635 replies to this topic

[Rhodri]

Wow! That's a serious load of BP Mr Horse!

25kgs would last me for ever - well it wouldn't actually because I'd find loads of ways to use it!

Good plans for a large mill - a bit out of my league though.

Cheers!

[dfk]

that right there is some valuable information, thank you Burl Horse.
a 25 lb mill for as much as I got my little 3 pounder. This is too good, I hope that mixer I saw is still in the paper.
Perfect example.
This is what I love about pyro, its all about enginuity, the longer your in it and more you expirement the more you start thinking (or in this case hearing)of everyday things that sute your needs. Dont you just feel cool when you find that exact tool you were NEEDING, its always something weird like that third spoke off you little brothers bike tire.

[Phoenix]

I know what you mean. Not sure how cool your little brother feels though

[BigG]

We bought a cement mixer, from a local DIY home store, took the vanes out, epoxyed the remaing holes and made no other "Improvements....I can say that Tim Wellman and I have rolled a Magazine worth of stars in the original Yes, Steel Barrel (Your rolling wet....)and have had no problems, except where to dry all them pretty stars.

Another trick you may want to consider is that a drywall bucket fits inside the mixers barrel, with a few fingers space to spare. If you Modify the drywall bucket.....Oh alright, here goes, PVC PiPe, 1", Cut it in half, From the outside of the bucket, using brass screws and washers, put the the half-round sawn off pieces of pipe inside the bucket, Screw through the drywall bucket and into the PVC pipe, rounded edge toward the middle of the bucket.

Put 4 of these "Lifter Bars" in the bucket, secured with at least 4 screws each, and silicone.... The good stuff (RTV or GE II Clear) under the washers where the washer make contact with the outside of the bucket...No Leaks., Finally on the inside, cut some pvc scraps and cover the openings in the half-rounded pipe, use Good ol, Oatley PVC Glue to seal the opens in the end of the lifter bars. now the fun part, Head on down to your local bycycle shop or Wahl-Mart or where ever you can find small BMX type bike tires, find the size that will fit the tire to the bucket like a tire to a car, get two. Push these onto the outside of the bucket  and use the same silicone to run a bead all the way around the tubes where they make contact with the bucket, top and bottom of each tire and do the same to both of them. Let this whole thing dry in a warm place a day or two. Assuming that you were on the ball and got the drywall bucket with a rubber seal in the lid you are set to mill away, Fill bucket 1/4 to 1/3 ful with Media to Taste, Egg shaped lead sinkiners in the 3 to 6 OZ range are perfect. Fill bucket to 2/3rds full with whatever you need milled, Thinking saftey here, Close the top on, a quick wrap or two of duct tape around the lid as a safety precation if you feel the need.....AND......... Place your new ballmill in the modified cement mixer, power it up from a distance away, and there you go, the bucket rides on the tires, inside the Cement mixer, modified as above, and in 3 hours, you'll be fine as dust and have a batch size of up to 25 lbs. Ta Da, Easier than the jitterbug I assure you, and we have been doing it like this for 8 years now with never a mishap, of couse proper satey is required, Point the open of the mixer away from life, property and anything else you can think of,  Use a good Extension Cord and check the results og you projrct Now and agin,

Goog Luck, Gat Grren

BEar

Burl,

If I remember correctly, the guy that blow up his garage up in Arizona used a very similar method. I would not advise using a cement mixer as a mixer device. I note your notion about acting in a careful manner and using extension cable and opening the whole thing away from humans - something most amateur do not have the luxury over here.

Note you can build or get ball mills that are much safer, do not contain steel or sparking material, and can hold very large milling jars.

[bernie]

I know they make cement mixers with a plastic basin. Just replace the mounting hardware with SS bolts and screws and your factory will be up in running in no time at all.

[BurlHorse]

As I said, Safety is of utmost importance in our hobby. As to the Cement Mixer, I forgot to add that we did one other modification and that was to change the electric motor to a TENV, Explosion or hazardous environment rated motor. The shopping channel variety Rock tumblers do not come so equipped by the way FYI......Brass Screws for the Ball Mill Bucket's lifter bars, mill only on Humid days, Etc. Etc. Etc.

You have seen these in my other post's to a fault, I stress safety, hence I have all my fingers and body parts, and not even a visco burn anywhere on my body after 15+ years of doing this. Read the instructions carefully, and as always, your results may vary by your own safety practices. I guess the biggest point here is to NOT take on projects that are out of your realm and stay within the confines of your laws. I have my Type 20 license here in the USA, which means I can legally do these things, If you do not or can not abide by your countries, states, borough's, or mom and dad's laws, then don't do it.

Oh, and as to the MORON who blew up his home Milling in his Garage...So sorry His Surgeon was so very sucessful in his frontal lobotomy procedure before he heard of Rocketry or Pyro... ....I digress to the already stated in nearly every post I make, Be Smart, If you don't know how ask, AND DON'T MILL COMPS, only BP or single Chemicals and do the words DON'T TRY this at home ( your Garage ) ring a bell............?

Nuf Said,

Stay Green,

Bear

[Creepin_pyro]

I'm now using an Ice cream machine motor . Just a small household slow rotating mixer. Connected to an aluminium rod, with an old rock tumbler container on top (parallel bar fixed onto washers.) Works a treat, just need to move on from small fishing weights to reduce milling time and improve eficiency.

[BurlHorse]

Hey guys,

I am building a second ball mill, I guess I should post an article, Heck all my posts are articles anyway

There is a guy on E-bay, Robert Haun, who has about a thousand Rubber rollers, 1.5 " in diameter, it's a dutch auction, so your almost always garaunteed to get each for 4.50 USD. They are cream of the crop, 1/2" Aluminum Shafts, and they are about 24 " long. Rubber is in Perfect condition, not dried out and cracked or anything. Here's the link for his current Auction that ends in 2 days, however, they are always posted, as "Rubber Roller - 1.5 in diameter" so if you search you'll always find them. Also there are bearings that work well, from a seller called skatebearings, look for the Bearings....this will get you started and I will post a link for complete plans and details for a home brew commercial quality safe mill. As this is my second one, I bought 4 rollers and enough of the bearings so I can make it a dual Mill. Shipping should be very reasonable, they both use UPS. I just got the package as I am typing this, and after opening it, they are exactly the same quality and at 4.50 each, it's a good buy, you'll only need 2 for a single mill.

Stuart, Your mill Idea looks good, I'm impressed with it's simplicity. Good design. :-)

OK, well Cheerio as you chaps would say,

Stay Green,

Bear

[BurlHorse]

oops, forgot to add these are the same rollers and bearings I used in the construction of the first one, They have performed flawlessly. tirelessly doing their job for quite awhile.......with nary a hitch. Just some FYI for yall,

Regards, Stay Green,

Bear

[Prodigy]

http://www.tideswel....rs/tumblers.htm

Anyone bought from here before? The site is unsecure so I'm gonna ring them up on monday and place an order I think. 50 quid for a 1.5kg beach tumbler with a 5 year guarantee!

Seems very reasonable.

[BurlHorse]

Hey guys, here's a link for figuring out ball mill gear/pulley ratios, since everyone want to build one, this may be helpful in finding out motor RPM/pulley diameters to get the right rotation speed...... Gearing Ratios

There is alot of information here,


Good luck. Stay green,

Bear

[BigG]

This Message originly by Prodigy. There is no need to open a new topic for it.


http://www.tideswel....rs/tumblers.htm

Anyone bought from here before? The site is unsecure so I'm gonna ring them up on monday and place an order I think. 50 quid for a 1.5kg beach tumbler with a 5 year guarantee!

Seems very reasonable.

[BurlHorse]

G,

I checked out that link, looks like a good deal to me, I did not see how the jars were closed, are they screw-on, or just pressure fit? Just something to consider as the jars are in such close proximitry to the motor, I.E; right above it. Might be worth a check to see what type of Motor is in there, brush type or induction, just a couple thoughts.

Hope the boys and wife are doing well, Stay Green,

Bear

[Richard H]

I have merged the two threads together for easier reference. Cheers.

[The_Djinn]

I have deleted some of the posts from the merged thread as they will lead to confusion as to which thread is closed and they held no reference to the topic in question as they were just pointing out that the incorrect thread had been closed.

Mark