Ceramic vs. Glass

Question

Im looking to ballmill aluminum a little quicker and was wondering if ceramic pellets were the way to go I know that ceramics have a mohs scale of 7 and aluminum about a 3 glass is at a 5.5. Just wondering if there are any graw backs to using ceramic over glass?

Answer 1

Hi Zachary K.,

Hardness is not the only consideration as you ball mill materials. Aluminum is ductile; it deforms rather than fractures, under normal conditions. Perhaps that might change for cryogenic grinding, I don't know. If you wanted a fine powder, milling from a block under a sufficiently inert atmosphere might be a more rewarding approach?

--Cheers, --Mr. d.