635 replies to this topic

[Hi-Fi.re]

Just wondering is it ok to use Inoxias 20mm Ceramic Balls in my mill and whats the pros and cons of using them.

[cooperman435]

Personally I prefer Lead as the extra weight speeds up the milling process immensely

[Arthur Brown]

I've seen good product made with lead media and ceramic! Both work well both are safe-ish I'm not sure that a mill drum af compound ever is totally safe.

Lead is heavy, ceramic is harder! On a small rock tumbler the 3lb of contents total gets more product with ceramic balls without killing the mill and motor than using lead balls where you get up to capacity weight with less volume inside.

[Bonny]

I've never tried ceramic media myself, but I switched from lead to brass quite awhile ago and am very happy with the brass. It mills great and no lead contamination to deal with.

[Hi-Fi.re]

If i buy some ceramic media am i better off buying Balls or Cylinders or is there no difference?

[Bonny]

If i buy some ceramic media am i better off buying Balls or Cylinders or is there no difference?

I'm sure there's a difference, but either will work just fine. I think there are people who prefer one or the other. My media is a mix of balls,cylinders and misc shaped pcs of brass.

[pyrotrev]

I'm sure there's a difference, but either will work just fine. I think there are people who prefer one or the other. My media is a mix of balls,cylinders and misc shaped pcs of brass.

I remember reading a report of the comparisom and that seemed to show no great difference in milling efficiency. One advantage of cylpebs I have found when milling mixes that tend to clump is that they greatly reduce the "dead" areas in the corners of the jar that otherwise would fill with compacted only partially milled charge.

Edited by pyrotrev, 07 August 2008 - 05:28 PM.

[xXPyroJoeXx]

Hey Guys, how you all doing.

Anyway, I was wondering where you all got your motor from for your ball mill, Im having trouble either findng a slow motor...typical electric motor is like 1400RPM, or a cheap one. I bought a motor off ebay a couple of weeks ago, died monday ! But it wasnt cut out to run for hours! Anyway, Like I said, where did you all get your motors from please I need one quick

[Pyrogeorge]

i found a motor but i don't know how many rpm is it..
How can i measure the motor's rpm??

[wjames]

depends if its brushed or brushless.


need more info on the motor...i.e where it came from, how big....and markings/model numbers....NORMALLY the Rpm figure is marked on them.

A brushless motor is easy to measure with a multimeter that has a frequency function...it'll count the polarity changes per second, and therefore rpm=Hz(120/# of poles)

at uni, we did it the easy way.......Attached a peice of paper to the shaft.used a laser, and a Gap counter.

other methods include:

pulleys - taking it down to something easy to measure acuratly...like 30RPM
A tacho
Video recorder and PC
Sound recorder and slow playback


The one i prefer BAR NONE




A Pushbike Speedo.

Works every time....put a pully on the motor of a known diam. attach a small magnet....and frame up the reed switch....program the speedo with the rolling circ. of the pulley......it'll give you a MPH reading.....you know the circ of the wheel......and how many miles it'll do in 1 hour.....so the rest is simple maths.




Hope this helps, but seriously.....have a good around the motor for a stamp/id number.

[Arthur Brown]

If making a mill is proving difficult then go buy one!

There are rock and pebble tumblers for lapidary available online almost anywhere, in capacities from 700g total contents to 6+kilos.

Search ebay in your country for a starter.

[xXPyroJoeXx]

No need to worry now

Right managed to throw somit together

Some pics...and a video im currently editing that will be on youtube












Click the image for a larger view, the original files were 3072 x 2304! But photobucket scaled them down

And I will post a link to the video as soon as it uploads

Enjoy (and thank you to everyone who helped me )

EDIT: Youtube Video: http://uk.youtube.co...f0VeSFXs&fmt=18

Poster Above: If you still need a motor then tell me and ill try and track down the seller on ebay and see if he has anymore motors...cus when I bought mine, he had about 3 available!!!

[dr thrust]

nice mill, but i think you'll experience slippage with a loaded jar, i find you need two powered rollers, nothing more than another shaft parallel to the first,the jar sitting inbetween driven by connecting a rubber hover belt between the two shafts, just see how it goes

[xXPyroJoeXx]

yeh im planning to put a pre-friction gripped roller instead of the skateboard wheels...ill post pic:





and have added some innertube of a bicycle tyre to the jar for extra grippage

Edited by xXPyroJoeXx, 26 October 2008 - 10:36 PM.

[Pyrogeorge]

depends if its brushed or brushless.


need more info on the motor...i.e where it came from, how big....and markings/model numbers....NORMALLY the Rpm figure is marked on them.

A brushless motor is easy to measure with a multimeter that has a frequency function...it'll count the polarity changes per second, and therefore rpm=Hz(120/# of poles)

at uni, we did it the easy way.......Attached a peice of paper to the shaft.used a laser, and a Gap counter.

other methods include:

pulleys - taking it down to something easy to measure acuratly...like 30RPM
A tacho
Video recorder and PC
Sound recorder and slow playback


The one i prefer BAR NONE




A Pushbike Speedo.

Works every time....put a pully on the motor of a known diam. attach a small magnet....and frame up the reed switch....program the speedo with the rolling circ. of the pulley......it'll give you a MPH reading.....you know the circ of the wheel......and how many miles it'll do in 1 hour.....so the rest is simple maths.




Hope this helps, but seriously.....have a good around the motor for a stamp/id number.

it is from water pump and i recognize a small shamrock on it...
the marked numbers are gone so i can't read nothing