butch Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 I have come across a bag of aluminum ceramic balls 1" dia. and they are not perfectly smooth. I was wondering if these would be ok to ball mill with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Inch dia means that they optimally need a big mill jar. Probably about 10"+ DIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowcat1969 Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Unless you are absolutely certain of the chemical makeup of them (as in you KNOW they don't have anything that might spark), I wouldn't use them for anything like Black Powder. I would dedicate them to only ever mill an individual chemical. If you also have a big enough mill, like Arthur said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokesmeller Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 new here. I would agree with the other posters about the size of the mill needed for these. My guess is that the smallest you could get away with mill drum size speaking is maybe 6 inch but the efficiency will suffer some. You will also need to turn the drum at the correct speed for whatever size/type media you are using. Alumina ceramic media can and is used for making bp. All safety precautions must be observed. eg mill is remotely turned on and off, and is remotely installed from occupied buildings etc, etc. Ceramic media does spark. Just stand in a dark room and bang two of them together hard enough and it will cause minute sparks. Its like a small peizo type spark that seems to not cause bp to go off. However that is not to say it never has happened. I can tell you that I have not witnessed any ill effects to ceramic media being used for bp, and I know plenty of people who use it everyday. There are many alternatives that can be used, lead being one, but of course some rubs off in your bp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew206 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I'm not terribly familiar with ballmilling; I went to a firearms shop and was able to get a few hundred 50 cal led musket balls for about 15 bucks. Lead is the sure safe bet. Sparks are an object of concern, but bp I don't see much of a concern because that stuff can be so benine that a spark really wouldnt set it off unless it was very big. Ceramic won't spark on itself to my knowledge, and ceramic is an insulator so I don't think it would generate any charge on itself. Static electricity shouldn't be much of a concern unless it's 15 degrees, bone dry, and you're treading accross the carpet in wool socks for an hour. BP is probably the safest low "low explosive" in existance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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