Ball Muller

Has this been posted? Its interesting for simplicity. Looks like it works for green sand. Would it work for petrobond?



http://millerstockwell.com/gallery/sandmixer.html

 

My muller is an HF cement mixer with just a large stone for the ball, no wipers, no paddles.
When I used it with greensand it would keep a surface rust that helped tumble the sand.
Oil based PB polishes the drum so it's a little finicky to get the sand tumbling. I have to alter the amount of sand and the angle of the mixer to get things rolling. The stone is not completely round either so it rolls,tumbles, and slides.
I get along fine with it.

Just in case somebody is wondering:
Bowling balls do not work. There's too much surface area for the weight and they just float on top of the sand.

 

I checked the video poster’s channel and it looks like Robert’s stuff: indoor foundry, forklift, etc.
I recognized the video too.

 

Here's another of the same type but with Petrobond. Looks high maintenance.

 

The ball is too small.
The stone I use is three times the diameter of that one.

 

Interesting, so a 12-16" rough hewn stone ball?

 

The one I have probably started around 10-12 inches. It’s been in use for about 10 years so it’s smaller and rounder now. Find a fairly round river rock and it’ll work.
Unlike the balls, the rocks go through different antics. Rolling, flopping, sliding, all the good stuff a regular muller does.

 

I tried bowling ball...too light...round river rock was working great until it broke...now I am using a big pinion gear that slides around and spins and the gears help chop up the sand...work pretty good for up to about 100 lbs of sand.

 

I forgot about having this photo.
My piece of rip rap that I use to mull in the small HF mixer.

 

Thanks for posting that. I just got mine set up. The 'wave' action is sort of mesmerizing...

 

Damn, that's a really round rock. Good find
Look at all that paint on the inside...it won't last long.
When it's gone you'll get some surface rust that helps tumble.
Little tip: If the sand starts to stick on the walls, it's too wet.

 

We have some really nice round creek rocks around here that will work, but no for very long, they will eventually break apart in my metal concrete mixing muller.

 

Thanks Everyone!
First batch of sand did really well in the mixer. The second batch seemed wetter/stickier and grabbed the rock a little more. I added some more sand and will try mulling it again later today.

 

You can see what's stuck to my stone. At first I was wiping it off and soon gave up and just went with it. PB sticks like crazy.

 

Yeah, my keeper stone is 1/2 covered with green sand too. I have a buddy looking for a few more 8" round (volleyball-sized) candidates on his farm.
I have not tried Petrobond in mine yet.