Are you sure that’s not a fanning mill? Those were used to clean the threshed grain and many of them are still around. I’ve got a line a ‘Clipper 2’ model and it has a few extra screens.
The thresher beats the grain off the stalk and then, should, knock the hull from the grain as well. The fanning mill removes the hulls and foreign debris. Getting the grain free of the hull is the big trick, IMO. Especially oats.
What I’m thinking of is a sloping drum with internal ribs or grooves that act as stationary resistance to an internal shaft rotating on the same axis with an array of rubber fingers that strike the ribs and the grain caught between. Gravity would feed the drum (or trough) and exhaust the materials. The ribs would retain the grain just long enough to get the hell beaten out of them before exiting. Sketching ideas is about all I’m doing now because the barn has no heated space to work in yet.
Oh well, sooner or later I’ll get something to do the job. Like you, I’m flailing in the dark, too.
Anything has to be better than using the paddle attachment for my KitchenAid to whack heck out of grain heads to get 'em to release the grain.
/johnny
My question- I have something sitting in my garage that is I suppose 3 feet by 2 feet- close to I suppose four feet tall- need to go look at it since I am not at that building much ever... but it has several different screens available- depending on the one you want. If I recall they are not flat- but sort of rounded. Is that a fanning mill?
I don’t remember where I got it but I remember wishing I had given it to an elderly relative when he was selling all his home grain (small acreage/homestead) equipment.
My grain is pretty much clean before I get it.