Mixing a soldering station and a popcorn machine...

#1: Post by **lassepavoni** » January 20th, 2023, 11:46 am

Looks like I just fell down another rabbit hole. Some discarded stuff and a couple hours in the workshop produced this intimidating contraption. Fan speed is fixed for now, temperature is adjustable between 100°C and ~250°C. Guess I'll have to order some greens to put it through its paces now

#2: Post by **SutterMill** » January 20th, 2023, 12:21 pm

I like this more than I should.

#3: Post by **Randy G.** » January 20th, 2023, 1:43 pm

check the "building a roaster" section of https://forum.homeroasters.org
Lots if folks there that done things like this and a lot of them ever crazier.

#4: Post by **btreichel** » January 21st, 2023, 12:36 am

Needs a 'hurricane lamp glass' for a roast chamber.

January 21st, 2023, 10:59 am

Yeah, definitely plenty of options from now on

January 27th, 2023, 4:07 pm

Roasted my very first batch today. Totally underestimated the power of that little popper though and started out waaay too hot. I put 100g beans in with the fan running already and then switched on the heater. The first tipping and scorch marks didn't take long to appear... Ended up a rather fast and rather dark roast, but it might still be palatable. Some beans ended up chipped, but not totally charred

. I'll let them sit for two days and then try how they taste. In the meantime I'll run the next batch through tomorrow

#7: Post by **btreichel** » January 28th, 2023, 1:14 am

You have to keep the beans moving like they are in a fountain.

January 28th, 2023, 9:32 am

I certainly tried to. The fan was a little weak to accomplish that on its own, so I assisted stirring with a stick.
Now I have rewired the fan and it gives a nice steady swirl to a batch of 100g greens. That's a little on the high side towards the end of the roast, so I should add a speed controller.
The second batch now turned out a lot better then. It went much slower (was too excited to set up a stop watch

) and looks nice and ''dry''. The first batch turned out extremely oily, almost like it was sauteed with a lot of butter... Still got some tipping and chipping though.

Beans are arabica from jinotega, nicaragua.

#9: Post by **btreichel** » January 29th, 2023, 1:14 am

stirring works. also I had my fan 'over boosted" at the beginning. Fan power can drop by around 30% during the roast. The belly in a hurricane lamp can let the beans move to the side and drop back down outside of the main air plume.

February 26th, 2023, 10:58 am

Tidied up the build a little after roasting three batches today. Still dearly missing the fan speed control. Now where did I put those 555's

...