David Hendley on mon 19 feb 01
It can't hurt to try a rock tumbler as a ball mill.
Is the jar of the rock tumbler porcelain? I think I have
seen hard rubber ones, and that might not work as a ball mill.
Also, the speed might not be right for ball milling a glaze.
Still, it can't hurt to try.
In the jar, aim for 1/3 porcelain balls, 1/3 glaze, and 1/3
empty space. Since the jar is so tiny, I think probably the balls
should also be tiny, something like 'soy bean size', which is
somewhat smaller than 'English green pea size'.
--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/
----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Elfring
To:
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 9:58 AM
Subject: A really inexpensive ball mill?
| I am experimenting with different celadon glazes, and the
| last line of each recipe always mentions they would be better
| if they were ball milled for 3 hours or so.
|
| I don't have a ball mill, but it did dawn on me that I have
| one of my children's old "toy" rock tumblers. It did happily
| grind rocks down, running continuously for 1-1/2 months. Still
| works quite well.
|
| My thought is to make a number of marble sized balls out of my
| porcelain clay, high fire them (cone 10) and then use them to
| ball mill my glazes. The rock tumbler is big enough to hold the
| balls and 200 grams (which is my usual test batch size) of glaze.
|
| Does this sound reasonable?
|
| Elfring Fonts, Inc Bar Codes, MICR, and decorative fonts for Windows
vince pitelka on mon 19 feb 01
> My thought is to make a number of marble sized balls out of my
> porcelain clay, high fire them (cone 10) and then use them to
> ball mill my glazes. The rock tumbler is big enough to hold the
> balls and 200 grams (which is my usual test batch size) of glaze.
Gary -
This works great for as long as the rock tumbler lasts. And you can always
find a better rock tumbler on Ebay for far less than any ball mill (even a
homemade one) would cost you. But don-t make "a number" of marble-size
balls of porcelain. Make about thirty or forty of them, and make them
slightly flattened like stream pebbles. They will work great. And
actually, if you wish you can just use marbles. As they wear down there is
a slight contribution of silica to the material being ball-milled, but not
really enough to notice.
So, yes, it will work just fine. Cheap ball mill, ready made for the job.
What could be better?
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Gary Elfring on mon 19 feb 01
I am experimenting with different celadon glazes, and the
last line of each recipe always mentions they would be better
if they were ball milled for 3 hours or so.
I don't have a ball mill, but it did dawn on me that I have
one of my children's old "toy" rock tumblers. It did happily
grind rocks down, running continuously for 1-1/2 months. Still
works quite well.
My thought is to make a number of marble sized balls out of my
porcelain clay, high fire them (cone 10) and then use them to
ball mill my glazes. The rock tumbler is big enough to hold the
balls and 200 grams (which is my usual test batch size) of glaze.
Does this sound reasonable?
Elfring Fonts, Inc Bar Codes, MICR, and decorative fonts for Windows
http://www.elfring.com
Bob Hamm on tue 20 feb 01
The ball mill I built is similar to the one Deb Bouchette described =
recently. Deb's ballmill frame is built of wood. There is nothing wrong =
with wood as long as it is solid. Mine is built with a steel frame (only =
because I had the pipe and the means to weld it) and 1 inch cold rolled =
steel for the rollers. I use 10 gallon plastic wine carboys that I buy =
from our local Wine Arts store. If you wanted to make smaller glaze =
batches you could use 5 gallon carboys. These containers are not =
expensive and are convenient. The carboys do wear out, but I think I get =
30 to 40 batches per container at a cost of about 75 cents a batch. I've =
being using same flint stones from an ocean beach for the last 23 years. =
I close the carboy opening with the cellophane packing tape and have =
never had any leakage.=20
The standard glaze batch for me is 15,000 kg, which will fill a 5 gallon =
pail. Occasionally I ballmill a 7,500 kg batch. If you were to use a 5 =
gallon carboy, your upper batch size would be about 7,500 kg producing =
just under 2 1/2 gallon of glaze.=20
Vince mentioned using glass marbles in a small rock tumbler. I agree =
with his point that the amount of wear on the marbles will not have a =
noticeable effect on the glaze. I don't have a convenient source of =
flint stones anymore so I am going to make my new stones out of Laguna's =
B mix 5 fired to cone 7.=20
If anyone is interested in building a ballmill, you will find good =
information in Michael Cardew's Pioneer Pottery. mill
Bob Hamm
Ph (250) 765-8876 Fax (250) 765-0497
email bobhamm@look.ca web site www.bobhamm-art.com=20
6750 Highway 33 East=20
Kelowna, B.C. Canada V1P 1H9
For information about the Kelowna Clay Festival 2001, go to =
www.bobhamm-art.com/clayfest=20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
----
Larry Phillips on wed 21 feb 01
Bob Hamm wrote:
>
> The standard glaze batch for me is 15,000 kg, which will fill a 5 gallon pail. Occasionally I ballmill a 7,500 kg batch. If you were to use a 5 gallon carboy, your upper batch size would be about 7,500 kg producing just under 2 1/2 gallon of glaze.
Yikes! That would be a plenty full pail!
--
Procrastinate now!
http://24.113.44.106/larry/
Des Howard on wed 21 feb 01
Gary
An essential tool for my use of local materials is a ball mill.
Thirty years ago I bought a 2 jar lapidary stone rumbler & modified it
somewhat.
I figured that if lapidarists can rumble silicon carbide grit & agate
lumps for
weeks on end pottery use would be a snack. The jars were heavy
polythene
4.5 litre (1 Imperial gal.) & cost A$8 each, ten years later I bought
another jar for A$10.
Recently I bought 2 more jars, A$15 each, it was a pleasant surprise.
About 5kg is the usual media charge, these are high density vitreous
spherical mill balls, if bought currently around A$20/kg.
My stash of 2x 4 gal drums full was found scattered across
a paddock near an old commercial clay mill.
Homemade balls of high fired porcelain can & did work for me for years.
The jars, with balls, are weighed periodically & if necessary a 4cm ball
is popped in to bring up the media weight.
Des
--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
LUE NSW 2850
Australia
Ph/Fax 02 6373 6419
http://www.luepottery.lisp.com.au
Bob Hamm on fri 23 feb 01
Larry,
Whoops! If you accept the numbers I wrote, that pail would not only be =
plenty full, but it would also be a very, very big pail. About 5,000 =
gallons. The 15,000 kg should have been 15,000 grams or 15 kg. The 7.500 =
kg should be 7,500 grams. A wee bit more managable I'd say.=20
Now if I really could mill that much glaze at a time it really would =
be an inexspensive ballmill.
Bob Hamm
Ph (250) 765-8876 Fax (250) 765-0497
email bobhamm@look.ca web site www.bobhamm-art.com=20
6750 Highway 33 East=20
Kelowna, B.C. Canada V1P 1H9
For information about the Kelowna Clay Festival 2001, go to =
www.bobhamm-art.com/clayfest=20
=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---- =20
Bob Hamm wrote:
>
> The standard glaze batch for me is 15,000 kg, which will fill a 5 =
gallon pail. Occasionally I ballmill a 7,500 kg batch. If you were to =
use a 5 gallon carboy, your upper batch size would be about 7,500 kg =
producing just under 2 1/2 gallon of glaze.
Yikes! That would be a plenty full pail!
| |
|
