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Milling is defined as the process of breaking one material down into something else, and in mechanical engineering and machining, milling is highly advantageous. While you may know that mechanical milling is a common industrial process, you may not know that there are multiple types of mills out there that are used for mechanical milling. Take a look at some of the most common types of mechanical mills and a little about each one of them. 

Rod Mills

Rod milling involves placing materials into a mill that is filled with long metal rods that either turn on spindles that are attached at each end of the mill or are tossed around almost freely inside of the mill. As odd as it may sound for rods to be floating freely inside a mill, the rods are precisely sized so they do not get turned to undesirable or ineffective positions. Rod mills are not common for larger industrial processes, but this form of mechanical milling can work really well to generate finer dust and materials in a lot of industrial setups. For example, some forms of natural metal ore respond well to rod milling. 

Tube Mills

Tube mills are pretty much designed like an elongated tube that has an interior sleeve that spins against the grain of the outer sleeve. The rod mill can be pretty small, as thin as a regular plumbing pipe in some cases. You could find a tube mill in a pharmaceutical laboratory that is small enough to sit atop a work surface or table. However, tube mills can also be massively sized and used in larger industrial processes. The primary way that tube mills work is by using the power of oppositely turning rods to grind down the materials that are placed inside the mill to a finer consistency. 

Ball Mills

Ball mills are probably one of the most unique types of mechanical mills that you will find used in mechanical or industrial production setups. Ball mills are actually filled with steel balls or other dense materials and aggregate that are tossed around inside of a receptacle along with the material being milled. Ball mills can be either vertical or horizontal in shape, but they all have common actions and acting mechanisms inside. Some powders that react in undesirable ways when exposed to high-pressure may be worked in a ball milling setup instead of other mechanical milling equipment. 

Visit a mechanical milling company like Allied High Tech for more information about what type of milling is right for you.