Ball mill design

[SaltwaterServr]

i have made one just like it a 100 lb tank and 1.1 lb ball from a wrought iron fence supply. My biggest problem is the noise over 100 db at 4 ft. im going to try to wrap the tank with rubber floor mats . I welded the small spare tires to the ends and they ride on garage door rods one side idles and the other side drives . I can do about 300 lbs an hr maby more. and get 80% passing 200 mesh witch is perfect because the 20% does not contain gold. Bryan In Denver Colorado

Let's see some photos of it! Give us all some ideas.

 

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[Mad Machinist]

i have made one just like it a 100 lb tank and 1.1 lb ball from a wrought iron fence supply. My biggest problem is the noise over 100 db at 4 ft. im going to try to wrap the tank with rubber floor mats . I welded the small spare tires to the ends and they ride on garage door rods one side idles and the other side drives . I can do about 300 lbs an hr maby more. and get 80% passing 200 mesh witch is perfect because the 20% does not contain gold. Bryan In Denver Colorado

Welcome to the our asylum. Lots of ideas been flying around in here lately. Sorry I didn't get this up sooner but I've taken a beating at work the last few days. Seems they consider me something of an expert now on things mechanical.

You did give me an idea though. I have a spindle and hub assembly from a five ton military truck around here somewhere. I need to take some measurements and see if it could be made to work. The five ton trucks were actually 10 tonners de-rated for off road use so the radial loads shouldn't be a problem.

Edit: Forgot to add you'll probably need a double layer of the floor mats to deaden the sound. I am looking into what it would take to either use some used tire treads inside the mill or possibly "glue" some thick inner tubes to the inside.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Welcome to the our asylum. Lots of ideas been flying around in here lately. Sorry I didn't get this up sooner but I've taken a beating at work the last few days. Seems they consider me something of an expert now on things mechanical.

You did give me an idea though. I have a spindle and hub assembly from a five ton military truck around here somewhere. I need to take some measurements and see if it could be made to work. The five ton trucks were actually 10 tonners de-rated for off road use so the radial loads shouldn't be a problem.

Edit: Forgot to add you'll probably need a double layer of the floor mats to deaden the sound. I am looking into what it would take to either use some used tire treads inside the mill or possibly "glue" some thick inner tubes to the inside.

That's what this feller in Australia did, used hubs. I've been meaning to add it to this thread and slipped my mind a few times.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Ok everyone, I've been working back through the engineering math and I am pretty sure we can do this with the more common 100 gal vertical tanks so we can use the cheaper 3" pillow block bearings. What we would lack in diameter we can make up through length so the residence time of the ore is longer thus being exposed to the crushing forces longer.

Unfortunately, in going this way, if you cannot weld, your going to have to learn. You don't need a high welder for this either. A simple buzz box from Home Depot would work. Lincoln Electric AC/DC 225/125 Stick Welder-K1297 - The Home Depot Nice thing about this one is the fact that with a few simple things it can be used as a TIG welder as your skills develop. The 7018 rod is the easiest to learn with and would be an excellent fit for this project.

Also, with the cost of the pipe flanges being through the roof now, tools will have to be bought. Nothing fancy, mostly from Harbor Freight as they will need to be modified to suit our needs. Here's one that would be modified: Tubing Roller

All the parts to modify the tubing roller along with additional dies are available here: Tubing Roller, Dies & Accessories Good way to practice your welding skills in modifying the tubing roller.



Now back to the original design. The 100 pound tanks can typically had cheap and with a diameter of 22.9" and a wall thickness of .321", they would fit our needs quite nicely I think. Three tanks could be bought and one cut and welded over the over to increase wall thickness and the other used as a liner to protect the others. I checked here at the local propane place and they sell "scrapped" 100 gal cylinders for around $75 each. I think it might also be possible to use the 120 gallon tanks also but that would be right at the edge of what the pillow blocks could handle.

The modified tubing roller would be needed to roll the flanges from flat stock. Unfortunately, the flat stock has to be rolled the hard way, so that will take awhile even with a powered roller. The roller will handle up to 1/2" thick material (good thing it is powered).

So we are well on our way to getting this done. Progress on this is going to be slow for awhile due to the fact that I need to go to Harbor Freight and do some shopping for the very same tools I posted. Nearest one is three and a half hours away or it's mail order for me. I usually buy and use high end tools but that will do no good here as I want to use tools that are within everyone's budget.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Ok everyone, this will be my last post on this thread. There is no real way to build this with just hand tools. Machining will be required.

Since not everyone has the machines to build this, we are going to go back to basics here and I am going to pass on a lot of hard won knowledgeand skill to my fellow miners.

I'll leave this link here: Open Source Machine | Open source, Open design, Open ideas, Open minds. It may not look like much but this is where the "smittybuilt" type machines came from.

And a link to my journal where I will be posting further updates on the journey to the ball mill build. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/prospectors-journals/448276-misadventures-mad-machinist.html Ball mill stuff will be starting on page 5 for those who don't want to read the rest of my misadventures