Swede Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 In the lead media thread, I mentioned I had some ceramic media coming from eBay. It got lost in the mail for a while, but has finally arrived. This is the stuff I bought: Ceramic media from Hobfir on eBay I have no connection with the guy except as a satisfied customer. Anyway, I bought 10 pounds. My initial impression was good. The media themselves look like small cylinders with heavily rounded rims. The finish - not overly glossy, but not coarse either like you'd find in a pestle bowl... it seemed just right for a good grinding action without accumulating chemicals or getting coated. They are not uniform in size, which is fine and may be a good thing. And best of all, they are DENSE, remarkeably so for ceramic, and I am sure this was intentional. I loaded my small ball mill 1/2 full, added KNO3 the consistency of table sugar to 2/3 full, and four hours later I had KNO3 like talc. It was very effective. I will not use this media for flammable or explosive mixtures, but for grinding individual chems, I think they are an excellent alternative to more expensive media.
Swede Posted April 17, 2008 Author Posted April 17, 2008 No, I do not believe so. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable might say otherwise. Cole-Palmer also sells media online... $88 for 940 pieces of 1/2" x 1/2" Cole Palmer More searching revealed this article on ball mills and milling in general, written by an expert in the industry, not a hobbyist. Good reading!
Richtee Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 In the lead media thread, I mentioned I had some ceramic media coming from eBay. It got lost in the mail for a while, but has finally arrived. This is the stuff I bought: Ceramic media from Hobfir on eBay I have no connection with them either, but I purchased a mill from them...fast shipping and attention to my special order as well. Seems to be good folks.. FWIW.
Mumbles Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 Some say yes, some say no about the ceramic media. I know a few professional manufacturers use it for live comps. My personal preference is for lead or brass or something for live, but yes ceramic will make a great single chemical media.
pyrogeorge Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 i read from another person that as far the ceramic media. """I've read that when hit together with alot of force they can spark, BUT you will never experience the forces need to make them spark inside a ballmill. You'll be fine, although lead is the better option due to it's density, ceramic will still do the job.""""
JCrewPyros Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 Why would you even want to take the chance... Taking a small percentage of something going wrong and adding more percentages to it doesn't seem right to me... So think about it... Is it worth risking damage/death over it?
tentacles Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 Jcrew: Well, if your mill is setup in a bunker with sandbags, remotely operated, the risk would already be so low as to be negligible. If you're running it in the garage, out in the yard, etc, different story. I heard a guy down under uses an old clothes dryer with bocce balls to mill like 50lb batches, he does it in the middle of nowhere, remotely operated. The guy selling media there seems to be a bit proud of his stuff, in my opinion.. Wasn't there a guy on the passfire market page selling ceramic media for like $30/10lbs? It's not there now, but probably will come back when it gets closer to PGI...
jacob Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Here's a link to an ebay listing for some cheap used Ceramic media. Ceramic media I believe bmarley has bought from this seller before, what's the media like marley?
Gunzway Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Ceramic Media should be only used if your Ball Mill is away from all buildings, people and other surroundings. It should be barricaded with sandbags and other things. Personally you might as well buy lead or brass. Even if you do have a good spot for your ball mill if it did explode you probably will lose your ball mill and they aren't cheap. Ceramic Media would be alright if you ball mill your fuels separate from your oxidizers and vice versa. But when it comes to spending less on media, increasing your chance of your ball mill getting blown up and the possibility of someone getting injured or getting property destroyed. I find spending extra money on lead or brass is a good thing.
Mumbles Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Gunzway, I'm curious why you are trying to offer advice about something you know so little about? It's probably not the best idea to be doing so, if you don't have the knowledge or experience to back it up. If you have a bunker, sand baracaded, 10 miles from everything, yada yada yada, why would you not go with a cheaper, more efficient media? It just seems like common sense to me.
Frozentech Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Here's a link to an ebay listing for some cheap used Ceramic media. Ceramic media I believe bmarley has bought from this seller before, what's the media like marley? I bought some of the same stuff. It was just fine. It was coated with powdered clay, a lot like bentonite in appearance, but super fine, caked onto a lot of the media. I loaded it into a wire basket and ran it in the dishwasher, and it came out looking like new. I use it to grind chems with.
Mumbles Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 I have heard running a mill dry with water, and a little dishsoap does wonders to clean that specific ceramic up from the clay and such.
pyrogeorge Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 i haven't read the same answer about ceramic media..some says that are not safe and other says that are safe..i don't know what to do.to buy or not to buy ceramic media..Also as Mumbles wrote,i believe that if you grind the chemicals seperate you haven't any problem.
Gunzway Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Heh, It's true I don't have much knowledge and personal exprience with Ball Mills. Though from what I have read that would be my conclusion for ceramic media.But I would just go with what Mumbles says . It is cheaper and probably easier to get. (Well I know where to get heaps of it in Australia)Just remember is does slightly increase the chance of sparking. So make sure you put Sand Bags etc.. To be safe. In the end it's your decision.
Mumbles Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Well, to be the most accurate, the final answer depends on the media itself. There is milling media specifically designed for milling of live explosive materials produced by coors-tech. Yes, the same coors with the "cold filtered refreshment", or at least was. Despite being high alumina, I have no idea what else is in it to prevent sparking and all that. The stuff from the ceramic supplier, probably not this stuff, and just standard cheap alumina meda.
Frozentech Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 There is milling media specifically designed for milling of live explosive materials produced by coors-tech. Oh yeah, I forgot, I do have a box of that same stuff Mumbles. Got one flat rate box full, it was too nice looking to actually use yet ! LOL....
Swede Posted April 18, 2008 Author Posted April 18, 2008 The Cole-Palmer media has me interested. Look at the numbers... 950 individual media, 1/2" X 1/2". That adds up to 475 inches of media, if you were to cut them from a brass bar. Bars often come in 3 foot sections, so to put it another way, 950 of those ceramic nuggets is like 475" / 36" = OVER 13 THREE FOOT BARS of BRASS. That is a LOT of media. I'm too lazy to count how many pieces I bought, but the value is nowhere near the Cole-Palmer 950 pieces for $88.
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