/w on bottom. I remounted that on a stainless steel mixing bowl with holes drilled in the bottom (pictured.)


I'm leaving the heater in (at least for now) and will mount switches later.






Here's where it stands tonight. I need to get a 4 inch shaft to extend the stirring rod. And I need to build a new stirring rod, as the original came with some sort of plastic coating that I don't trust at 500 degrees.

Put its skin back on and sit a turbo-oven on top, and it'll look like R2D2 wearing a hat. Let's hope it roasts, though.