August 11, 2016 - 8:55am
Artofex PH-0 bench mixer
Hello everyone, here is the dough mixer of a friend who I helped a little for its refurbishing. Feel free to ask information about this kind of machine if needed :)
Brand : Artofex
Model : PH0
Type : Diving arm bench mixer
And a little video of the 1st start-up :
Share
... while I drool and lust after one of these...
It looks fantastic.
-Gordon
Fantastic it is, indeed :)
If you want one of this then be patient and don't give up, since this machine became very rare unfortunately. In fact this model has only a total capacity of 5kg, and so it was not devoted to regular production but to flour testings. As a consequence you should improve your chances if you ask to floormills instead of bakeries or food equipement shops,
Another view close to its countertop brother the N50 Hobart planetary mixer :-)
Total weight (with bowl & without motor) : ~ 60kg
Overall dimensions : width 36cm / top height 56cm / depth 43cm (with bowl)
Motor power : 250 W = 1/3 horsepower
Arms speed : ~45 kneads per minute
I too think is looks Fantastic ! When does it date from. (I love old machines) I assume this was a lab unit, even when made it would be very expensive. My guess is 1950's pre OSHA because the lack of belt guards and open gearing would never pass OSHA today. (I not anti-OSNA, they in fact have made many work places much safer.)
Hello,
Even if its design is very old, this one is oddly almost new since it was released in 1988 according to its identification plate :
In fact this mixer owns a Plexiglas cage all around the arms + a belts housing, but its hobbyist new owner didn't want to mount them. This mixer was a part of a 7-unit flour test-bench which has been dismantled, like this one :
Here you can see the original configuration, each unit with its safety devices and its own motor under the working surface.
Thanks for the reply - interesting that the lab tested different flours by making a dough. Would love to have one of these but Carol would never let me keep in her kitchen. (She does like my bread.)
Yes this weighty and bulky "little Artofex" cannot be installed in every kitchen ! LoL
The test-bench pictured above is still existing, it's the property of the french Banette bakery group (http://www.banette.fr/). As far as I know they keep it at their headquarters, and use it regularly for their flour quality checking. Could you imagine seven mixers working together ? :-)
Since I learned that the PH-0 existed I've been daydreaming about them on and off. I've got a couple specific questions if you're willing.
How wide and deep is the bowl?
How thick are the gears?
Is the 5kg total dough weight or just flour?
Do you use both of the dough hooks when mixing, or are there times you'd only use one?
Roughly how long does it take to mix a batch of dough?
And lastly. Is there any other mixer as awesome as a bench top Artofex? :-p
There's this:
The bowl is about 30cm in diameter and 16cm in height. 5Kg is the total dough weight capacity.
I don't understand your question about the gears sorry, could you reword it please ?
About the question concerning the kneading techniques my friend will post more videos in the future. And the machine is designed to be run with the right arm lifted up if required (like all other genuine Artofex models) indeed.
About an alternative mixer, it seems that the "Miss Baker" suggested by Suave is the only one available on the market. However if you compare it with the PH0, it will look like a toy. All comparative characteristics give the advantage to the Artofex, excepted the variable speed.
Sounds like the bowl is similar in size to a stainless steel dutch oven I've been eyeing. 5Kg of dough is roughly the maximum batch size I have currently.
In the 5th pic you got a shot of the two counter rotating gears that run the two arms. What are the dimensions of those gears?
I'm looking forward to future videos of the mixer in use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNG-3jxmOdY&ab_channel=plumbingandbaking
After seeing a Miss Baker in use I was really interested, but the one source I found online was asking several thousand dollars for one and it would have to be shipped half way around the world. If it was available locally and inexpensive then I'd probably try one, but they really aren't on the same level as a genuine Artofex.
It's impossible to give you the exact dimensions of the driven gears without taking apart the whole transmission, sorry. For now I can just tell you that they are about ~135mm in diameter and about 35mm in width.
According to all the bakers (skilled in using diving arm mixers) I have encountered, the Artofex ones are the most efficients thanks to the large deflection of their arms. This is due to the diameter gears indeed, but also the length of arm's the connecting rods. Of course there is also the Swiss knowledge in machining mechanics which are both robust and very accurate.
For the PH-0 it's very probable that all pieces have been manually casted and machined. By the way all pieces of the body are stamped with the same serial number, meaning they have all been adjusted to perfectly fit themselves. Today we can't imagine what would be the expenses needed to cover all the parts and labour for a such little machine ! You may check the Miss Baker technical description, it's 3 times less heavy than the PH-0 ;-)
For all these reasons the PH-0 can't be compared to the Miss Baker which is sold about 1800 eur in france without tax.
Please don't take apart the mixer for exact dimensions. The 135mm by 35mm is close enough for what I had in mind.
I've hypothesized that the way a mixer interacts with the dough has a subtle effect on the final product, but without access to some of the more interesting designs such as diving arm mixers I have yet to test the theory.
It's interesting to think about skilled technicians in a highly specialized machine shop reading blueprints, ordering castings and carefully machining the pieces to spec. A journeyman machinist I know with his own shop sometimes makes a few pieces for some obscenely expensive industrial machines, but it's usually just one part or so, not an entire machine from the ground up.
The Miss Baker probably has a niche with home bakers that are looking for something unique and price isn't a factor, but also want something of a manageable weight. If something exists there must be enough of a market to support it. Having said that I'm not really what the designers had in mind for it.
One more PH-0 question. is there another gear in-between the belt drive and the two gears in the 5th pic?
Yes the large pulley (which also acts as a flywheel) is mounted on the main shaft which directly drives the left gear, looking from the front of the machine. The gear ratio is 4:1.
Hello Clearlyanidiot,
A quick message to inform you that I have currently a PH-0 mixer fully taken apart, feel free to ask me all you want about its transmission (you may mp me if you don't want to drift this topic).
Regards,
Flormont
Thanks for letting me know you'd taken the mixer apart. I'd prefer to ask questions in this thread, as it could be of use to others.
Off the top of my head:
What are the dimensions of the bearings on the counter rotating main shafts?
Could you get a couple pics of the machine totally taken apart?
Are there any pieces that look worn, or could have been better designed?
Could you get a pic of the dough hooks next to a ruler?
What are your plans with fixing up the mixer? Preventative maintenance, restoration?
How has the work on the mixer been going?
Hello, I have been searching for anyone with any knowledge of this mixer. We currently have one in our lab, we believe it is from the 1940's or 1950's. It works great, our issue is we need to find a new bowl, or for someone who can refinish the bowl. The metal coating is flaking off and going into the doughs. I am also looking for an operators manual if possible, anyone have one of those I can purchase a copy of?
Anyone know of anyone in the US that repairs this piece of equipment? Does anyone know where we can purchase and new or used model similar?
Anyone possibly interested in purchasing this one if we can find a modern substitute??
Thank you!
-Frank
Woow thank you Furso for sharing these pictures of your artofex mixer :-)
Your model looks old indeed, but it's fantastic and its arms seem to be in really good shape (are they made of stainless steel ?). Is it possible to read somewhere on the main body if its come from the Swiss or the French plant ?
About your bowl, I'm afraid that you would not be able to find a new one since this kind of spare part is definitely impossible to find. The esiest solution will consist in requesting a specialised shop for sanding the current bowl in order to remove the original nickel-plating, and then to apply any food-grade metal coating which complies with the FDA requirements. Of course by doing this, you will loose the vintage look of this beautiful machine.
Another solution will consist in locating the right craftsman who masters the sheet metal construction, and who would be able to make you a new bowl in stainless steel. But this will be very expensive, as per my opinion :-(
If you want a copy of the user manual then feel free to send me a private message with your email, and I will give it to you, but do you read the french language ? lol
Regards,
Thank you for responding. We have looked into both a custom fabrication and to have it re-plated, still waiting on quotes and feedback, most people are not interested in this as it is considered a small job.
As far as the vintage look, I agree aesthetically would be nice, but we need it to functional for our lab work.
Yes the arms are stainless steel, they seem to be what is causing the flaking on the bowl. They sometimes knock or rub against the sides while mixing, but it is not consistent enough to see why it is happening.
I lid inspect this mixer and do not see anywhere it would say where it was made.
Unfortunately I do not speak French, but did find an old copy of the manual that someone scanned, its very vague, but helpful to understand the anatomy of this mixer.
If anyone has other suggestions or input, please feel free to contact me.
thank you
Another question we have is in regards to greasing or oiling the machine. All of the oil valves seem to be solidified, which I am sure is not good for the mixer to run properly.
Anyone know of a company that does repair work in the US on this piece of equipment?
Hi again Furso,
Please click here https://www.thefreshloaf.com/user/flormont in order to reach my profile's page, and then on the link "Send this user a private message" : here you will be able to send me a message with your email address, and I will mail you a release of my manual along with its english translation.
Regards,
Hello Furso and thank you for your message.
If you still need a functional use of this mixer, then I guess that the cheapest and more efficient restoration of your bowl will be the PTFE coating. And I sincerely hope that you will find such a specialised workshop which agrees this kind of job :-)
That being said, the more worrying problem is the left arm which hits the bowl :-( You need to know that each Artofex mixer was assembled with unique parts carefully adjusted themselves, and regarding the left arm this one was fitted in order to move close to the bowl's edge without touching it. Unfortunately, if the transmission has wore (due to insufficient lubrication), then the arm's rods have won excessive cleareance, causing the left arm to move to much against the bowl. You may easily check this point by rotating be rear flywheel so that the left arms reaches the 3 oclock position and the right arm the 9 oclock position : then try to move left-to-right the rod's connecting point ... a significant clearance here prooves that, unfortunately, the transmission is worn.
Regular lubrication of this machine is crucial, and you should try to unblock all the available greasers indeed ! But I'm affraid that dismantling the whole transmission will be unavoidable if all lubrication pipes and paths are now soaked of old and solidified grease :-/
At the same time it is also important to lubricate both internal gears as well as the cog under the bowl : this is easily done with EP grease applied with a paintbrush.
Hello Flormont,
To beginning, thank you for sharing.
The mixer Artofex Ph-0 is a beautiful piece of collection that I would like to own but it’s very difficult to find one like this.
I would like to write to you in private message but it doesn’t work. Please send me your email address if you don't mind.
Regards,
Guillaume
Bonjour Guillaume oui pas de souci mais pour m'envoyer un mp tu dois demander l'activation de la fonctionnalité pour ton compte auprès de l'administrateur du forum Floydm. A te lire...
Ok pas de souci, je vais lui envoyer un message de ce pas, merci.
Bonjour Flormont,
A ce jour j'ai contacté Floydm via Facebook mais aucune réponse. Y a-t'il un autre moyen de le contacter car je ne peux pas lui envoyer de message privé via ce site.
Au plaisir de te lire,
Guillaume
Désolé, je n'ai pas reçu votre message. J'ai activé les messages privés pour vous maintenant.
Merci beaucoup
Bonjour à tous,
Depuis de nombreuses années, j'étais à la recherche d'un forum sur les pétrin Artofex pH0.
Possesseur d'un modèle assez ancien que je souhaitais conserver mais par manque de place, je me suis résigné à m'en séparer.
Si cela intéresse quelqu'un, merci de m'informer ou de me communiquer un site internet pour ce type de matériel sur lequel je pourrais le faire paraitre.
Encore merci
Bonjour Moka,
Cherchez vous toujours à vous séparer de votre Ph-0 ?
Guillaume
Hello Flormont, loving your mixer...may I ask what one of these would cost 'approx'...and how are you finding it in use?
Dear Moka, Bonjour, avez-vous vendu votre melangeur PH0?
We have one of these that we would like to sell. Anyone interested? We are in tucson, AZ
It moves well by hand but there is no motor with it. Underneath the numbers are 534 no other markings.
My e-mail edmatthias@msn.com Have pictures be glad to send
DSC00455 (2).JPG
We have one of these that we would like to sell. Anyone interested?; We are in tucson, AZ It moves well by hand but there is no motor with it. Underneath the numbers are 534 no other markings.My e-mail edmatthias@msn.com
... I'd like to ask if someone is selling or knows others who are selling an Artofex PH0. I'm in love with this machine and been searching for it for a long time 😀