Southern Arizona is littered with old mines and mineral-processing
plants from the period 1880-1910 , and every now and then I get
inquiries from members of the public who have picked up what they think
are cannonballs or (when broken) iron meteorites. All that I have
looked at are clearly mill balls. The one that I actually mounted and
polished was cast iron, mostly white but mottled in parts. White cast
iron is of course extremely hard and wear-resistant.
Dave Killick
On Oct 20, 2005, at 9:14 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Ahh, the ones being sold on e-bay? I was directed to them but they
> did not look "right" to my eye and I suggested not investing in them
> to the person who asked my opinion. I could quite willingly believe
> they were the results of a rather crude ball mill operation though.
> Somewhere I have a common modern mill ball alloy listing; but i don't
> know about early ones.
> Around these parts more recent mill balls are often sold as "cannon
> balls" to the unsuspecting.
> Thomas Powers
>> Hi all,
>> I need to be more exact....cast steel mill balls used to grind ore in
>> the 1700's? and 1800's? Apparently they look very similar to objects
>> being sold as ancient Indian crucible steel ingots (but with little
>> or no corrosion). Thanks.
>> Ann -------------- Original message from Ann Feuerbach
>> <[log in to unmask]>: --------------
>>> Hi all, Does anyone know of any references or research on Mill
>>> balls? I have having trouble finding information about their
>>> composition. Thanks. Sincerely, Ann Feuerbach
>
> Thomas Powers
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