Pyrogeezer Posted January 5 Posted January 5 Our latest ball mill I built for producing black powder. This is going to be a dedicated mill for black powder only. The price for 7F and Meal D that we use in our fuse production has gone crazy over the past few years so the time has come to produce our own again. This mill is capable of producing 75 pound batches and is going to save a lot of time, headaches and $$$. We produced all of our own powder in the early days so history is once again repeating itself. This mill can also be used to glaze the powder if need be once it is corned and sieved into the different grain sizes. It's run through a gear box by a 5hp- 220v-3ph explosion proof motor. Just needs to be painted and we’re off and running! 2
cmjlab Posted January 5 Posted January 5 I need to find a friend with one of those! Then I could just mill 1 maybe two batches a year and be good for shell building and other B.P. needs. 1
ThrownBiscuit Posted January 5 Posted January 5 Love the welded-on agitator bars on the interior, ought to help increase efficiency. 1
Pyrogeezer Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 Hi cmjlab, Yeah, this size ball mill aren't easy to find, that's why I built this one for our company. I checked all over the web, in used equipment "Ball Mills" but nothing really applicable for our needs.
Pyrogeezer Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 7 minutes ago, ThrownBiscuit said: Love the welded-on agitator bars on the interior, ought to help increase efficiency. Hi ThrownBiscult, Yes, the lifting bars really work well, they add to the lift and media drop. I have built several of these over the years for different pyro materials and this simple design is old, but tried and true.
cmjlab Posted January 6 Posted January 6 What does that thing use for milling media? Over on FW.com they were talking about a handmade large mill that used steel media the size of baseballs. They were old quarry media or something, that had been tossed out and left to rust (they only used it for single chem milling if I recall correctly though). 1
Pyrogeezer Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 We use 1 1/4" Phenolic balls in this size mill and in the larger 200 pound mill we use standard size billiard balls. They are hard as rock last almost forever. impossible to cause sparks also. The plastic has a Sg. of about 2.0 and when falling in a large diameter mill drum generates significant inertia excellent grinding soft materials like potassium Nitrate, Charcoal etc. plus a lot of noise! Yes, they use large steel balls in mineral crushing like powdering cement and the like where sparking isn't an issue.
Richtee Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Jeebus..that mill has some balls! 😆 Yeah life is more difficult with 200 gram batches, but..I also don’t have your need or profession A batch like that would prolly last most my life! 1
Pyrogeezer Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 Hi Richtee:) Yeah, LOL! things are quite a bit different in the professional part of the pyro business! I joined APC because I want to catch up on what the younger pyros are doing today and also to show some of what is being done behind the scenes in the pro aspect of the business, especially referring to old school pyrotechnics. The new pyros out there today are amazing with their new techniques and chemistry. I love it!!! Have a gulp of that clear stuff for me!
Pyrogeezer Posted January 7 Author Posted January 7 Hi TXpyro, There is always a risk, but thank goodness we have never had an problem and want to keep it that way. The mill is operated remotely, everything is wired according to code (explosion proof), and grounded with a 6 foot long grounding rod pounded into the ground and attached to the mill. We also have a grounding terminal we grab onto before touching the mill or its components.
TXpyro Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Just now, Pyrogeezer said: Hi TXpyro, There is always a risk, but thank goodness we have never had an problem and want to keep it that way. The mill is operated remotely, everything is wired according to code (explosion proof), and grounded with a 6 foot long grounding rod pounded into the ground and attached to the mill. We also have a grounding terminal we grab onto before touching the mill or its components. That's good. I have a welding machine so I'm thinking about making my own. Do you have any tips? Would a 55 gallon drum work? What welding process did you use to build the mill? 1
Pyrogeezer Posted January 7 Author Posted January 7 I have a good friend who owns a fabrication shop who rolled the mill drum and support bands. I used stick welding for the assembly of everything. MIG or TIG will do just as well. A 55 gallon drum is made of very thin metal and wouldn’t last long. The drum we made is out of 11 gauge 1018 steel and the bands for the drive wheels are ¼ inch thick 1018, 4 inches wide. I would seriously consider using a new 100 pound propane cylinder and build it to your liking. They are good and tough and would last a lifetime.
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