Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Noisy ball-mill - How to deal with the sound

Diachrynic - 4-10-2017 at 09:10

Hi there!

So I have a small rock tumbler (20x20x30 cm) I want to use as a ball mill.
Tested, works.

However, the noise level is pretty high. And I don't really have a special room to do this though.
It's pretty annoying.

I didn't find any information around here about this issue (not to say it doesn't exist).

A cardboard box made it a bit better, however the sound is quite loud still.

So, how do you deal with the noise level of your ball mill?
Is it possible to lower the sound while at the same time keeping the mill from heat death?

greenlight - 4-10-2017 at 10:02

I have two rock tumbler mills one being a dual drum model and I havent noticed them to be too loud.
Here is a link to a page for making a sound reducing box with ventilation so the mill doesn't overheat:

http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to/build-ball-mill-c...

The main feature of the mill (if it being used to mill black powder which I am guessing) is that it should be operated in a place were it will not damage anything and with something around it to contain the shrapnel/milling media should accidental ignition occur.

Diachrynic - 4-10-2017 at 12:50

Thank you, that seems like a good idea.
I have some chunks of wood lying around here, might be able to use them.

RogueRose - 4-10-2017 at 23:49

If you can fit a cardboard box over it as you said, what about draping some thick blankets on top of the box? I'd assume that folded blankets would work best on top to hold down others on the sides. Towels would work as well I would think. This would probably knock out a lot of the annoying frequencies and leave the lower ones which would be difficult to remove.

Also try to put the unit on something soft (blankets again??) and not on a hard floor or even a carpeted floor. This might help remove some of the lower frequencies and rumbling.