# Ball Mill



## rickzeien (Aug 12, 2019)

I purchase a rock tumbler from a school in Loisianna thru govdeal.com

I updated the gearbox and motor to a heavier unit. (Still have the 1/2 horse motor and drive that I plan to make a small bench top lab mill out of)

Anyway here is a video of the finished ball mill. (Well maybe an improvement or two to come later)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11U120BMWAlPEWSo9D4VEYntP9H8JYaIp/view?usp=drivesdk

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## snoman701 (Aug 12, 2019)

I didn’t watch the whole video....but if you can over clock that vfd to get a little more speed, you’ll increase the efficiency of the grind. Right now it has a herky jerky cyclical sound....perfect rpm for grinding will have the balls falling at a constant rate when they reach a critical height. 


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## snoman701 (Aug 12, 2019)

Also...be careful with the starter. Disconnecting a VFD under load can do something that lets the magic smoke out of the IGBT's. 

The magic smoke is what keeps the VFD (and all electronics) working. 

Once the magic smoke is gone, it takes someone pretty smart to put it back in...and they like to charge lots of money to do so. 

I generally resell the magnetic starter, then just put a fancy little project box on it with an on off switch and a potentiometer to control speed. You can usually find all the instructions to do so in the book. 

Pretty nice little ball mill.


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## rickzeien (Aug 12, 2019)

Snoman701

Thanks for the advice. I will check it out.

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## Striker753 (Aug 29, 2019)

Would anyone of you know a place where one can get one of these ball mills in Southern Europe (or anywhere in the EU, I'm looking for a place in the Schengen space that uses the euro)? Because I was planning to move abroad in the next 2 years and get myself a house in Greece, as my job is going to become a remote one. And since I like to tinker with refining (not just gold) and other metal-based chemical processes, I thought it'd be an occasion to get bigger tools than the ones I have at my dacha (summer cottage)!


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## g_axelsson (Sep 2, 2019)

There was a post a few days ago about a Dutch auction with a whole refinery in lots. I think there were some ball mills in it too.

Göran


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## rickzeien (Sep 6, 2019)

Final video. Working great. 

https://drive.google.com/a/group11elements.com/file/d/11Jgc9HZdUOrF7d1LpCehoPAKjVHhpvi0/view?usp=drivesdk

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## Shark (Sep 6, 2019)

I get the 

"You need permission

Want in? Ask for access, or switch to an account with permission."

Page.


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## FrugalRefiner (Sep 6, 2019)

Yep, I get a Google sign-in page.

Dave


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## rickzeien (Sep 6, 2019)

Not sure why? Let's try this one.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12FUfwtnt6S2hChExZuLRUtvc7QzQgH-6/view?usp=drivesdk

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## FrugalRefiner (Sep 7, 2019)

That one works!  

Dave


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## rickzeien (Sep 7, 2019)

FrugalRefiner said:


> That one works!
> 
> Dave


Thanks Dave!

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## Shark (Sep 7, 2019)

That one worked for me too. That thing is cool!


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## rickzeien (Sep 7, 2019)

Shark said:


> That one worked for me too. That thing is cool!


Thanks Shark!

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## Thipdar (Jan 29, 2020)

I had an inspiration, but it looks like someone beat me to it! 

Tru-square Metal Products Model B Heavy Duty 15# Rock Tumbler, THU140 $194.99 on Amazon.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tru-square-Metal-Products-Model-B-Heavy-Duty-15-Rock-Tumbler-THU140/37293531?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=17761&adid=22222222227026452205&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52552497735&wl4=aud-430887228898la-79625692335&wl5=9032015&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=127767841&wl11=online&wl12=37293531&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAiA98TxBRBtEiwAVRLqu0z-B_YyPcKHkElg_0EYHca0eX3dZ_Z060GiJFwPmN9hZKSDRSIdfhoCDrkQAvD_BwE

I think I'd use these instead of the polishing media: 
https://www.acrossinternational.com/Stainless-Steel-Grinding-Balls-STB.htm

I might consider using these: 
https://www.acrossinternational.com/Highly-Polished-Tungsten-Carbide-Grinding-Balls-TCGB.htm

-- Thipdar


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## kurtak (Jan 30, 2020)

Thipdar

The tumbler Rick used to make his ball mill is a LARGE industrial tumbler - the one you posted a link to is a SMALL bench top tumbler - likely to small to work as a ball mill if you intend to use it for milling incinerated IC chips

For ball milling incinerated IC chips I use a Harbor Freight cement mixer (there "small" one) cost (on sale) $150

You can get the balls you need from Action Mining - cost "about" $70 - $80 

With the cement mixer you can mill 60 - 80 pounds of incinerated chip in a day

I have posted a lot about this

Click on my user name - that will take you to my profile page - click on "search user's post" - that will take you to everything I have post --- in the "search these result" box type in "ball mill"

That will give you results of things I have posted about ball milling with the cement mixer - read them 

In some of those post there will be links to other post about it as well

That should give you "all" the info you need about using a cement mixer to mill incinerated IC chips

Kurt


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## rickzeien (Jan 30, 2020)

I highly recommend Kurt's cement mixer mill. I used one prior to building my ball mill. The mixer works great I just needed more volume. (And I love to build things : )

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## Thipdar (Jan 30, 2020)

kurtak said:


> Thipdar
> 
> The tumbler Rick used to make his ball mill is a LARGE industrial tumbler - the one you posted a link to is a SMALL bench top tumbler - likely to small to work as a ball mill if you intend to use it for milling incinerated IC chips
> 
> ...



Thanks for the info.

I was thinking more along the lines of crushing ore samples (the kinds of things I might bring back from my placer claim).

Also, I was thinking about how to accomplish the milling without letting any dust escape; the rock tumbler uses a sealed vessel.

-- Thipdar


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## rickzeien (Jan 31, 2020)

Thipdar said:


> kurtak said:
> 
> 
> > Thipdar
> ...


I milled some ore in the cement mixer. To solve the dust problem I used some duct tape to hold a heavy plastic bag over the opening. (A contractor garbage bag worked well)

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## Thipdar (Jan 31, 2020)

rickzeien said:


> Thipdar said:
> 
> 
> > kurtak said:
> ...



I like it.
With a larger diameter I could go with larger milling balls, which should reduce the time it takes to crush the ore.


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## rickzeien (Jan 31, 2020)

Here is a video explaining the grinding that occurs in a ball mill. 

Many people think the ball drops down on the particles to be ground. 

The actual milling occurs as the particles are held by centrifugal force in the grinding media. 

Notice how the particles remain in between the balls and are ground almost continously.

In addition to critical speed the size of the balls also influences the grinding. A mix of different size balls are the most efficient. 

The larger open spaces provide a course grind and the smaller spaces provide a finer grind. 

Wet is faster than dry. And of course longer run time grinds more complete. 

Other factors include the starting size, hardness and how fine you want when your complete. 

https://youtu.be/L6sgGXXYdEU

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## anachronism (Jan 31, 2020)

Absolutely correct and I hope people get it.


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## nickvc (Feb 1, 2020)

anachronism said:


> Absolutely correct and I hope people get it.



How long before you accepted the RVEC as a useful tool  :lol:


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## anachronism (Feb 1, 2020)

nickvc said:


> anachronism said:
> 
> 
> > Absolutely correct and I hope people get it.
> ...



A long long time. And it's not accepted- it's just utilised occasionally..... 8) 8) 8) 8)


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## Yggdrasil (Feb 1, 2020)

Please forgive with my uninformed approach, but what is RVEC?


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## anachronism (Feb 1, 2020)

Yggdrasil said:


> Please forgive with my uninformed approach, but what is RVEC?



A terribly technical piece of engineered equipment. A Rotary Value Enhancement Concentrator. 

To the uninitiated it looks and operates very much like a cement mixer.


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## Yggdrasil (Feb 1, 2020)

Aaah, it definately is a delicate and valuable tool for certain operations I guess.
The good thing is, I expect it to be quite versatile and easy to adjust for other operational envelopes  
If I'm not on a wild goose chase, again  :wink: 

Well, ignore *my* post and get back to the task at hand

Edited for clarity :mrgreen:


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## snoman701 (Feb 1, 2020)

anachronism said:


> nickvc said:
> 
> 
> > anachronism said:
> ...



I don't think it can be much more accepted. Add a plastic drum to it and you not only have an RVEC, but also a ICED...oh the things that can be accomplished in an intimate contact enhancement device. 

Even better yet would be a titanium drum. 

I think the beauty of the RVEC (I like this) is that it can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. You can just mash the crap out of stuff like a caveman, or efficiently grind to consistent particle size.


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## anachronism (Feb 1, 2020)

Oh it does have a custom plastic barrel with some nifty vanes inside it. 8) 8)


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