Ball mill mods

[jazzbass_5]

Hey all, old guy but newbie here.
Over the past few months I've had a renewed intrest in making BP and started down the rabbit hole with my newish hobby. Just wanted you all to see a few mods I've made to my ball mill since I've started.
I didn't like the plastic bushing idea so I installed bearings, always add fans to my projects that need a bit of cooling.
The unit runs at about 90 RPM.
Started without the mill using the CIA method but didn't like the outcome so I invested in the ball mill and started getting some pretty fast powder. After changing a few belts and cleaning and greasing up the bushings a bunch I decided it was time for some mods. Ball bearings Ace hardware, 3/8" aluminum bar stock and a 14vdc cooling fan (with a 14vdc switch mode power supply for power, complements of a wall wart)

 

[shootstraight57]

When I read ball mill my mind went straight to the ball mill at the cement factory. The balls in them were the size of cannon balls and loaded with about 5- 55 gallon drums full. I hope yours isn't as loud! LOL Great idea about making black powder though.

 

[arcticap]

The unit looks clean as a whistle.
A person would never know by looking at it that it was being used as a powder mill.
Where did you find the bearings?
How many hours does the unit need to run to complete a batch of powder?

 

[whughett]

I run two Harbor Freight double drum rock tumblers for wet cleaning brass. A few years now. I’m curious about the mods, needed for weight ? Been thinking on giving the ball mill a go using .457 round balls, which may exceed the 3 pound drum weight limit of the tumbler.

 

[jazzbass_5]

The unit looks clean as a whistle.
A person would never know by looking at it that it was being used as a powder mill.
Where did you find the bearings?
How many hours does the unit need to run to complete a batch of powder?

Usually I blade mill my mix first for a few minutes (charcoal/sulfur) then (KNO3). After that I put it in the ball mill for usually up to 8 hours but have gone as many as 12+ (no really difference in burn rate I believe). I found the bearing at Ace hardware but I ended up changing the stock rods out to 3/8" Aluminum stock to fit the bearings. I also had to open up the pully ID to match the new rods. It's nice and clean because I usually clean it up and lubed the bushings after every few batches, also, this was just modified and cleaned as I went.

I run two Harbor Freight double drum rock tumblers for wet cleaning brass. A few years now. I’m curious about the mods, needed for weight ? Been thinking on giving the ball mill a go using .457 round balls, which may exceed the 3 pound drum weight limit of the tumbler.

This is the harbor freight version, I did the mods for durability and only use 1 drum at a time when tumbling anyway, I also am using the .457 rounds (200) as my medium.
It's a relatively inexpensive mill but I wanted it to last and can't seem to leave anything alone anyway..
Next mod is to find a better belt!

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Nice mill! Have you been to the castboolits forum to see their large post about making black powder? Its the best on the net. If you want to make a great mod for your mill then make some media out of half inch copper pipe filled with lead. It works so much better than lead round ball and doesnt contaminate the powder so much with fine lead dust. Do you corn your green meal or just wet it and run it through a mesh? What charcoal do you use? I have tried so many and the best so far is red alder...even beat black willow which is a staple for high performance powder. But by far paulownia is the best (aside from balsa wood). I also puck my powder and corn it.

 

[Mike 56]

Corned powder is awesome back when I was making powder I screened mine what I liked about it was when loading my cap an ball revolvers I would fill my chambers all way with powder and seat the ball flush with the cylinder. All guns shot very accurate loaded like this. They were not powder house loads but they were not too weak either and burned clean as well. Where did you get your corning fixture?

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I got a puck making die set from a retired die and tool maker. Makes the best die set for making pucks....solid thick aluminum. I think its billet aluminum too. Heres a pic..

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I make my pucks really thin...like an 8th of an inch thick, some people make them really thick..like over .75 to 1.0 inches and will use water to help it bond..then have to wait a good week or more for it to dry out and then have to break it up and its harder to get it broken up evenly at that size... I dont use water....i let the 20 ton jack do the work making all the meal bind together and since its about an 8th inch thick at most it is really easy to break up...no waiting for dry time either as i use no water

 

[noelf2]

...no waiting for dry time either as i use no water

Water helps dissolve the kno3 so it really infuses the carbon. I don't use much, just a mist from a spray bottle for the batch I'll be corning. The compression does the rest. If water is seeping from the media under compression, too much water was used.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Mr noel yeah moisture can help but its not necessary if you use excessive pressure...atleast thats what i was informed of and my testing showed. I think it mainly works for me out here due to my sub tropical super high humidity weather so my meal powder already has moisture from the atmosphere...im sure if i lived in a very dry environment i would need added moisture. I used to actually add moisture to my meal powder by running a hot steamy shower in the restroom and once the bathroom was steamy i would bring in my powder for about 20 seconds and it would absorb the moisture at just the right amount...worked better than spraying/misting the powder. But i stopped doing it and noticed no difference at all in my corned powder via chrono and deviation etc. Some other black powder making gurus who helped out a lot of us on castboolits are the ones who informed me with the large jack im using with such a high psi that there was no need for the moisture added because i forced the kno3 into the carbon and sulfur...buuuut others still required it due to having used less pressure. But i do believe that its also because my atmosphere has so much moisture in it that its as if i lightly sprayed my meal powder. So until i move to a dry environment i cant say for a fact that i dont need water....further testing required. I encourage anyone who wants to read up on making powder to go onto thw castboolits forum and read the sticky..ita over 155 pages long! Well worth the read with so much info and experiments and comparisons.