I made a flow through out of a tall kitchen waste basket. I don't have any tools either, so I had a friend with tools cut out the door and drill holes. The rest was simple. You can see photos at http://vermicomposters.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mini-flow-through-bins

I don't have a worm in, but I've heard they work very well. The guy at redwormcomposting.com used jeans as a substitute for the worm inn. I tried that but I didn't have anywhere to hang it from in my studio apt! (I had no idea how heavy it would be! The hook in the patio ceiling would have come right out.)

I think coir takes a much longer time to break down than newspaper, but I haven't used it. I would have keep adding some shredded newspaper with the food for the first few months. Since it's already been 3 months, I'd dump and now if there's no recognizable food chunks and it seems like the material is done, start a new bin with most of the worms (particularly the adults), and let the current VC sit for another few months to let the babies hatch and grow to a size that they can be more easily removed from the VC. That will continue the processing some and get all of the worms out before the VC is used.

If you're using the VC yourself, it doesn't matter if it's completely 'done.' Any coir that hasn't broken down yet will do so in your garden.

Thanks for the help. I had planned to wait at least six months for my first harvest anyway since I only started with a pound of worms, so there isn't any rush. This was just trying to get some suggestions on how long I should wait since I can't use the bedding as a guideline. The question about the Worm Inn was simply becuase I had seen it when I was looking up information on vermicomposting and was interested and I thought I would see if anyone had used it and could give me their opinion on it.

IMHO it's almost better to harvest a little early than too late. you didn't mention if you're also feeding table scraps, grass clippings, dry leaves or any other organics. It would be these materials to watch for being no longer recognizable. I included a link to a short brochure that might help

Here is a link that might be useful: Worm composting brochure

I am feeding small amounts of fruit and vegatable leftovers. These seem to disappear fairly quickly, so I was more worried about them processing the bedding.

When I make my bins after harvesting, I fill the bin with damp newspaper and cardboard and leaves if I have them.
Then when the bedding has been eaten down to about 1/2 of the bin, I know it's time to harvest. They love the bedding. I harvest every 2-3 months.

The first bin that I put together had shredded newspaper for bedding and I could not keep the moisture right. It was always either too wet or too dry and the worms kept leaving the bin. This time I decided to try coir. I keep it in the house anyway because that is what I use in my snake's cage for substrate. It has been much easier to regulate moisture with the coir, but I have trouble telling when it is processed.

Have you tried torn-up cereal boxes and other paper items of that thickness? Tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls, all sorts of pressed paper items. The dye is soy based, so they don't hurt. I have done this for years, and the worms gambol through it and make it "disappear" very quickly. It absorbs moisture from the extra-liquid kitchen garbage of the summer: cantalope and watermelon rinds, tomato trimmings, etc.

I have been using lots of shredded cereal boxes and the like lately, also torn corrugated cardboard, in my Rubbermaid bin. Everybody would agree that Rubbermaid bins tend to be on the wet side but castings from cardboard seem to be more fibrous and therefore easier to "de-clump"