Ball Mill Type / Size / Brand

[californiapyro]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyX07YMT1G4

 

this was 2 hour milled at 70 RPM using golf ball media, balsa charcoal and granulated. hope it helps

 

oh also grain size is 1FA, 2FA, 4FA, meal d. about 1 gram of each powder

Edited January 9, 2012 by californiapyro

[pyrogeorge]

About 4 or 5% is fairly typical.

 

I don't know what to tell you about the motor pyrogeorge. 1750 RPM is fairly typical among motors, but you never know. If you want to use it, you'll probably end up having to hook it up to your mill and see how fast it goes.

Ok i will try but i think pump motors has 2500rpm minimum.

thanks

[PyroAce]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyX07YMT1G4

 

this was 2 hour milled at 70 RPM using golf ball media, balsa charcoal and granulated. hope it helps

 

oh also grain size is 1FA, 2FA, 4FA, meal d. about 1 gram of each powder

 

 

Far out! That burns amazingly! It just shows how bad my first batch is because mine won't ignite that easy, and it burns no way near as quick as that! Hopefully with the adjustments to my ball mill and extra milling time I can get results like that!

 

When you say granulated, you mean the charcoal was granulated when you were milling? Thats amazing results!

[allrocketspsl]

Im buying my first ball mill,is it correct to say" a correctly charged mill is half full media to powder?" ceramic can spark? best would be lead?

[allrocketspsl]

Far out! That burns amazingly! It just shows how bad my first batch is because mine won't ignite that easy, and it burns no way near as quick as that! Hopefully with the adjustments to my ball mill and extra milling time I can get results like that!

 

When you say granulated, you mean the charcoal was granulated when you were milling? Thats amazing results!

 

hey where can i buy balsa charcoal mate,you load your mill halfway up with media then powder

Edited January 10, 2012 by allrocketspsl

[PyroAce]

Im buying my first ball mill,is it correct to say" a correctly charged mill is half full media to powder?" ceramic can spark? best would be lead?

 

 

From what I gather, the jar must be filled half way with grinding media, then 1/4 full of the chemicals, which leaves you with 1/4 of area free. The RPM of the jar is also important with most people saying it has to be at least 60 RPM if you wan't good black powder after 3-4 hours of milling.

For media the best by far is hardened lead balls 1/2" diameter, email Steve he is a very friendly and helpful guy, he sells very good hardened lead grinding media, his Ad is on Passfire "Super Hard Lead Mill Media" http://www.passfire....free_market.asp

Edited January 11, 2012 by PyroAce

[oldguy]

Im buying my first ball mill,is it correct to say" a correctly charged mill is half full media to powder?" ceramic can spark? best would be lead?

 

Fill jar 1/2 full of grinding media, add "whatever" you are milling & shake the jar so the chemical(s) settle into the media, but the jar remaims 1/2 full.

That is the BM charge I use.

 

"Ceramic" is a very genaric term. Not all "ceramic" milling media is the same.

 

I use Zirc M media. Best media you can buy, but very expensive.

 

[dagabu]

Old guy has is right, nothing more to add to his recomendation.

 

-dag

[allrocketspsl]

Fill jar 1/2 full of grinding media, add "whatever" you are milling & shake the jar so the chemical(s) settle into the media, but the jar remaims 1/2 full.

That is the BM charge I use.

 

"Ceramic" is a very genaric term. Not all "ceramic" milling media is the same.

 

I use Zirc M media. Best media you can buy, but very expensive.

 

 

ok yeah i remember you had this media in another post I thought I book marked it but didnt thats what I want to use thanks! wheres the link to it mate?Its on ebay I think?

[Soothead]

Hi,

 

I'm building a mill very similar to oldguy's [per Post #11].

 

Right now the design has ~33" of unsupported 1" diameter drive roller shaft between bearings. This drive shaft is "unhardened" type 1117 steel partially-keyed

[i couldn't find a hardened partially-keyed shaft]. The undriven roller however is 1" hardened type 1566 steel.

Both rollers will have 1.5" OD steel-reinforced hydraulic hose over them.

 

 

I've got the parts but haven't assembled the mill yet as I'm concerned whether the "unhardened" drive shaft may eventually bend under load.

I'll be using 8.625" OD PVC jars and was "planning" on using up to three at a time with a potential load over 100Lbs.

 

So the "question" is, "Is it likely my unhardened drive shaft WILL eventually bend?" if so, I'm thinking of adding another pillow block bearing to the drive shaft

positioned so there'd be about 10" & 20" on either side to accommodate three jars. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

Edited February 4, 2012 by Soothead

[oldguy]

The load bearing weight is spread out over the length of the jar or jars.

 

Plus, equally divided between two separate rollers.

 

Running 1, 2 or 3 eight inch jars isn’t going to bow or bend your rollers.

 

Just my 0.02 cents.

 

 

[Soothead]

Thanks oldguy.

 

I'll go ahead and get this mill assembled and keep my fingers crossed.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Soothead

[kevins]

AFN,,,Black Powder > Sponenburgh / Ball Mill Making http://www.fireworksnews.com/images/uploads/54_651_large.jpg Click to Enlarge

Sponenburgh / Ball Mill Making

 

Ball Milling Theory & Practice for the Amateur Pyrotechnician by Lloyd Sponenburgh - a classic, now available from AFN. Hard info, including assembly, construction, lead media, sieves, milling mechanics, times, temperature, selection and mixing, a great section on safety with milling. A MUST HAVE for the serious pyro. Comb-bound, 8 tables, 13 illustrations, 70 pages

[Pirotecnia]

Hi

 

This is my first homemade ball mill!

 

 

 

Please give me opinion about what jar is the best to use.

Thanks!

Edited February 16, 2012 by Pirotecnia

[dbryceman]

For what it's worth, I use small rock tumblers to mill BP as well. I use two of the 6lb tumblers mentioned earlier. There are a couple of things that will irritate you about the small tumblers:

 

1) The belts are useless. Don't waste money on manufactured replacements. Go to a discount store and buy vacuum cleaner belts the same length as the tumbler belt. I buy a 2-pack of belts, and each is about 1" wide. I use a vise to flatten the belt and I use my anvil cutter to snap off ~1/8" belts from the flattened belt. If you do not have an anvil cutter, just use the edge of the vise as a straight edge, expose 1/8" of the belt and slice it off with a sharp knife. I destroyed 4 factory belts by the time I made 8lbs of BP last year. Since I started using vacuum cleaner belts, I have not had to replace one. 2 vacuum belts is evidently a lifetime supply for a whopping $3. Other people have told me they have success with sewing machine belts.

 

2) The barrels will constantly grind at one end of the mill, making cool trenches in the metal lids and rubber bottoms of your barrels. I actually tilt my mills slightly using wooden shims to compensate for this and now I can center the barrels and extend their lives.

 

3) In short order your "ball mill" will be useless. You will want a bigger and faster mill. You may consider building one if you have a motor for it. In my case, I found a large tumbler cheaper than I could get a new motor, so I bought that and saved myself some construction time. When you upgrade, clean your little barrels up well and fill them with new media. I'll be using mine to mill charcoal compositions such as tiger tail and willow.

 

The 3lb barrels on my small tumblers rotate at 51rpm, and I run them for 12 hours, filled to 50% volume with 1/2" alumina oxide cylinders (it is lightweight) and 120gm of milling composition. After 12 hours, the BP fluffs up enough that the container will be slightly more than half full, and the resulting powder in my case has performed as well or better than commercial powder so far.

 

I use red gum and alcohol to make 2FA and 3FA granules for lift, and I use dextrin to coat rice hulls with BP for burst. I used baseball and softball tests to judge the quality of the granulated powder. 8:1 BP:rice hulls made from this BP seem to burst 3" & 4" pasted paper spheres very well without any booster.

[Potassiumchlorate]

Hi

 

This is my first homemade ball mill!

 

 

 

Please give me opinion about what jar is the best to use.

Thanks!

 

Not a metal jar! It should be plastic. That's a cute little mill, but it seems very small.

[warthog]

I have one of the Hobby Firework mills, two in fact as I was given another one after I bought one. I am currently in process of making jars without necks as a regular Sponenjar is a bit of a PITA. They work but sometimes you have the veat the snot out of it to get the BP out that sticks to all the edges you wind up with in a jar made with a lot of connections like a regular one is made. I am going to order some sheets of plastic hard enough to be cut into circles (lathe) then stepped to fit over the end of the pipe. ThAt end will get screwed into place as well as sealed up against leakage. The other side I will be using one of the plugs that has the screw in the middle of them so you can pressure test a pipe (I have no idea what they are called in the trade), That way it will be easy open yet stay in place while milling. I know that they work at least on a neck jar as that is what I use n them too. A guy on Passfire made similar jars and we spoke at length last weekend at a demo on how he did his mill jars. So far he hasn't had trouble with that sort of plug either though he makes much bigger batches of BP in much larger diameter jars than I plan on going with simply due to my scale and my back not being able to lift/move around such weight.

 

I am also considering simply buying Lortone type jars and using them since they are already that way and have the hexagonal inserts. They are a tad expensive though so I will have to see how well it works with my idea before I go that way.

[dagabu]

I am currently in process of making jars without necks as a regular Sponenjar is a bit of a PITA. They work but sometimes you have the veat the snot out of it to get the BP out that sticks to all the edges you wind up with in a jar made with a lot of connections like a regular one is made.

 

I don't understand, why are you having issues with powders sticking in your jars? Is your charcoal and KNO3 dry? Clumping and caking only happen when heat and moisture are present, Sponenjars have worked for hundreds and hundreds of people with no issues at all.

 

-dag

[warthog]

It gets humid here in the summer. It all goes in dry but it doesn't always stay that way during the process.

at least this is my theory, in any case I think this will be easier as well. it isn't something I will be testing out anytime son though.

 

it is just something I wanna try.

[Kauyon]

Finally finished my ballmill!

 

 

Put him to it's first real test.

 

Milled 1 kg of meal in 2 hours to fast performance.

Úsing ceramic media.