# Ball Mill construction and advice needed plz



## chrisv (Sep 28, 2010)

Good day to ya all  
I'm in the process of building my own ball mill.
I'm going to be using a old gas(butaine) can thats been laying around. Its about 15" long and about 10" heigh. So far, Ive cut out the valve and was just thinking of corking in closed while in use to stop any dust coming out.
I'm just not sure what size of ball baering I should be using and how many of them :roll: 

I'll be using this mill mainly for processing chips off of sdram sticks as I get quite alot of them every month, Any Ideas of what I'll get from them and how I should process them??


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## Anonymous (Sep 28, 2010)

If you type "Ball mill" in the "search" window at the top right hand corner you will come up with pages and pages of info.


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## chrisv (Oct 2, 2010)

mic said:


> If you type "Ball mill" in the "search" window at the top right hand corner you will come up with pages and pages of info.




Thanks for the reply and advice mic. really helped alot, just a pitty the first few pages didn't give alot of specs regarding the ball bearing sizes and some of the post's weren't even to do with ball mills 8) 

THANKS TO YOU ASWELL BARRENREALMS FOR THE GREAT HELP AS USUAL< AND FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT AREN'T SURE ON WHAT SIZE BALL BEARINGS TO USE,

2" BALL BEARING WITH A FEW SMALLER ONES TO HELP POWDERISE THE CHIPS


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## joem (Oct 2, 2010)

will a ball mill work with the pin connector plastic, leaving the pins bent but intact or is there a better way of getting the pins out with sitting onthe couch with plyers all night?


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## Anonymous (Oct 2, 2010)

joem said:


> will a ball mill work with the pin connector plastic


It will work great on connectors like AMP(amphenol).THe composite material amp uses it very brittle and therefore breaks apart quite easily,anyone that has ever hit one with a hammer can attest to that 


chrisv said:


> Thanks for the reply and advice mic. really helped alot, just a pitty the first few pages didn't give alot of specs regarding the ball bearing sizes and some of the post's weren't even to do with ball mills


I apologize for that.Unfortunately a member deleted a lot of posts from one of the best threads we had that pertained to ball mills.I like the 2" ball bearing method,though Ive never personally tried it.I use a different method.


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## rusty (Oct 2, 2010)

joem said:


> will a ball mill work with the pin connector plastic, leaving the pins bent but intact or is there a better way of getting the pins out with sitting onthe couch with plyers all night?



No and ball mill will not be effective on removing the ends from amphenol plugs unless incinerated first.

The amp plugs are hollow inside, the soft area would absorb the energy from the ball. The metal shroud over the pins would simply fold over.

Once incinerated the plastic become crusty, carbon like.

I'm no expert on ball mills, I think the choice of a propane or butane tank a poor one. In my opinion the diameter of your drum should be no less than 24 inches with a wall thickness no less than 3/8" the ball size no less than 2" larger works better.

If the wall thickness of the drum is to light your drum will absorb the energy from the falling ball.


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## patnor1011 (Oct 2, 2010)

This is just a thought which I was thinking about... Assuming that pins are gold plated and plastic is not incinerated. If we put these in ball mill where they roll over and over I will be inclined to think that gold as very soft metal can be scratched from pins and being left on some pieces of hard plastic. Is this correct or is there possibility of losses in this process?


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## Anonymous (Oct 2, 2010)

rusty said:


> No and ball mill will not be effective on removing the ends from amphenol plugs unless incinerated first.


Well you need to tell that to the several hundred pounds of amp plugs I've ground up.


> Once incinerated the plastic become crusty, carbon like.


First of all,amphenol does not use "plastic".Second of all ANYONE that has ever heated platic knows what a sticky gooey mess it makes,like running it in AR.


rusty said:


> I'm no expert on ball mills


Then maybe you should not be telling others that they cannot do something that they have already done.


rusty said:


> I think the choice of a propane or butane tank a poor one.


I use a 20lb,30,lb,and 80lb propane tank.


rusty said:


> If the wall thickness of the drum is to light your drum will absorb the energy from the falling ball.


I agree with this comment,if you were using 150lbs hammers.
Any media balls 2" in diameter,are going to weigh roughly 8 pounds.The tanks I use are around 1/16" thick and work perfectly.
My grandfather had a good saying when I was growing up,if you want to quit something,listen to someone that has quit it.If you want to learn something listen to someone that has done it...........succesfully.


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## patnor1011 (Oct 2, 2010)

Most of plastic headers or connectors when heated up to melting point and then cooled become brittle. That was my observation when I used heat gun removing connectors and headers from motherboards.


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## Anonymous (Oct 2, 2010)

patnor1011 said:


> Most of plastic headers or connectors when heated up to melting point and then cooled become brittle.


I could maybe see that,but gill suggested "incinerating" them.

I want to clarify,when I said Amphenol,I am talking about the composite connectors,not the rubber "barrel" style connectors.Amphenol does make the majority of those style mil-spec/tel-com connectors,however as stated in my earlier post I mentioned the "composite" material.On the barrel connectors,it is easier to pop out the center with a hammer and flat head,then the pins come out as easy as pie.


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