Patrick Cross on fri 23 feb 07
I really liked the suggestion of turning an old clothes dryer into a ball
mill...brilliant.
Yesterday I was out thrifting and came home with a box of old golf
balls...89 of them and no particular idea what I was going to use them for.
Don't ask...sometimes I'm not sure why I buy the things I buy. I just don't
question it and put things like that in the "good for something
later" pile. They were only $2 for the whole box, after all.
So anyhow I was washing them in a five gallon bucket with Simple Green and a
toilet bowl brush...swirling them around in mass... and I had a thought.
Wonder how well golf balls would work in a ball mill? I've never actually
used one but I understand that usually the media is supposed to be
relatively abrasive but with all those dimples on golf balls...I dunno? Am
I nuts?
Just a side note...one great use for golf balls is to drill a hole in one
(1/4-3/8" or so) and jamb the tang of a file in it. They make really
comfortable handles for rat tail files...mill and bastard files etc. No
epoxy needed because the tightly wrapped rubber bands inside the balls keep
the file in snug. In fact once the ball is on the file it's pretty
difficult to get it off.
Patrick Cross (cone10soda)
William & Susan Schran User on sat 24 feb 07
On 2/24/07 12:30 AM, "Patrick Cross" wrote:
> Wonder how well golf balls would work in a ball mill? I've never actually
> used one but I understand that usually the media is supposed to be
> relatively abrasive but with all those dimples on golf balls...I dunno? Am
> I nuts?
Well, YOU are probably not nuts, but the idea is.
Ball mill media need to be of a substance that's harder than what is being
ground.
Using golf balls will probably result in the surface being worn down and
mixed with whatever you're grinding.
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
Gayle Bair on sat 24 feb 07
Hi Patrick,
According the this web site:
http://www.fi.edu/wright/again/wings.avkids.com/wings.avkids.com/Book/Sports
/instructor/golf-01.html
"The modern golf ball consists of rubber thread wound around a rubber core
and coated with dimpled enamel. I would think the enamel would chip, flake,
wear off if
subjected to a ball mill and contaminate whatever you have in there.
I am being very good so far this year and have not been to 1 yard sale
though I have been thrifting to a much lesser degree than last year.
Gayle Bair - where fabulous finds are found
at yard/garage sales in Tucson AZ
-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Cross
I really liked the suggestion of turning an old clothes dryer into a ball
mill...brilliant.
Yesterday I was out thrifting and came home with a box of old golf
balls... snip>
So anyhow I was washing them in a five gallon bucket with Simple Green and a
toilet bowl brush...swirling them around in mass... and I had a thought.
Wonder how well golf balls would work in a ball mill? I've never actually
used one but I understand that usually the media is supposed to be
relatively abrasive but with all those dimples on golf balls...I dunno? Am
I nuts?
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on sat 24 feb 07
Hi Patrick,
I do not think Golf Balls will work very well for
milling anything harder and heavier than
themselves. And since they are elastic and
yielding in their way, it is even worse for this
kind of use.
In a Ball Mill it is likely they who would
ultimately ( and it might take a long long time,
too! ) be reduced to some powder by the harder
materials of the Clay or Glaze related or other
geologic materials.
Large Ball Bearing Balls or Stainless Steel Balls
would likely work well...as would very high cone
Ceramic Balls or even the hardest roundish River
Rocks ( Garinite would be a good choice I think,)
so long as their composition was not going to
spoil the batch as they themselves erode slightly
in use.
I myself would lean toward roundish Granite River
Rocks whose composition was going to be friendly
for the things I was intending toMill...and or
make a small second Ball Mill for Glaze ingredient
Milling, and in it, use the Ball Bearing Balls or
Ceramic Balls.
Sure sounds like fun...!
Best wishes,
Phil
el v
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Cross"
> I really liked the suggestion of turning an old
clothes dryer into a ball
> mill...brilliant.
>
> Yesterday I was out thrifting and came home with
a box of old golf
> balls...89 of them and no particular idea what I
was going to use them for.
> Don't ask...sometimes I'm not sure why I buy the
things I buy. I just don't
> question it and put things like that in the
"good for something
> later" pile. They were only $2 for the whole
box, after all.
>
> So anyhow I was washing them in a five gallon
bucket with Simple Green and a
> toilet bowl brush...swirling them around in
mass... and I had a thought.
> Wonder how well golf balls would work in a ball
mill? I've never actually
> used one but I understand that usually the media
is supposed to be
> relatively abrasive but with all those dimples
on golf balls...I dunno? Am
> I nuts?
>
> Just a side note...one great use for golf balls
is to drill a hole in one
> (1/4-3/8" or so) and jamb the tang of a file in
it. They make really
> comfortable handles for rat tail files...mill
and bastard files etc. No
> epoxy needed because the tightly wrapped rubber
bands inside the balls keep
> the file in snug. In fact once the ball is on
the file it's pretty
> difficult to get it off.
>
> Patrick Cross (cone10soda)
Ric Swenson on sat 24 feb 07
Using golf balls to ball mill ceramic materials will NOT help your game. G=
olf...or potting either....
=20
HA!! :)
=20
=20
Ric
=20
=20
_________________________________________________________________
Connect to the next generation of MSN Messenger=A0
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e=3Dwlmailtagline=
Dave Finkelnburg on sat 24 feb 07
Patrick,
Actually, your idea is not a bad one, IF you need
to mix, rather than grind, something. Frequently it
is desireable to mix a glaze well, particularly if the
colorant is prone to spot unless thoroughly dispersed.
The problem with doing that in a ball mill is the
glaze is also ground finer, and then the glaze tends
to crawl or crack due to excessive drying shrinkage.
The answer is something called, "dispersion
milling," which is just ball milling in a plastic jar.
Since the jar walls are flexible not much grinding
happens in an hour or so of milling. You could
accomplish the same thing for large batches with your
golf balls. Of course, if the balls were smoother
they would be more effective, but that just means you
need to run the mill longer. :-)
Good potting,
Dave Finkelnburg
From: Patrick Cross
Wonder how well golf balls would work in a ball mill?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Get your own web address.
Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL
Frank Gaydos on sun 25 feb 07
When my ball mill arrived, there were porcelain balls formed into small mea=
t ball shapes for the grinding. You could still see the finger/palm prints =
of the person who formed them. Pretty cool.=0ADo you know folks doing high =
fire? Make your own porcelain balls using any cone 10/11 high fire porcelai=
n clay body. Have them fired in their next high fire. =0A =0AHope that help=
s,=0A =0AFrank Gaydos=0A=0A=0ASubject: Re: Ball Mill Idea=0A=0A=0AUsing gol=
f balls to ball mill ceramic materials will NOT help your game. Golf...or =
potting either....=0A=0AHA!! :)=0A=0A=0A Ric=0A=0A.
Joseph Herbert on sun 4 mar 07
Patrick Cross is thinking of using golf balls for ball mill media.
They might work for mixing powders but ball media needs to be hard, in the
Mohs Hardness Scale sense, and golf balls are not. Media for ball mills is
often quartz cobbles, Tungsten carbide or aluminum oxide pellets, really
hard things. Usually the inside of the mill is hard too. Some large
commercial mills are lined with a particular kind of tough quartz bearing
rock that resists the abrasion of the load. Another problem with the dryer
idea is power. A load of clothes is rarely greater than 50 pounds of stuff.
If your load in the ball mill is as small as 1 cubic foot, it will weigh
over 150 pounds for most ceramic materials and media. Dryers are powered
for lighter loads at intermittent duties, no ordinary dryer is intended to
run the 48 continuous hours that ball mills often run. The electric motors
driving ball mills are made for continuous duty and often have multiple
horsepower. Then there is sealing. The ball mill load includes water so the
seal on the dryer door must resist the escape of that liquid and resist the
impact of the various media. Lastly, I don't think the drum of a dryer will
last long if subjected to media that will actually reduce the size of
ceramic materials.
A better idea for dryer drums was posted here some time ago, I think. Raku
reduction boxes. The person suggested partially burying the drums, pre
loading them with carbonaceous materials, and popping the hot pieces in. I
recall no word about the covering plan (there is that sealing thing again).
Buy your used strand wound golf ball while you can. Nearly all golf balls
now made are two or three part balls. The winding has been replaced by high
tech elastomers in a solid chunk. These will probably still accept a file
tang but technology marches on.
Joseph Herbert
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