A trick to make your ball mill more effective

[braddsn]

Hey guys I wanted to post this info and hopefully it will help someone. A lot of ball mills obviously rely on rubber rollers to spin the mill. Well, something I started noticing one day is that my mill jar was slipping slightly. I quickly determined the cause.. charcoal! Airfloat charcoal gets in the air and settles on EVERYTHING.... including your rubber rollers. When enough gets on there, your jar will start to slip. Well I came up with a simple, cheap, and practical solution. Go to any auto parts store and get a can of "belt dressing". It is designed to stop squeaking belts and help them last longer. It does so by creating a very thin, tacky layer that makes rubber grip like you wouldnt believe. Spray this onto your rubber rollers, then wipe off the excess with a rag. Let it dry for about 60 seconds... then there will be no slipping, i guarantee it. I go through this process every 2nd or 3rd time I run my mill. No slippage ever. A can is about 3 bucks. Another benefit is that it makes your rollers last a lot longer. Slipping rollers wears em out quick. And if there is any slipping going on, your mill becomes way less efficient.

[schroedinger]

Nice find.

 

What also helps is to wipe your roller and barrel with some alcohol every couple runs, to remove charcoal and fat (from touching thr barrel).

[Sparx88]

I used to do that. It's not new, but it works. Now I use 220 automotive sand paper and sand the rollers until the shine is gone.

[MrB]

How do you guys get the charcoal on the rollers? Don't tell me your opening the jar, thinking it's inspection time?

B!

[schroedinger]

Airfloat charcoal during loading the barrel.