Ball Mill Easy and Cheap

This is a ball mill constructed from a 24v drill motor a cheap speed controller and 24v transformer, and various parts.The ball mill can be used for lots of purposes, pyrotechnic compositions, rock tumbling etc.

You could use a 12v drill the method would be the same with a little less power available for milling .The drill motor was salvaged from a old 24v drill that was lying around, I wont go in to how to dismantle the drill but when done so you will have the motor gearbox and chuck.

10A Pulse Width Modulator PWM DC Motor Speed Control 12v to 40v in simple terms, makes it go fast or slow.I used this gadget, but you could use the variable speed trigger on the drill with a bit of tinkering.

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Pillow block bearings mine are 12mm bore these are used to hold 12mm by 400mm stainless steel bars, the bars fit into the bearings and rotate. As you can see the chuck fits over the bar like a drill bit.

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24v transformer, to power the beast. You could use the battery from your drill but I don't think you would get much mill time.

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The black things you see on the steel bars are rubber door stops they give grip to the tumbling jar,I had to drill these out a little so they would fit snuggly over the bars.

Have a look at the finished product.