Starter Motor Ball Mill

[coffman34]

So my old '79 Sears Craftsman Garden Tractor finally bit the dust. I just put a new starter motor on it last year. Would it be acceptable to use this kind of motor for a ball mill?

 

I also have a 1/4hp dual line jet motor for a shallow well. Would I be able to remove the wet end and use that? Just trying to use up some stuff around the house. This motor would require me to wire it to a switch directly connected to my electrical panel.

 

EDIT:

 

After looking into it more, the starter, I feel, would be a little to small. Not to mention I have noticed that it gets kind of hot with minimal use. So I have decided to see about the jet pump motor. Here are the details on it:

 

GE Motors A/C Motor

HP: 1/2

V: 115/230

RPM: 3450

A: 8.2/4.1

HZ: 60

PH: 1

Code: V

SF: 1.6

FR: 53J

SFA: 10.6/5.3

AMB: 40 C

Insul: Class B

Time Rating: CONT

 

So I think I have figured that I could use this motor for my ball mill. It's going to take some pulley stepping, but it should work ok.

 

I have a local drum company, I was wondering what everyone's thoughts of using tight head drums are?

Something similar to this:

http://products.gurmancontainer.com/ImgMedium/10816.jpg

Or would it be best to use an open head with a metal locking lever ring?

Similar to this:

http://products.gurmancontainer.com/ImgMedium/10966-5787.jpg

 

The first picture is 15 gallons, which would be more suited to my size. Can anyone comment on this size of a drum?

Edited July 18, 2013 by coffman34

[Arthur]

Starter motor will be for short operating periods (seconds) it will over heat quickly. The other motor may be better with suitable belt and pulleys

[Bobosan]

If the pump motor isn't a totally enclosed fan cooled type , you should design your mill to prevent any composition from accidentally entering the motor openings. The time rating is CONTinuous so you're good to go there. Starter motors are usually rated for intermittent duty.

[Bobosan]

Building a real serious mill, eh?

 

The straight walled drum would be my choice....in a smaller size like 5 gallon. The bung holes leave a lot to be desired for charging and emptying the drum. Correct media amount will hurt your wallet (and your back) regardless whether it's lead or ceramic.

 

Is this for personal use or commercial venture?

[coffman34]

Personal use only. I put on a decently sized 4th of July party every year, and wanted to attempt to make my own stuff for it. Cakes/Shells/Etc. I'd probably shoot around 200-300 shells. I generally have 200 or so people show up in the back yard. My biggest problem so far is the 3450 RPMs. I figure a 1.75" Drive pulley > 6" Pulley > 1" Shaft > 12" Jar would give me roughly 80-85 RPMs. I guess I could use shallower jars, and have the possibility to run 1-2 jars at a time.

[mikeee]

A 1750 RPM motor would be easier to get to your mill speed.

With the correct sheaves you can still use the the 3450 RPM motor.

If you want to use different sized jars a motor and VFD combination would be best.

[Mumbles]

For ease of loading and unloading, you'd probably want to go with something more similar to the open head drum. The wider neck around the top might cause some issues with turning smoothly if you don't build up the diameter of the bottom too.

 

Just so you're aware a 15 gallon drum will make about 35lbs of black powder per batch. Even with ceramic media, the loaded jar will weigh over 200lbs. You'll also want to be confident that you're using a high quality media at this size. Most of the accidents I'm familiar with happened with larger mills like this.

 

At this size, you'll also need a much larger motor. Search for some posts by cplmac. He and his build buddies made a large mill like this. You might be able to get some ideas as to what sort of media he used (golf balls I think), and what size of motor was required.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for going big or going home, but you might want to think for a little bit what you really want to accomplish. What size of shells you're intending to make, and how much black powder they'll really require. I got the general impression that you're not extremely experienced with building yet. You might want to start with a gallon sized jar (a little over 2lbs per batch) and get the basics of ball milling and all your materials figured out before investing in such a large mill. You don't necessarily need to make all your BP for the year in one batch. You can also always go bigger. You can't however just make a smaller batch in a bigger mill due to excessive wear on the media and some safety concerns.

[mikeee]

A 15 gallon drum with media is going to make a lot of noise while running.

It will also make a little noise if it ever goes off, which will attract a lot of attention.

Trying to handle a 200# jar would not be much fun.

[ollie1016]

200# is a very heavy jar! And as Mumbles said 35lbs is a hell of alot of BP! Maybe a bit smaller?

[Sundownlights]

Sounds like the pump motor would my choice for a couple reasons. 1st it's continuous duty where as I think the starter motor would overheat very quickly, 2nd it's 115 volt and I assume your starter motor is 12 volt DC

[coffman34]

I have abandoned the 15 gallon drum idea. Lol. Didn't realize it was going to make that much. The main reason for using it was the 15" diameter that I need to step down the 3450 RPM motor to 82 RPMs. Since I have gone with a larger driven pulley, 14", and made my jar 6" round, which should give me some extra room to run 2-3 jars at a time, if needed.