oldguy Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Any caveats, tips or warnings about ball milling 50/50 mg/al. I have a jaw crusher that will crush small mg/al ingots down to ¼ inch minus. I would like to BM that down to 50 to 100 mesh. I bought a bucket full of miniature to standard size of billiard balls to use as BM media for use with mg/al.. Jar size is 12X12 PVC ½ inch thick wall sewer pipe.
dagabu Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Any caveats, tips or warnings about ball milling 50/50 mg/al. I have a jaw crusher that will crush small mg/al ingots down to ¼ inch minus. I would like to BM that down to 50 to 100 mesh. I bought a bucket full of miniature to standard size of billiard balls to use as BM media for use with mg/al.. Jar size is 12X12 PVC ½ inch thick wall sewer pipe. The same warnings apply to BP as to Mg/Al, it is finely divided metal when powdered, creates static and will burn if a spark or flame are present. It has to be wet to make gasses and will beat the crap out of your billiard balls. Mg/Al is fragile but it is still damn hard!
Algenco Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I think it will eat you billiard balls and contaminate the MgAl I plan on using SS ball bearings for milling MgAl
Richtee Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I think it will eat you billiard balls and contaminate the MgAl I plan on using SS ball bearings for milling MgAlYour milling media has to be "harder" than the stuff you are milling... ideally ALOT harder. You'd be rough polishing billiard balls.
oldguy Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 The same warnings apply to BP as to Mg/Al, it is finely divided metal when powdered, creates static and will burn if a spark or flame are present. It has to be wet to make gasses and will beat the crap out of your billiard balls. Mg/Al is fragile but it is still damn hard! dagabu Posted 22 March 2011 - 10:45 AM Sorry oldguy, I really dont know, I had to hand crush it down too. Once it was around 4 mesh I could ball mill it down. I'm thinking it would take a real big jar and billiard balls to smuch this stuff down. LOL, dag, you suggested billiard balls & a big jar.Oh well, now I have a $100 worth of billiard balls I don't need.
Richtee Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 dagabu Posted 22 March 2011 - 10:45 AM Sorry oldguy, I really dont know, I had to hand crush it down too. Once it was around 4 mesh I could ball mill it down. I'm thinking it would take a real big jar and billiard balls to smuch this stuff down. LOL, dag, you suggested billiard balls & a big jar.Oh well, now I have a $100 worth of billiard balls I don't need.Ouch... well, a cannon might be fun?
dagabu Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 dagabu Posted 22 March 2011 - 10:45 AM Sorry oldguy, I really dont know, I had to hand crush it down too. Once it was around 4 mesh I could ball mill it down. I'm thinking it would take a real big jar and billiard balls to smuch this stuff down. LOL, dag, you suggested billiard balls & a big jar.Oh well, now I have a $100 worth of billiard balls I don't need. Sorry Old Guy, I did say, "I really don't know". Still, a cannon sounds like fun!
Algenco Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 dagabu Posted 22 March 2011 - 10:45 AM Sorry oldguy, I really dont know, I had to hand crush it down too. Once it was around 4 mesh I could ball mill it down. I'm thinking it would take a real big jar and billiard balls to smuch this stuff down. LOL, dag, you suggested billiard balls & a big jar.Oh well, now I have a $100 worth of billiard balls I don't need. send him a bill
dagabu Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 send him a bill But, I'm not a duck, what would I want with a bill?
Algenco Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) pouring the molten MgAl into water results in small pieces that I break up in a blender, I can process a 5gal bucket full in an hour the billiard balls could be used to mill chems Edited April 12, 2011 by Algenco
dagabu Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 pouring the molten MgAl into water results in small pieces that I break up in a blender, I can process a 5gal bucket full in an hour the billiard balls could be used to mill chems A blender?!?!? Dang! Do you have any idea how much time I spent crushing Mg/Al?
Algenco Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 A blender?!?!? Dang! Do you have any idea how much time I spent crushing Mg/Al? you took the course
helix Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Any caveats, tips or warnings about ball milling 50/50 mg/al. I have a jaw crusher that will crush small mg/al ingots down to ¼ inch minus. I would like to BM that down to 50 to 100 mesh. I bought a bucket full of miniature to standard size of billiard balls to use as BM media for use with mg/al.. Jar size is 12X12 PVC ½ inch thick wall sewer pipe. I would be careful ball milling mgal and would make sure you do it well away from your property - one of the blokes over here in the UK burnt down his garage - apparently ball milling mgal inside - its thought that he had a spark in the mill which started a fire, the mill jar was plastic and quickly burned through. A member on the UKPS forum who makes a fair amount to sell mills in a stainless mill jar which he purges with argon before starting. He also pours the mgal into water which causes the droplets to crack/ shatter prior to milling.
helix Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) (double post) Edited April 12, 2011 by helix
Mumbles Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 If you want coarse MgAl, the billiard balls might work alright if you have exceptionally brittle MgAl, such as from water quenching. I bet the weight of the billiard balls will still be enough to smash down the popcorn like MgAl, but potentially not mill it to a fine powder. I'd check on it pretty frequently. Once it starts getting into granules is when I'd be worried it would start to eat away at the bakelite material many pool balls are made from. A fence post can break a window, but you can only smash up the pieces so small before they start eating into the wood.
dagabu Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 you took the course I thought it was a bad idea... or I forgot.
oldguy Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 you took the course Glass or steel container on the blender?How much of a load do you put in it?
NightHawkInLight Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 pouring the molten MgAl into water results in small pieces that I break up in a blender, I can process a 5gal bucket full in an hour the billiard balls could be used to mill chems I personally know someone who ended up in the hospital for several days after MgAl he was grinding down from ingots in a coffee grinder lit up in his face. A fuel/air explosion was created which gave him severe burns on his face and forearms. A blender has many times the volume of a coffee grinder. If the same thing happened in a blender it could very well be lethal. Whenever I use a blender or coffee grinder with flammable solids I run it remotely with the aid of an extension cord. A mixture of fine flammable particles, brushed electric motors, high friction, and aerating blades - There is no better circumstance for a dust explosion to occur. There's even a member here that I know of who has had an accidental ignition in a blender. That makes two accidents involving people I know, and really I don't know more than 50 or so builders. That's a pretty high catastrophe rate. Be Careful!!!
oldguy Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 pouring the molten MgAl into water results in small pieces that I break up in a blender, I can process a 5gal bucket full in an hour I gather you pour the molten mg/al down a stabilized piece of wide angle iron into a container of water. How wide & how long should the angle iron be? Is a 5 gallon metal bucket okay for a water container? Is tap water okay? Or should it be distilled or treated in any way? I have a couple of shielded lab grade blenders that I can run from a remote location.Plus all sorts of containers from pint to 1/2 gallon in both SS & Pyrex glass.Any suggestions on which to use?
Algenco Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) I pour directly into the water very slowly.I use a 5gal SS stockpot and set a piece of plywood up as a shield from any hot water/metal that splashesTap water is fine I rarely see any dust in the blender, but when I pour it onto the screen there is quite a bit of dust Edited April 13, 2011 by Algenco
oldguy Posted May 10, 2011 Author Posted May 10, 2011 http://www.nichropulse.com/documents/TN1001.pdf This guy seems to ball mill Mg/Al with steel media.
killforfood Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 The balls are likely stainless but the dowel pins could easily be either as both are common. If he says it's steel, then I guess you have to take his word for it. I doubt that it would be considered safe but I would be the last person to ask if it would be safe though. I'm still on the safety learning curve. I am living proof that God suffers fools. He also suggests using sulfur instead of charcoal for "fire suppression", and you know how nasty that would be. Did you finalize your jar end design?
oldguy Posted May 10, 2011 Author Posted May 10, 2011 Did you finalize your jar end design? Waiting for sheet PVC to arrive. I ordered it online. It should be here in a few days.Once here, after cutting to size/shape I will do an un-glued mock up, to see how it looks/works.If it looks/works good, I will put primer & solvent cement to use.
Bonny Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 http://www.nichropulse.com/documents/TN1001.pdf This guy seems to ball mill Mg/Al with steel media. I've been ball milling mine with steel for several years. I use old bearing balls. I mill some kitty litter first then rinse with alcohol to remove the rust first.I have never milled anything like the quantities that you will be doing though... I think SS is a much better choice.
oldguy Posted May 12, 2011 Author Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Wow, old guy is suffering sticker shock checking retail prices on stainless steel balls ranging in size from ½ to 1 inch. No way do I want to spend about 4 or 5 hundred bucks for as many as I will need for my big jars. Looks to me like stainless steel rod is the way to go. That I can find far cheaper, especially scrap, surplus & odds & ends on sale, etc. Anything wrong with putting a high quality metal cutting blade in my chop saw, installing a "stop" jig so I can cut long lengths of 5/8 or ¾ inch rod in ¾ inch lengths rapidly? I have a small job electric powered cement mixer. Cut a whole bunch, then load them in the cement mixer along with some sand blasting grit I have a couple of buckets full of. Run the mixer for a day or 2 to de-burr the media, then seive them out of the grit. Or is that fools folly? Ideas, comments would be appreciated. Edited May 12, 2011 by oldguy
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