Want to make aluminium powder

[CatCatCat]

I know. I KNOW. I know it's dangerous guys so... please just assist me with the safety or something so I don't burn my house to the ground. What else do I need other than a respirator? And for the fine powder (I wish this one will produce something fine) I got here a lathe but my friend wants to loan me a ball mill. Which is better for it? Have you guys tried? Or should I just make do with a coffee grinder lol.

 

[autumnleaves]

I know. I KNOW. I know it's dangerous guys so... please just assist me with the safety or something so I don't burn my house to the ground. What else do I need other than a respirator? And for the fine powder (I wish this one will produce something fine) I got here a lathe but my friend wants to loan me a ball mill. Which is better for it? Have you guys tried? Or should I just make do with a coffee grinder lol.

I just know that powdered aluminum is very fine. It's close to talc. But I don't really know why you feel the need to make it your own... Why? It's like $10 a pound.

 

[Venus.is.here]

No long talk, grab a respirator, gloves, goggles, and keep a fire extinguisher nearby and yeah a ball mill is definitely better than a lathe or coffee grinder for fine powder. It's safer and gives you more control. Just make sure to work in a well ventilated area and ground everything to avoid static.

 

[MaiTai1]

I just know that powdered aluminum is very fine. It's close to talc. But I don't really know why you feel the need to make it your own... Why? It's like $10 a pound.

Apparently, bro likes living on the edge

No long talk, grab a respirator, gloves, goggles, and keep a fire extinguisher nearby and yeah a ball mill is definitely better than a lathe or coffee grinder for fine powder. It's safer and gives you more control. Just make sure to work in a well ventilated area and ground everything to avoid static.

I would go with full face shield, just in case

 

[whistledown]

Yep, full face shield indeed!

 

[Jon S]

I'd like to find away to stop making aluminium powder, it gets everywhere and no matter what mask I have on it still gets in, when I'm deburring and cleaning up parts.

 

[darkamber]

You like living dangerously, my friend

 

[bruce]

I make a lot of (unintentional) aluminum dust. How? I do a lot of fiber optic laser engraving. I have a 100 watt MOPA laser. When engraving aluminum (or anything) it creates a massive amount of dust. Brass dust is the worst!!! I use a very powerful 8 inch inline exhaust fan to vent the dust outside. At one time, I tried filtering the dust. That really didn’t work well no matter what type of filtration I used. In the end, I decided to blast it all outside. So, to your original question…you could take a block of aluminum and hit is with a laser with the setting simply set to “fill” and it will blast away whatever is below. It will make a surprising amount of dust quickly. It could be collected inside any type of filter. With 100 watts of power you can probably turn .125 x 3 in x 3 in into powder in about an hour. Probably less if you really turn up the power. Not exactly efficient and probably not very safe But hey…live life on the wild side. Right?