Well this evening I ended up building my own stir pate. turned out pretty nice I think. I will try to figure out how to post pictures etc later (i.e. not at 3:30am in the morning after working on this thing all night).
Here is my question however. I built mine much like the 50 + other do it your self ones on the web - computer fan, hard drive magnets (2), hooked up to power switch and rheostat to control speed. when I did some test runs on just water (1400 mL in a 2000 mL flask) I got a pretty healthy vortex. I read you don’t need a huge tornado going, just enough for a dimple, but even turned all the way down I am getting a good 1-2 inch vortex.
the question - is too much of a votex bad? It is not HUGE per say, but it is more than a small dimple.
Also, once I actually make my starter with the DME and yeast, will this be a bit thicker perhaps and the vortex will not be as much?
BTW -I am just using a 1" bar, with the ridge in the middle.
it isn’t shake the house bad, but I just want to make sure I am not defeating the purpose by too much of a vortex going.
as a side note, I built it in a nice solid wood box I got from Jo Anne Fabrics for like $3.99. stained it quickly, looks nice if I do say so myself. Once I get a chance, again I will post a few pictures. nothing like some of the stuff you guys on here build, but still…
As long as you’re not throwing the stir bar, it’s OK.
