Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Ball Mill From A Cordless Drill

bearbot22 - 12-8-2024 at 02:54

Just converted my Cordless Drill into a Ball Mill / Tumbling Mill with no costs.

The Childproof cap does the trick because it turns free counter-clockwise. The Upper part of the cap sticks firmly in the hole while the lower part with the bottle can rotate.

The only tricky part was sticking the Screw through the hole in the bottle-bottom from the inside. I managed it with a string and magnet.
Just make sure you set the Drill to a counter-clockwise operation.
For permanent operation, use a wire to pull the trigger. Wind slowly until speed is right.

With a square bottle it acts like a tumbling mill.

OK, it has a limited capacity and a run will only last as long as your battery does (45min in my case) but Hey - it’s working really well and made in a few minutes.



ballmill.jpg - 208kB

knowledgevschaos - 12-8-2024 at 17:08

This seems like a great project, but will the cap gradually wear out?

Conure - 13-8-2024 at 01:57

What are you planning to mill? Most materials that are safe to mill can be purchased.

bearbot22 - 13-8-2024 at 02:14

I don't think the cap will wear out as long as you keep everything aligned and the screw is centered. Anyway it could be replaced easily.


child_proof_lid_parts.jpg - 241kB
child resistant cap, parts separated

I used this mill for about 4h until now with no signs of wear off.
I'm grinding ion exchange resin beads using steel balls.