ball milling media

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Andibates
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ball milling media

Post by Andibates »

hi guys
i have been given a small ball mill but i need to get some milling media for it
i wondered if any of you guys had any ideas where i may be able to purchase some from
as i am not able to make my own
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Pyro-Gear
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

Ok tell me what make of mill it is Andy.
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Re: ball milling media

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i cant find a make on it i have just found out that it is a rock tumbler rather than a ball mill the jar holds aprox 3/4 of a liter of water

which has me thinking that its probally will only be ok for making small amounts
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

OK is it mains power direct or does it have a power adaptor, sounds like you got a little Beech rock tumbler.
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Re: ball milling media

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it has a 4.5 volt powder adapter

do you think that it might do the job??
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Re: ball milling media

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Hmm don’t like the sound of that it may need to see a picture.
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Re: ball milling media

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hope this helps
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Re: ball milling media

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i am thinking i would need to earth it to stop any possible build up of static
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

That’s a scientific rock tumbler same set up as the national geographic, maybe a handful of 10mm lead balls might work

They have a pretty short life expectancies 50-60 before the gearbox shatters, I know this because my granddaughter hand 2 of them.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Lloyd »

You probably do need one, Andi. Even with an insulating jar, having an earthed 'discharge brush' riding on the outside of the jar can help prevent build-up.

There's little need to provide any sort of drain from the inside of the jar, since any static within it would need to be generated FROM the contents.

In our Florida humidity - generally over 55% even in Winter - it's ordinarily not necessary.

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Re: ball milling media

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thanks guys
any ideas where i can get the 10mm lead balls from ?
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Re: ball milling media

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when i get some more money i am thinking i will get one of the ball mills that are forsale on the pyro-gear website
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

i will take a look at my lead stock i think i have some left if that's the case i will make you a hand full.

As Lloyd said I would be inclined to earth it Andy as it is a bit of unknown quantity.

I would recommend a purpose made mill when your flush again, Andy all the work is done for you and there are a lot of them out there.
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Re: ball milling media

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To be honist ken i have had a look around and the one that you sell in your shop seems to be very good value for money and i have read good reviews about it
one question about your mill do you supply the media with it or do i need to get it seprately
anything that comes from ebay or such like is of an unknown quantity

i will make up a set of earth brushes for it but all i am going to use it for is to mill the KNO3 as the batch i have is quite corse i quite enjoy making the BP by hand and granulating it down to 20 mesh

@Ken did you recieve the payment i sent you yesterday for the bits i wanted to order?
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

The media is supplied at extra cost and the only media I ever supply is antimony hardened lead balls, now lead is getting as rare as rocking horse shit but I can get it at a price.

Yes I have the payment thank you and I am on the case.

You should be fine if your just milling the nitrate Andy.
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Re: ball milling media

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Thanks Ken you are a star
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Starfire »

Hi Ken how do you go about antimony treating the lead,
I'm going to remould my media and make some extra as I have
a good amount of lead.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Boophoenix »

Andi,

If Ken has trouble with gathering lead you could resort to a 300 grade stainless. However keep in mind it is just spark resistant not spark proof like lead requiring a little more care in your practices. With the one off size you need it might be an easier route to go. Another bonus from going that route is it's a fair bit lighter and would be gentler on your mill.

I've had quite a few discussions on the subject as I did a group buy last year of 50,000 little shiny spheres. In all of those discussions people talked about changing to lead, but I never heard of anyone having any accidents. Again I'll note not spark proof so practice little extra caution if you go this route.

I've been researching and started a little testing, but the information I've gathered from other people to date doesn't seem to indicate there is much if any sacrafice in quality from using stainless. My tests started with lead to get an idea for a baseline since it's the most common media. I found gathering source material to be a little trickier than I had planned so my tests are slightly limited unless I have another batch of charcoal to get my course material from. My comparison testing is still in the early stages so I don't have a lot of valid information just yet that data can support.

I'll also add since I'm the proud new owner of one of Ken's mills I do like it. It's peppy. I also own a couple of small rock tumblers and 2 larger 5 quart tumblers and I'll have to admit Kens takes off like it wants to work compared to any of my others.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

Starfire wrote:Hi Ken how do you go about antimony treating the lead,
I'm going to remould my media and make some extra as I have
a good amount of lead.
Hi Starfire I use Antimony metal powder at around 8% added to the lead it takes a little more heat to melt the Antimony but the fact it is powder and not an ingot makes life reasonably easier.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Andibates »

Boophoenix wrote:Andi,

If Ken has trouble with gathering lead you could resort to a 300 grade stainless. However keep in mind it is just spark resistant not spark proof like lead requiring a little more care in your practices. With the one off size you need it might be an easier route to go. Another bonus from going that route is it's a fair bit lighter and would be gentler on your mill.

I've had quite a few discussions on the subject as I did a group buy last year of 50,000 little shiny spheres. In all of those discussions people talked about changing to lead, but I never heard of anyone having any accidents. Again I'll note not spark proof so practice little extra caution if you go this route.

I've been researching and started a little testing, but the information I've gathered from other people to date doesn't seem to indicate there is much if any sacrafice in quality from using stainless. My tests started with lead to get an idea for a baseline since it's the most common media. I found gathering source material to be a little trickier than I had planned so my tests are slightly limited unless I have another batch of charcoal to get my course material from. My comparison testing is still in the early stages so I don't have a lot of valid information just yet that data can support.

I'll also add since I'm the proud new owner of one of Ken's mills I do like it. It's peppy. I also own a couple of small rock tumblers and 2 larger 5 quart tumblers and I'll have to admit Kens takes off like it wants to work compared to any of my others.
i have been looking through a couple of diy stores online i wonder if any of the items might work
1 6mm x 1m brass rod
2 8mm x 1m brass rod
3 10mm x 1m aluminium rod

i was thinking if i cut it into say 10mm peices not sure if any of those would work
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Andibates »

or 10mm copper

i dont know if any of those metals might react with the chems
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Boophoenix »

I think it's commonly accepted sphere are better than rods. I have some stainless rods I picked up to compare with the spheres. The one run I tested with charcoal they seemed to do a good job. I think if you're looking for the best all around media to get the finest particles it's still spheres.

My intrest originally in stainless was for purity of the milling cycle. I think copper is going to be a bad choice. Others have used brass with decent reports , but I have not tried it.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Boophoenix »

As far as reactions of metals I've got stainless media coated in a few various materials for every bit of 6 months now. The only chemical I've found to reactive negativity that I personally have and use in copper chloride. Not that I would ever mill any of it, but in my research it was an indication for some testing so I tried it. The oxidizers have yet to have any effect that I have noticed. At a year I'll take them out and clean them and give them a good inspection to see how they are holding up. That should make for a good test maybe.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

[quote="Boophoenix"]I think it's commonly accepted sphere are better than rods. I have some stainless rods I picked up to compare with the spheres. The one run I tested with charcoal they seemed to do a good job. I think if you're looking for the best all around media to get the finest particles it's still spheres.

My intrest originally in stainless was for purity of the milling cycle. I think copper is going to be a bad choice. Others have used brass with decent reports , but I have not tried it.[/quote


Cut rod or as we call bar stock has a very slight improvement on a sphere as long as you keep the media square.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Starfire »

Pyro-Gear wrote:
Starfire wrote:Hi Ken how do you go about antimony treating the lead,
I'm going to remould my media and make some extra as I have
a good amount of lead.
Hi Starfire I use Antimony metal powder at around 8% added to the lead it takes a little more heat to melt the Antimony but the fact it is powder and not an ingot makes life reasonably easier.
Thanks Ken.
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Re: ball milling media

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Ken would any of the metals that i mentioned above be suitable for what we are talking about?
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Re: ball milling media

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Andy trust me just get the hardened lead.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Pyro-Gear »

I'll also add since I'm the proud new owner of one of Ken's mills I do like it. It's peppy. I also own a couple of small rock tumblers and 2 larger 5 quart tumblers and I'll have to admit Kens takes off like it wants to work compared to any of my others.[/quote]

Thanks for the kind words, yeah its gutsy little mill alright and all that on 12 volts Boo.
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Re: ball milling media

Post by Andibates »

after a bit of searching and from what has been said today through this topic today i have found these

1KG LEAD MEDIA HARDENED WITH ANTIMONY AT 5%

is this what i need
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Re: ball milling media

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No link m8 but I guess its tiny Tim from eBay
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Re: ball milling media

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