Building a Pugmill.

Roger Graham, April 2003

[email protected]

Pugmills come in a variety of sizes and flavours. Basically, they all contain some kind of “auger”,
rotating slowly inside a barrel. The auger has blades arranged in a spiral pattern along a stiff strong
shaft, so that it chops and pushes the clay along inside the barrel.

At the input end of the barrel is some kind of hopper where you can feed in lumps of clay to be
squashed and kneaded. At the other end, the barrel tapers suddenly so the exit hole is smaller, about
half the area of the main barrel. Clay emerges from this end in a long cylinder, squashed smoothly
together as it comes out the smaller hole, and more-or-less ready to use.

Top-of-the-range machines have a fairly long barrel divided into two parts, with an extra chamber
half way along between the “entry” end and the “exit” end. An airtight lid fits closely on this
chamber, and a pipe leads off to a vacuum pump which runs all the time when the machine is in use.
The idea is to suck out as much air as possible from the clay as it passes along the barrel, to give a
denser bubble-free product. You pay more (a LOT more) for one of these de-airing machines.

A pugmill without the vacuum chamber is called a “non-de-airing” machine. More like a
Volkswagen than a Cadillac, but not to be despised. The home-made ones described below have
pugged many tonnes of clay , and look like lasting for ever.

So... what’s inside one? Here is a picture of the

smallest (3 inch) machine made by Venco You’ll
notice the large hopper at one end, with a plunger
to push the clay down into it.

The barrel in this model is made of cast

aluminium alloy, and can be separated into two
halves by removing little bolts along its length.
The inside diameter is 110 millimetres, and the
exit diameter 75 mm.

The next picture shows the same machine with

the top half of the barrel removed.

You’ll notice the blades arranged in a

spiral pattern along the shaft. The spiral in
this case has a right-hand twist. Seen from
the exit end, the shaft would have to
rotate clockwise. If you are designing
your own machine, this is something to
keep in mind. Left-handed spiral or right-
handed? It depends on the motor and
drive you select.

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In this view you can see how the exit end of the
Venco barrel tapers to a smaller diameter. Also notice
the shapes of the blades on the auger. There are seven
small blades, postage-stamp size, along the length of
the shaft. But at the end nearest the exit, the last two
blades are different. Bigger, and shaped like a semi-
circle, overlapping in the way that engineers would call
a “twin start” thread.

These two larger blades have a slower pitch (less twist)

than the little blades behind them. The idea is that the
chopped-up clay will pile up behind these larger blades,
to then be slowly forced down the taper and well
squashed together.

If you set out to make your own pugmill, you have to make a decision about the materials to
use.
• Ordinary mild steel is available and cheap, but expect some trouble with rust.
• Cast aluminium alloy seemed like a good idea in the first mill I made, but internal corrosion
in the barrel was such a problem that a year later the machine had to be rebuilt.
• Stainless steel is strongly recommended. Not much different to weld, and not expensive if
you can obtain scrap offcuts of pipe or sheet.

Two Home-Made Pugmills.

This picture shows one version of a home-
made pugmill, at present used for terracotta
clay. The barrel is made from stainless pipe as
you can see. The feed hopper on this model
was made from the same circular pipe as the
barrel, an idea that seemed right at the time.
But in a later version, you’ll notice the hopper
is nearly square. Square is better. Easier to
feed in big chunks of clay cut from a fresh
block.

Here it is again, viewed from the other side,

with the cover removed: Under the cover in
this model there is a 50-to-1 reduction gearbox
obtained from a scrap yard, and a ¼ horsepower
motor from an old washing machine. There’s a
3 inch pulley on the motor, and a similar pulley
on the reduction box, joined by an A-section
vee belt. The motor spins at 1425 rpm
(Australia, 50 hertz supply) so the auger rotates
at (1425/50) = approx 30 rpm. This is really a
bit slow, but that’s how it was left, and it works
very well.

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In this picture there’s a later model. This is

the one that began with aluminium alloy
castings, and had to be rebuilt by reason of
corrosion. The original speed reduction was
retained, with a shaft speed of about 40 rpm
The barrel and the hopper and the tapered
end were remade using stainless steel., and
the original auger altered a bit to fit the
different diameter of stainless pipe. The
hopper this time was made bigger, and
rectangular in shape. Much easier to feed.

The speed reduction in this model

was done using vee belts and pulleys,
then a chain and sprocket drive to the
auger. Pulley A on the motor (3 inch)
drives pulley B (7 inch) on a layshaft.
Then C drives D, on a second layshaft
which also carries a toothed sprocket
E (11 teeth)

On the auger shaft, there’s a 50-tooth

sprocket from a motor cycle back
wheel, driven by chain from sprocket
E. If all this seems a bit complicated,
well, it is. There’s no escape. You
have to come up with some ingenious
way of achieving the necessary speed
reduction, while keeping sufficient
strength in the final drive to the
auger.

The chain-and-sprocket approach has a lot to recommend it. Old motor cycle parts are easy to
come by, and the chain doesn’t require the same tension adjustments that vee belts demand.
The layshaft carrying D and E can be mounted in a fixed position, and adjustment provided
only for the position of the top layshaft and the motor, for belt tensioning.

The Venco machine pictured earlier uses just vee belts and pulleys, That model has a very
small pulley (less than 2 inches, I think) on the motor shaft, driving a pulley of about 8 inch
size on a layshaft. This layshaft carries a second pulley, double-grooved , about 2 inch size,
with two A-section belts driving the final large pulley (about 8 inches again) on the auger.
Anything less than the double-belt drive on a big pulley is likely to fail under load.

What Kind of Motor?

A motor as small as a quarter of a horsepower (about 200 watts) is enough for a machine of this
size. Bigger would be better, up to say ½ horsepower, but it isn’t critical. What is important
however, is to choose the right kind of motor.

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This photo shows two motors salvaged from old
washing machines. The one on the left, with the
extra cylindrical thing stuck on the top, is a
“capacitor start” motor. It has the useful property
of developing a high torque from a standing start.
In other words, it’s designed to start under load,
which is what you want in a pugmill.

The motor on the right (without the capacitor) looks much the same, but isn’t designed to start
under load. Once it gets up to speed it runs the same as the other kind, but isn’t really suitable
for this job. Switched on with the pugmill full of clay, the motor may be unable to get up speed,
and gets hotter and hotter until it burns out.

Clockwise or AntiClockwise?
It doesn’t matter, really. You can make the auger with the blades arranged in a left-hand spiral,
or a right-hand spiral. But whichever one you choose, the auger has to rotate so it pushes the
clay along towards the exit. You can usually rearrange the wiring in an electric motor to reverse
its direction, but if this is a problem you’d better plan ahead and make the spiral on the auger to
match the direction of the motor.

Designing the Auger.

It’s too early for that yet. You have to make the auger to fit the barrel. So we’ll design the
barrel first.

Making the Barrel: How Big?

The choice of barrel diameter depends on the size of stainless tube available. I was able to get
two sizes, 99 mm and 65 mm. The ratio of the cross-section areas of the two needs to be approx
2 to 1. For the tube I obtained, the ratio was (99x99) divided by (65x65) which is about 1.74 to
1. Near enough.

For the tapered portion between the big barrel and the smaller exit pipe, you might be lucky and
obtain a stainless offcut of tapered pipe

If not, you can make it

yourself. In my case, a paper
template of the necessary shape
was made up, then a 160 mm
length of the larger pipe was
slit along one edge and opened
out a little. With the paper
template wrapped around the
pipe, the pipe was marked then
cut away where necessary.

Rolling the stainless sheet into a cone is not so easy. In my case, I turned a tapered plug from
hard wood, just the right size, and used it as a mandrel to support the pipe while it was
hammered smoothly into shape. Then the edges were welded where they met, and the weld
was ground smooth from the inside using a small abrasive stone in an electric drill. Finally, a

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bit more panel-beating and trimming so the tapered portion fitted accurately against the two
sizes of pipe.

Now comes a tricky bit. When you come to weld the tapered cone onto the big pipe, you can’t
just prop one against the other and weld all the way around. The pipe will distort as you heat it,
and it’s important to keep the barrel truly circular. You really need some kind of restraint to
keep the pipe in shape, and a way of tacking the two parts together a little at a time to keep
them that shape while the main weld is applied.

This picture shows one way to go

about it. The two white circular things
are disks of strong particle board, with
a central hole which is a tight fit
around the large stainless pipe. A disk
is forced over the end of the pipe, then
the tapered piece is positioned in place
ready to weld. Now look at the
perforated metal strap. It’s just the
right length to go once around the pipe
where the two parts meet, with a little
bolt to pull the two ends together.

With the metal strap in place and the bolt pulled up tight, you can apply a little tack of electric
weld through one of the holes, say on the North side. Now go to the South side and apply
another tack. Then again on the East, and again on the West. Give the pipe a little time to cool
between tacks. With enough tacks in place, you can remove the strap and make a complete
weld all around the join. Followed of course by careful grinding from within, once more using
an abrasive wheel in an electric drill.

The Hopper.

Whatever shape you make it, circular or

rectangular, you’ll need some kind of
plunger to push the clay down inside. It
needs to be deep enough so you aren’t
likely to poke fingers down and get
caught by the auger. The photos above
should give some ideas. If it helps,
here’s a photo of the original sketches
made long ago when repairing the
Venco machine that started all this. The
plunger in this case was welded rigidly
to the end of a short shaft, which in turn
was welded rigidly to a longer arm, at
the point C on the sketch.

The left end of the long handle was welded rigidly to a further short bar, descending to the only
hinged joint in the whole construction, at A (lower left of sketch). One would think that the
descending plunger would bind against the hopper wall, but there was enough clearance for it
to move. I chose to make mine with a closer fit between plunger and hopper, but this required

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a hinged joint between handle and plunger. Not moon rocket science this, but you need to think
about it.

Joining the Barrel onto the Rest of the Machine.

Obviously, you need to be able to remove the barrel to get at the auger for maintenance some
day. The plate which forms the left hand end of the hopper is made of 3 mm stainless steel, and
it has a hole the same size as the barrel. Holes at the corners of the big flat plate are for bolts
with wing nuts, easily removed when needed. A matching piece of stainless plate on the main
body of the machine has a small central hole through which the auger shaft protrudes.

The Auger, and Bearings on the Auger Shaft.

The auger shaft needs to be made of straight strong stainless steel rod. A suggested size would
be 20 mm diameter (about ¾ of an inch), and about 400 mm long. Approx 280 mm of this
length protrudes inside the barrel, and the remaining 120 mm is inside the drive housing. This
length inside the housing is necessary, for the two bearings there have to be some distance apart
so the shaft is sufficiently rigid. The distant end of the shaft, away from the bearings, must run
true and not be allowed to wander.

One of the two bearings is close against the hopper

wall. A good choice here is an ordinary self-
aligning ball race, mounted with the usual two short
bolts to a suitable angle iron member on the chassis
which you design. The other bearing, at the extreme
end of the shaft, must be a thrust bearing. When
the machine is running, the auger exerts a huge
force pushing the clay through the nozzle. And in
turn, the shaft is pushed back against the bearings
by the opposite force. A clutch throw-out bearing
from an auto engine, available from a junk yard, is
just right for this job.

It surely helps to have the use of a lathe to turn the necessary step on the end of the auger shaft
so it plugs into the centre of the thrust race, or to make some kind of adapter bush if needed.
And it helps if you have a small centre hole drilled in each end of the shaft, to support it
between centres when grinding the blades to shape. More on this later.

Making the Auger.

You need seven small blades, and two larger ones.
Just how big, depends on the diameter of the pipe
you have for the barrel. Plan for a clearance of
about 3 mm between the blades and the wall. This
photo shows the templates made for a barrel of
internal diameter 89 mm. Not hard to scale up or
down for a different diameter.

Stainless steel plate 3 mm thick is about right. The

blades can be made a millimetre or two oversize if it helps, and trimmed back to size with an
angle grinder later.

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The two big semi-circular blades have to be twisted to the required spiral shape. Harry Davis
gives a detailed description of doing this (pages 152 and 154) in his “Potters Alternative”
textbook It involves gripping one end of the blade in a vice while you twist the other end, after
due thought about which way to bend it (left or right hand spiral) and how much bend to give.
We’ll assume you have this all worked out, so the blades can be welded to the end of the shaft.

Deciding the correct position for all of the

small blades requires bit of thought.
Let’s agree to number the small blades
from 1 to 7, starting at the hopper end.
Number 1 blade has to be positioned
close against the end wall of the hopper,
so it just clears the wall. This photo
shows the idea. It’s a bit hard to see for
the smears of clay, but the leading edge
of the blade almost scrapes against the
end wall.

Now... where to position the other 6 small

blades?

This photo shows one of

the long-ago sketches
made when building the
first pugmill. Blades 1 to 7
resemble a continuous
single spiral of pitch
approx 150 mm, with
alternate sections
removed. One revolution
of the spiral occupies
about 150 mm.

Blades 1 and 6 are in similar positions. Blades 2 and 7 are in similar positions.

Measure the distance

from A to B. Divide this
length into 7 equal
sections. Mark the shaft
with a felt pen. Now
wind a string in a spiral
around the shaft, starting
at A.

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Make 2 turns between A and X so blade 6 will fit on the shaft in the same position as blade 1.
Trace this spiral onto the shaft with a felt pen. The intersections of the spiral path and the
circular bands 2 to 7 give the contact points of blades 2 to 7

When you come to weld the small blades to the shaft, you need some kind of jig to hold each
one in place. Harry Davis suggests using little blocks of wood cut obliquely at one end, to lie
snugly against the shaft while the new blade is held against the sloping end. Try tacking all the
blades in place, and giving the whole set a final inspection before completing the welds.

The newly welded set of blades is unlikely to fit snugly into the barrel, and will need to be
trimmed accurately to a cylindrical outline. The next photo shows one way to do this. The thick
block of wood is a few millimetres longer than the auger shaft. The two upstanding pieces of
chipboard at the ends carry pointed screws which are used to support the shaft “between
centres” using the two little central holes which you thoughtfully provided when originally
making it. The whole assembly is clamped securely in a vice, and the auger is rotated slowly
while you hold an angle grinder in a suitable position. Trim the blades so the auger slides easily
into the barrel, with a little clearance (say 3 mm) all around.

In this picture you can

see the auger assembled
in the main chassis.
Notice the thrust bearing
at the left end of the
auger shaft, and the 50-
tooth sprocket which
drives the shaft. This big
sprocket is mounted on a
steel bush with a wide
flange, specially made for
the job. The bush is held
onto the shaft by a 6 mm
drive-in “Sellock” pin
through a hole in the
shaft

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Here is the barrel assembly, ready to

bolt onto the main chassis. Note the four
bolt holes near the corners of the square
plate, and the smaller holes around the
top flange to fix the hopper in place.

The hopper is a simple folded box made

up from lighter gauge stainless sheet.,
fixed to the main barrel with six small
bolts. The rusty stains are from these
bolts, sold as “stainless” but they
corroded anyway.

Unless the finished pugmill is used almost every day, its

contents are likely to dry out. You can delay this by
providing a plastic cap over the delivery end, as in this
picture.

To close off the hopper and keep it damp when not in

use, try a block of soft foam plastic trimmed to shape,
and glued to a thin wooden cap. Just wet the plastic,
squeeze it out, and insert the block in the hopper with the
wood on top as a lid. Rest the plunger on the lid to keep
it all in place. This photo shows two of these, one for the
pugmill with the circular hopper, and the other for the
rectangular one.

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